How did the Republican Party start?

How did the Republican Party start?

Matthew Jones (Political Science Instructor) gives expert video advice on: What does the Republican Party stand for?; How did the Republican Party start?; How is the Republican Party changing? and more...

The Republican Party started in 1854, as a reaction to the Democratic Party becoming like a slave state party. It was started, in a large sense, by the Abolitionists who, as western states started to come into the Union, didn't want those states coming in as slave states. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed some of the western states to come in as slave states, and the Republican Party started in opposition to that. It started in 1854. Its first state-wide convention was in Michigan. It really came into its own in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln, who was the first Republican President. That is why the Republican Party called itself the Party of Lincoln.