The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856

by Gienapp, William E.

• ISBN13: 9780195041002
• ISBN10: 0195041003
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1987-06-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The 1850s saw in America the breakdown of the Jacksonian party system in the North and the emergence of a new sectional party--the Republicans--that succeeded the Whigs in the nation's two-party system. This monumental work uses demographic, voting, and other statistical analysis as well as the more traditional methods and sources of political history to trace the realignment of American politics in the 1850s and the birth of the Republican party. Gienapp powerfully demonstrates that the organization of the Republican party was a difficult, complex, and lengthy process and explains why, even after an inauspicious beginning, it ultimately became a potent political force. The study also reveals the crucial role of ethnocultural factors in the collapse of the second party system and thoroughly analyzes the struggle between nativism and antislavery for political dominance in the North. The volume concludes with the decisive triumph of the Republican party over the rival American party in the 1856 presidential election. Far-reaching in scope yet detailed in analysis, this is the definitive work on the formation of the Republican party in antebellum America.

Author Biography

William E. Gienapp is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wyoming

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
The Presidential Election of 1852	p. 13
The Collapse of the Second Party System	p. 37
Nebraska and Nativism	p. 69
The Confusion of Fusion	p. 103
The Failure of Fusion	p. 129
New Issues, New Leaders, New Organizations	p. 167
Launching the Republican Party	p. 189
The Formation of a National Party Organization	p. 239
Spring Breakthrough	p. 273
The Nomination of Fremont	p. 305
Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, Fremont	p. 347
The Fremont Campaign	p. 375
A Victorious Defeat	p. 413
Bibliography	p. 449
Statistical Appendix	p. 475
Tables	p. 482
Index	p. 553
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