The Beginnings of the Republican Party and its First Platform

Republican Party Platform of 1856

While researching the history of the Republican Party, I came across the first Republican Party platform and learned some interesting facts about it.

March 20, 1854, in Ripon, Wisconsin, is recognized as the first organized meeting of the Republican Party. Founded by anti-slavery activists, former Whigs, and Free Soilers, the party opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories.

The first Republican Party Convention was held from June 17 to 19, 1856, at Philadelphia’s Musical Fund Hall, where John C. Frémont was nominated for president and William L. Dayton for vice president. The first Republican Party Platform was adopted during this convention, springboarding the party into the successful political force it is today.

Born of Crisis: The platform was established in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed territories to determine the legality of slavery via "popular sovereignty." This policy resulted in violent confrontations in "Bleeding Kansas," strengthening the emerging party. The platform rejected this policy, asserting that Congress should prohibit the extension of slavery into the territories. This reflects the party’s core anti-slavery stance and the Missouri Compromise, which stated that slavery was not to expand into the land of the Louisiana Purchase.

A Regional Affair: The convention did not have delegates from the Deep South, emphasizing the Republican Party’s Northern and Western roots. Kentucky was the only Southern state represented. This regional focus shaped the platform’s strong anti-slavery tone, clearly distancing it from the South interests.

Second Amendment Nod: Among its grievances, the platform accused President Franklin Pierce's Democratic administration of infringing on settlers’ rights in Kansas, including "the rights of the people to keep and bear arms."

Infrastructure Ambition: Beyond addressing slavery, the platform called for federal support of a transcontinental railroad, a visionary proposal aimed at economically and physically uniting the nation. This reflected the party’s developing agenda, appealing to Northern industrialists and Western settlers alike.

Moral High Ground: The document invoked the Declaration of Independence, asserting that "all men are endowed with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It framed the fight against slavery as a moral imperative, aligning the party with revolutionary ideals and positioning it as a defender of foundational American values.

Quick Draft, Big Impact: The platform was drafted hastily by a 22-member Republican National Committee formed earlier that year in Pittsburgh. Despite its rushed creation, it resonated widely, helping Frémont win 11 Northern states in the 1856 election—though he lost to Democrat James Buchanan. The platform laid the foundation for the party’s rapid rise, helping to establish Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 victory.

Polygamy Controversy: In an unexpected twist, the platform condemned both slavery and polygamy as "twin relics of barbarism," targeting the latter due to the Mormon practice in Utah Territory.

The 1856 RNC platform was a bold and principled declaration of a new political force. It set the stage for the party’s transformation of American politics, driven by a coalition committed to reshaping the nation’s future.

My favorite part emphasizes the Declaration of Independence, showcases our U.S. Constitution, and highlights the significance of life, liberty, and property rights for all people, continually reminding us of our foundation as a nation. We are the party of freedom and liberty, given to us by God, which no man shall take away.

Republican Party Platform of 1856

June 18, 1856

This Convention of Delegates, assembled in pursuance of a call addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to past political differences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; to the policy of the present Administration; to the extension of Slavery into Free Territory; in favor of the admission of Kansas as a Free State; of restoring the action of the Federal Government to the principles of Washington and Jefferson; and for the purpose of presenting candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President, do resolve as follows:

Resolved: That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the Federal Constitution are 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.

Resolved: That, with our Republican fathers, we hold it to be a self-evident truth, that all men are endowed with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the primary object and ulterior design of our Federal Government were to secure these rights to all persons under its exclusive jurisdiction; that, as our Republican fathers, when they had abolished Slavery in all our National Territory, ordained that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, it becomes our duty to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it for the purpose of establishing Slavery in the Territories of the United States by positive legislation, prohibiting its existence or extension therein. That we deny the authority of Congress, of a Territorial Legislation, of any individual, or association of individuals, to give legal existence to Slavery in any Territory of the United States, while the present Constitution shall be maintained.

Resolved: That the Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign powers over the Territories of the United States for their government; and that in the exercise of this power, it is both the right and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism--Polygamy, and Slavery.

Resolved: That while the Constitution of the United States was ordained and established by the people, in order to "form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty," and contain ample provision for the protection of the life, liberty, and property of every citizen, the dearest Constitutional rights of the people of Kansas have been fraudulently and violently taken from them.

Their Territory has been invaded by an armed force;

Spurious and pretended legislative, judicial, and executive officers have been set over them, by whose usurped authority, sustained by the military power of the government, tyrannical and unconstitutional laws have been enacted and enforced;

The right of the people to keep and bear arms has been infringed.

Test oaths of an extraordinary and entangling nature have been imposed as a condition of exercising the right of suffrage and holding office.

The right of an accused person to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury has been denied;

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, has been violated;

They have been deprived of life, liberty, and property without due process of law;

That the freedom of speech and of the press has been abridged;

The right to choose their representatives has been made of no effect;

Murders, robberies, and arsons have been instigated and encouraged, and the offenders have been allowed to go unpunished;

That all these things have been done with the knowledge, sanction, and procurement of the present National Administration; and that for this high crime against the Constitution, the Union, and humanity, we arraign that Administration, the President, his advisers, agents, supporters, apologists, and accessories, either before or after the fact, before the country and before the world; and that it is our fixed purpose to bring the actual perpetrators of these atrocious outrages and their accomplices to a sure and condign punishment thereafter.

Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately admitted as a state of this Union, with her present Free Constitution, as at once the most effectual way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment of the rights and privileges to which they are entitled, and of ending the civil strife now raging in her territory.

Resolved, That the highwayman's plea, that "might makes right," embodied in the Ostend Circular, was in every respect unworthy of American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonor upon any Government or people that gave it their sanction.

Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean by the most central and practicable route is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country, and that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction, and as an auxiliary thereto, to the immediate construction of an emigrant road on the line of the railroad.

Resolved, That appropriations by Congress for the improvement of rivers and harbors, of a national character, required for the accommodation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligation of the Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.

Resolved, That we invite the affiliation and cooperation of the men of all parties, however differing from us in other respects, in support of the principles herein declared; and believing that the spirit of our institutions as well as the Constitution of our country, guarantees liberty of conscience and equality of rights among citizens, we oppose all legislation impairing their security

- Heidi Engelhart