Chapter 3- The Rise Of The Republican Party Flashcards
What happened to the Democrats in the 1854 mid term elections? What was happening to the Whigs?
Hey lost all but 23 of their previously 91 free state seats in congress
They were blamed for sponsoring the Kansas Nebraska Act
By 1854 Whigs were no longer a major force in many free states
Whig collapse blamed on Kansas Nebraska however Whig decline began before. In state and local elections in 1853, the results were a disaster for Northern Whigs as they had failed to deal with the immigration and Catholic issues- this leads to the emergence of the Know Nothings
How many immigrants entered the USA between 1845 and 54? How many of these were Irish Catholics? What other country did most immigrants come from? Where did these different groups of immigrants settle?
3 million
Over 1 million of these were Irish Catholics, escaping the horror of the potato famine. They had little money and tended to settle in North West cities like New York and Boston
German immigrants outnumbered Catholics, they had more money so could purchase land out west.
Why were the Americans scared of Catholic immigrants?
Association of Irish immigrants and increased crime and welfare costs
Fear of a Papal plot, in the Protestant United States, they didn’t want the Catholic Church conspiring to increase their influence
Resentment of the growing political power of Irish voters- belief that they voted as political bosses or priests told them to- threat to democracy!!
How did the Number of Catholic Bishops, priests and churches increase between 1850 and 1854?
Almost Doubled
What party did most immigrants vote for? Which party tried to win Catholics over?
Most Irish and German immigrants voted for the Democrats- it made sense therefore if they were not anti-immigration or anti-catholic
Whigs failed to respond to nativist concerns. In fact in the 1852 election the Whigs were actively pro-Catholic, trying to capture the growing immigrant vote-
- this didn’t work, and traditional Whig voters refused to vote for a party tying to appease Catholics
Northerners began to look to new parties ( disintegration of loyalty not due to north south tensions but actually occurred in a lull in that conflict)
Who is a nativist?
Someone who is suspicious of immigrants and usually aggressively nationalistic
Who were the Know Nothing’s?
Pledged to vote for nobody but Native-born protestants
By 1854 takes characteristics of a political party
Most know nothings want checks on immigration and a 21 year probation period before immigrants could become citizens
How did he know nothings do in the 1854 election? How big was the movement?
The Kansas Nebraska Acts unpopularity was associated with the Democrats which helped the Know nothings
They had 1 million members
It 1854 it won 63% of the vote in Massachusetts.
Changed name to the American Party in 1855 and took control of three more New England States
What northern political desire created the Republicans?
The desire to support parties opposed to the expansion of slavery.
Kansas Nebraska had made Northerners worry about the SPC
Who was expected to be the Democrats main opponent in 1856? Why?
The Know Nothings as they drew support from both North and South, the Republicans couldn’t be more than a northern party.
What was the situation in Kansas in 1854-6?
After 1854 settlers began to move into Kansas.
Politically charged as if slavery expanded there it may expand elsewhere and for Southerners making it a free state would be another nail in the coffin.
The Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company sponsored over 1500 Northerners to settle in Kansas
Senator Atchinson formed the Platte County Defensice Association and pledged to ensure Kansas became a slaver state. Due to Missouri’s proximity to Kansas this process was easy
What happened in the March 1855 election in Kansas?
Hundreds of pro-slavery Missourians crossed into Kansas to vote
There was a pro-slave victory
Sending in Missourians was probably a mistake as the pro slaves were likely to have won anyway and all this did was cast doubt on the election outcome.
When the legislature met at Lecompton to pass tough pro-slavery laws, Northerners were outraged
What was the Topeka Government?
‘Free state’ settlers in Kansas, denying the validity of the pro-slave government set out their own government at Topeka.
Free states were deeply divided, there were fanatic abolitionist and moderates were openly racist, opposing slavery expansion because it would result in a influx of black people.
The Topeka government banned black people, enslaved or free from Kansas.
When was the town of Lawrence sacked by a pro-slavery posse?
What was the consequence and significance of this?
May 1856
They were trying to arrest free state leaders and burnt some buildings. The events were magnified by media, the Northern journalists said many died but in reality no casualties but one pro-slaver
The Lawrence raid sparked more violence
What were John Brown’s actions at Pottawatomie Creek?
John Brown, a fervent abolitionist, with some of his sons murdered five pro-slavery settlers
Northern newspapers, suppressing some facts, made him a northern hero who had acted in self-defence
In Kansas there was an increase in tension and tit for tat killings.
Northern Papers exaggerated and said it was a civil war
Who was the new governor in Kansas Pierce appointed to patch up a truce between warring factions?
John Geary
Why did ‘Bleeding Kansas’ boost Republican fortunes?
Perceived to be slave power Conspiracy at work. Led to support of Republican Party
What issues did the American party (the know nothings) have?
If they wanted to be a national party they had to drop their anti-Kansas-Nebraska position. This lost them a lot of Northern support
The decline of immigration in the mid 1850’s- decline in nativism
Failure of known nothings to make good their campaign promises- they know nothing and they do nothing
Many hated the secretive side of the movement
It’s success tarnished its image as an authentic people’s party/ attracts the old politicians it’s set up to get rid of
Who became Speaker of the House of Representative in 1856?
Nathaniel Banks
A republican- ex know nothing
This speakership helped turn the Republicans into a more coherent party
What did the Republican Party stand for?
It was a large mixture of people, abolitionists (e.g. Charles Sumner) ex-Whigs (William Seward), ex-Democrats (David Wilmot) and ex know-Nothings (Nathaniel Banks)
This meant it was difficult to know what the Republicans stood for, easier to say what they stood against
- against the Democrats
- against Slave Power
- moral aversion to slavery
Slave Power Conspiracy - a Republican article of Faith
However, different people had different views on who was conspiring
Did Republicans support slavery abolition?
Some did but not many
Most opposed to slavery expansion
Abolition could mean emancipated slaves coming north and undercutting white workers wages
Very few believed in black equality
What things were the Republicans divided on?
Economics
- high tariffs seemed to promote industry but most republican voters were farmers in the 1850’s
Nativism
What was ‘bleeding Sumner’?
Congressman Preston Brooks beats Senator Sumner with a cane, which was shattered in the process. Sumner was an abolitionist, Brooks a southerner
This outraged Northerners - slave power, using force to silence free speech
Brooks becomes a southern hero
Sumner becomes a northern martyr
Who did the American party nominate as its candidate for the 1856 election? Why was this choice a mistake?
Ex-president Fillmore
He was more an old fashioned Whig than a know nothing
He was known to have pro-southern sympathies (it was he who had signed the fugitive slave act in 1850) and he had limited appeal in the North due to this
