About the Republican Party

The Republican Party was born in the early 1850's by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge. The first informal meeting of the party took place in Ripon, Wisconsin.

The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6th, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan. The name "Republican" was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party.

In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President under the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont." Four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House.

During the Civil War, against the advice of his cabinet, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. The Republicans of their day worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, the Fourteenth, which guaranteed equal protection under the laws, and the Fifteenth, which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans.

The Republican Party also played a leading role in securing women the right to vote. In 1896, Republicans were the first major party to favor women's suffrage. When the 19th Amendment finally was added to the Constitution, 26 of 36 state legislatures that had voted to ratify it were under Republican control. The first woman elected to Congress was a Republican, Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1917.

Presidents during most of the late nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century were Republicans. While the Democrats and Franklin Roosevelt dominated American politics in the 1930's and 40's, for 28 of the forty years from 1952 through 1992, the White House was in Republican hands - under Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush. Under the last two, Reagan and Bush, the United States became the world's only superpower, winning the Cold War from the old Soviet Union and releasing millions from Communist oppression.

Republicans have a long and rich history with basic principles: Individuals, not government, can make the best decisions; all people are entitled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home.

The symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant. During the mid term elections in 1874, Democrats tried to scare voters into thinking President Grant would seek to run for an unprecedented third term. Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper's Weekly, depicted a Democratic jackass trying to scare a Republican elephant - and both symbols stuck.

Complete History of the Republican Party

There have been many excellent descriptions of the Republican philosophy. You might, for example, look at the principles listed by the Republican National Committee at www.rnc.org/gopinfo/gopoath. See the link provided below. From our point of view, however, the Republican philosophy is exemplified by one word: freedom.

The Montgomery County Republican Party, and the Republican Party generally, believe that individual liberty is the hallmark of the American success story.

The freedom of Americans to make their own decisions, and to live their own lives, relatively free from governmental or other interference, has caused us to become a beacon of hope around the world. We are so blessed that we sometimes forget what others have suffered, and continue to suffer, in oppressive regimes around the world. In the words of Margaret Thatcher, “Those who know socialism best like it least.” We, fortunately, have been spared the more severe strains of such tyrannies.

But socialism, and progressive thought generally, sing a siren song that many find difficult to resist. “Helping others,” or “helping the little man” are the benign faces often put on progressive ideas. These laudable goals, of course, are fine. It is the means employed which cause trouble. The means employed are, too often, excessive governmental taxation, governmental control, and plain coercion. It seems, at times, that our friends on the left want virtually every aspect of human life to be either performed by the government or controlled by the government. This, to put it mildly, is not consistent with the individual liberties our Founding Fathers enshrined in our Constitution.

Unfortunately, our County often prides itself on being on the cutting edge of government control. But for the harsh spotlight from others around the country, it might now be illegal in our County to smoke a cigarette in your own house, or to show up at a public holiday party dressed as Santa. Many more governmental control provisions, however, do make it through.

The Republican philosophy encourages individual liberty, individual decision-making, entrepreneurship, and creativity. Everyone should be free to better themselves and their families. So long as you are not truly harming someone else, the government should not be in the business of placing obstacles in the path of you and your family’s freedom and success.

We hope you agree that our Republican cause is a good one - worth supporting and strengthening. Please contact us and let us know which of our areas of work, discussed in the Get Involved section of this site, you wish to support.

Republican Philosophy