Republican Party Dbq

The Republican party was formed on June 17, 1856. The party was formed to help stop the spread of slavery into western territories, after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska act in 1854. This act would allow the settlers to decide whether or not their state would be a slave state. The name of the party was created by Horace Greeley in a 1854 new york newspaper article. In this article he said: "We should not care much whether those thus united (against slavery) were designated 'Whig,' 'Free Democrat' or something else; though we think some simple name like 'Republican' would more fitly designate those who had united to restore the Union to its true mission of champion and promulgator of Liberty rather than propagandist of slavery." In 1854 the Republicans made advances in Michigan and many other states, however, this election was dominated by the “American party”. By 1855 the Republicans …show more content…
After the party’s primary rival, the Federalist party, lost support and disbanded there was no longer any competition to stand together against. States ended up nominating local electors, each with their own personal interests. This caused the party to split up and in 1828 the Democratic party, along with the Whig party, was born. The Democratic party was made up of farmers, urban laborers, and Irish Catholics. It was led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. The party was not particularly popular with most New England states but it enjoyed lots a popularity in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. They opposed aristocracy, and a national bank. Democrats were also all in favor of family-based agriculture, so naturally they opposed any attempt at modernizing American industry. Because of this they also supported the expansion of farmland into the western territories. Finally, they were against anti-immigration legislation and monopolies and supported the Mexican-American