American History

History of the Republican Party from 1850-2000

The Republican Party , also known as the GOP (for Grand Old Party , the younger and more conservative of the two major political parties in the United States . GOP appeared in the early 1850 's , raised by activists of anti-slavery movement with a core belief in the idea of the primacy of individuals , who claimed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge . The first unofficial meeting of the party took place in Ripon , Wisconsin , a small town northwest of Milwaukee . The Republican

Party formally organized itself by holding its first convention , adopting a platform and nominating a full slate of candidates for state offices on July 6th , 1854 in Jackson , Michigan

The name "Republican " was chosen as a synonym to equality and also reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson 's Democratic-Republican Party The Republicans has been a major political force in the United States since it first appeared on the presidential ballot in 1856 , when John C Fremont was nominated for President and ran with the slogan "Free soil , free labor , free speech , free men , Fremont " The Republicans rapidly became the dominant political force in the North , even though they were considered a "third party " because the Democrats and Whigs represented the two-party system at the time . Fremont was the party 's first presidential candidate , but not the successful one , even though he managed to capture 33 of the vote . By 1860 the Republicans had also absorbed the support of the nativist Know-Nothing party , and their candidate , Abraham Lincoln , who was the first Republican candidate elected to the presidency . During the Civil War , Lincoln decided to act independently , against the will of his cabinet , and signed the Emancipation Proclamation , that freed the slaves . The Republicans worked hard to pass the Thirteenth Amendment , which outlawed slavery the Fourteenth , which guaranteed equal protection under the laws , and the Fifteenth , which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans . The Republican Party also played a leading role in securing women the right to vote . In 1896 , Republicans were the first major party to favor women 's suffrage . As the result of it the first woman elected to Congress was a Republican , Jeanette Ranking from Montana in 1917 Immediately after the Civil War , Republicans in Congress passed the Thirteenth , Fourteenth , and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and promoted a Radical Reconstruction policy regarding the southern states World War I allowed the republicans to dominate during the 1920s , and return to the laissez-faire probusiness policies , and with time - to a policy of isolationism . But the era of Republican political dominance came to an end , with the Great Depression , and the victory of Herbert Hoover in 1932 . Still , Republicans managed to recover from all the further troubles , and in Congress , they formed alliances with conservative southern Democrats against fdr 's more radical proposals (particularly his 1937 Court-packing bill . This so-called conservative coalition generally controlled both houses of Congress until the early 1970s

During the 40s , Republicans were controlled by...