Version One
How do the Republicans try to frame the issues of 1860? How do they try to temper their abolitionist wing?
How does the platform compare with the ideas from Lincoln’s House Divided Speech?
Introduction
In 1860, the Republican Party met in Chicago. There was widespread speculation that William H. Seward would become the party’s nominee, being the best-known figure in the field. Other contenders included John McLean of Ohio, Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. Seward’s long tenure in politics, however, proved to be his undoing. He had accumulated many enemies over the years, especially in the South, and also faced stiff opposition from forces in the North, in particular the Know-Nothings. He had also characterized the dispute between North and South as an “irrepressible conflict” and this made him seem a poor choice for handling relations between the sections. In contrast, Lincoln’s star was on the rise. He had gained a national reputation from the debates he held with Stephen Douglas during the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign (see “House Divided” Speech) and was willing to call slavery the evil that it was. By the third ballot, Lincoln had gained enough votes to secure the party’s nomination and would go on to win the election over his Democratic opponents.
Lincoln had become widely known for his anti-slavery stance and seemed to fit solidly into a political party that abhorred slavery and wanted to see it eradicated. Democrats, especially Southerners, depicted the Republicans as an abolition party and issued dire warnings that Lincoln would take action to free the slaves if elected president. Lincoln, on the other hand, claimed to have no power as president to free the slaves, although he asserted presidential authority to block the spread of slavery into the territories.
—Eric C. Sands
Source: Platform Adopted by the National Republican Convention, held in Chicago, May 17, 1860. Library of Congress, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/lprbscsm.scsm0716
Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in Convention assembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the following declarations:
The Republican Party.
- That the history of the nation during the last four years, has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the Republican party, and that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph.
Its Fundamental Principles.
- That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”—is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the Rights of the States, and the Union of the States must and shall be preserved.
True to the Union.
- That to the Union of the States, this nation owes its unprecedented increase of population, its surprising development of material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for Disunion, come from whatever source they may: And we congratulate the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of Disunion so often made by Democratic members, without rebuke and with applause from their political associates; and we denounce those threats of Disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendancy as denying the vital principles of a free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an indignant People sternly to rebuke and forever silence.
State Sovereignty.
- That the maintenance inviolate of the Rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
Sectionalism of the Democracy.
- That the present Democratic Administration has far exceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton Constitution upon the protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal relation between master and servant to involve an unqualified property in persons; in its attempted enforcement, everywhere, on land and sea, through the intervention of Congress and of the Federal Courts, of the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general and unvarying abuse of power entrusted to it by a confiding people.
Its Extravagance and Corruption.
- That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance which pervades every department of the Federal Government; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored partisans; while the recent startling developments of frauds and corruptions at the Federal metropolis, show that an entire change of administration is imperatively demanded.
A Dangerous Political Heresy.
- That the new dogma that the Constitution, of its own force, carries Slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with cotemporaneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country.
Freedom, the Normal Condition of Territories.
- That the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of Freedom: That as our Republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that “no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” it becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States.
The African Slave Trade.
- That we brand the recent re-opening of the African Slave Trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame to our country and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and efficient measures for the total and final suppression of that execrable traffic.
Democratic Popular Sovereignty.
- That in the recent vetoes, by their Federal Governors, of the acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting Slavery in those Territories, we find a practical illustration of the boasted Democratic principle of Non-Intervention and Popular Sovereignty embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and a demonstration of the deception and fraud involved therein.
Admission of Kansas.
- That Kansas should, of right, be immediately admitted as a State under the Constitution recently formed and adopted by her people, and accepted by the House of Representatives.
Encouragement of American Industry.
- That, while providing revenue for the support of the general government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imports as to encourage the development of the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges, which secures to the working men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerating prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.
Free Homesteads.
- That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the Public Lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of the Free Homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants for public bount; and we demand the passage by Congress of the complete and satisfactory Homestead Measure which has already passed the House.
Rights of Citizenship.
- That the Republican party is opposed to any change in our Naturalization Laws or any State Legislation by which the rights of citizenship hitherto accorded to emigrants from foreign lands shall be abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad.
River and Harbor Improvements.
- The appropriations by Congress for River and Harbor improvements of a National character, required for the accommodation and security of an existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligation of Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
A Pacific Railroad.
- That a Railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country; that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and that, as preliminary thereof, a daily Overland Mail should be promptly established.
Co-operation Invited.
- Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive principles and views, we invite the co-operation of all citizens, however differing on other questions, who substantially agree with us in their affirmance and support.
Next Document
Republican Party Platform (1860)
May 17, 1860
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