The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856

The 1850s saw in America the breakdown of the Jacksonian party system inthe North and the emergence of a new sectional party--the Republicans--thatsucceeded the Whigs in the nation's two-party system. This monumental work usesdemographic, voting, and other statistical analysis as well as traditionalmethods and sources of political history to trace the realignment of Americanpolitics in the 1850s and the birth of the Republican party. Gienapp powerfullydemonstrates that the organization of the Republican party was a difficult,complex, and lengthy process and explains why, even after an inauspiciousbeginning, it ultimately became a potent political force. The study also revealsthe crucial role of ethnocultural factors in the collapse of the second partysystem and thoroughly analyzes the struggle between nativism and antislavery forpolitical dominance in the North. The volume concludes with the decisivetriumph of the Republican party over the rival American party in the 1856presidential election. Far-reaching in scope yet detailed in analysis, this isthe definitive work on the formation of the Republican party in antebellumAmerica.

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