“And In This Corner...”

Russ Otten, RPSC Chair

7/30/22

Fellow RPSC Members and Freedom Fighters, with just 10 days until Primary Tuesday, August 9, I am excited to announce key events leading up to that day and beyond!

First, there will be a 9th District Senate Debate at 6:30PM next Thursday, August 4, at the Sheboygan Area Lutheran High School Atrium. Voices for Values and Turning Point Action are co-sponsoring the event. We expect a packed house. So, please consider using the Register button on this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/9th-senate-district-primary-debate-tickets-391644327727. Voices for Values is a recently organized movement aiming to engage young people in political activism in the Sheboygan County area and spear-headed by Nate TenBroeke. Great work, Nate!

HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Founding of the Republican Party

On July 6, 1854, just after the anniversary of the nation, an anti-slavery state convention was held in Jackson, Michigan. The hot day forced the large crowd outside to a nearby oak grove. At this “Under the Oaks Convention” the first statewide candidates were selected for what would become the Republican Party.

Birthplace of the Republican Party

United by desire to abolish slavery, it was in Jackson that the Platform of the Under the Oaks Convention read: “…we will cooperate and be known as REPUBLICANS…” Prior to July, smaller groups had gathered in intimate settings like the schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. However, the meeting in Jackson would be the first ever mass gathering of the Republican Party. The name “Republican” was chosen, alluding to Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party and conveying a commitment to the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Party of Freedom

Though popularized in a Thomas Nast cartoon, the GOP’s elephant symbol originated during the 1860 campaign, as a symbol of Republican strength. Republicans envisioned “free soil, free speech, free labor.” Under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln, the GOP became the Party of the Union as well.

The Republican Party called for the abolition of slavery.

President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, but it was the entire Republican Party who freed the slaves. The 1864 Republican National Convention called for the abolition of slavery, and Congressional Republicans passed the 13th Amendment unanimously, with only a few Democrat votes. The early women’s rights movement was solidly Republican, as it was a continuation of abolitionism. They were careful not to be overly partisan, but as did Susan B. Anthony, most suffragists favored the GOP. The 19th Amendment was written by a Republican senator and garnered greater support from Republicans than from Democrats.