US History - DUE 5.4.2020

Classmate 1

The Rise of the Republican Party

The Republican Party was formed due to a split in the Whig Party. The anti-slavery

“Conscience Whigs” split from the pro-slavery “Cotton Whigs”. Some anti-slavery Whigs joined

the American “Know-Nothing” Party, while the remainder joined with independent Democrats

and Free-Soilers to form a new party, the Republicans. The initial members stood for one

principle: the exclusion of slavery from the western territories (Shi, p. 462). Knowing the

Republicans ideology, we will look at how the events leading up to the Kansas-Nebraska Act led

to greater political division that eventually caused the formation of the Republican Party and it’s

rise to the presidency in 1860.

In the 1850’s, America was becoming increasingly divided between those for and against

slavery. The Compromise of 1850 had temporarily appeased both sides by admitting California

as a free state, allowing no slavery restrictions in New Mexico and Utah, paying Texas,

abolishing slave trade but no slavery in the District of Columbia, establishing the Fugitive Slave

Act, and denying congress authority to interfere with interstate slave trade (Shi, p. 457). This

Fugitive Slave Act was highly contested, although very few slaves were returned to the south

under this Act. In fact, it ended up uniting anti-slavery people, more than aiding the South. It was

during this time that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written, selling more than a million copies

worldwide and detailing the harsh brutality of slavery (Shi, p. 460-461).

In the mid-1850’s, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. The main reason for it was to the

settle the vast territory west of Missouri and Iowa, and to create a transcontinental railroad to

capitalize on Asian markets and goods. New territories brought up questions of whether slavery

would be allowed, with many supporting “popular sovereignty” where voters chose whether they

would have slavery or not. The issue here was that the 1820 Missouri Compromise had said there

would be no new slavery above the 36th parallel (Shi, p. 462). In order to past the new Act, they

repealed the Missouri Compromise and pushed the Act through Congress, passing by outvoting

the anti-slavery Whigs. The dispute over the Kansas-Nebraska Act, ended up causing the

breakdown of the new Republican party.

One of the first to join the party was a young Illinois congressman, Abraham Lincoln. He

believed the the north must mobilize to stop pro-slavery southerners or the Union was

endangered (Shi, p.463). Nebraska voted against slavery, but Kansas became the hotbed of the

Union. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups both set up governments and held elections, voting

opposite of each other on slavery. Violence broke out between supporters of the groups, and

about 200 people were killed in conflicts that became referred to as “Bleeding Kansas” (Shi, p.

463). Even members of the Congress broke out into fights, with Congressman Brooks beating

Senator Sumner with a cane due to a speech he gave (Shi, p. 465).

In 1858, the Republicans selected Abraham Lincoln to run against Democrat Stephen

Douglas for the Senate. Lincoln did not win, but through a series of public debates became well

known. The Lincoln-Douglas debates helped Lincoln and his stand against slavery be well

known (Shi, p. 470). With Minnesota and Oregon joining the Union in 1858 and 1859, and free

states now outnumbered slavery states. By 1860, Democrats were not united and selected 2

separate Presidential candidates, aiding the Republicans. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the

Republican nomination over William Seward, to much celebration. The nomination of Lincoln

cemented the parties stand against the expansion of slavery. In the election of 1860, Lincoln won

all 18 free states and none of the slavery states (Shi, p. 474).

Combating pro-slavery supporters attempts to expand slavery was the primary basis for

formation of the Republican Party. Conflicts leading up to and during the Kansas-Nebraska Act

set off a chain of events where more people supported stopping the spread of slavery into new

territories. Despite several politicians efforts for compromise, the divisions between the groups

strengthened the support for anti-slavery Republicans and helped Abraham Lincoln get elected

President in 1860.

Shi, David Emory. America: The Essential Learning Edition, 2nd Edition. New York: W.W.

Classmate 2

Benjamin Roberts

Politics of slavery played an important role the westward expansion. As the United States began

acquiring new territories such as Texas and the Mexican territories, a majority of the Northern

States wanted to ban slavery in these new territories. This posed a problem for the Southern

states, as most of them were slave owners. If the new territories did not allow slavery and began

having voting power within Congress, then the South feared that the majority would make

slavery illegal throughout the nation, even in the south. The South did not want to be told what to

do by the North and westward expansion was a problem if they could not expand slavery as well.

The North also feared the power of the South and if slavery expanded west then the South’s

power would expand as well. “…Northerners were jealous of the power of the South and did not

want any new states joining the slave-state alliance”(Shi, pg. 451). There was definitely a

struggle for power and disagreements upon slavery were the biggest debate between and

Northern and Southern states. Although a Civil War would more than likely occurred without

westward expansion, the expansion did escalate the likelihood and timing for it to occur. A civil

war was inevitable as a decision had to be made if slavery was going to be allowed as a nation or

not. The nation could not be split on what was allowed especially as it was expanding. The

South’s secession occurred partially as a result of the events that took place during the expansion

and the Civil War began.