Even if you aren't into politics, you're probably aware of the turmoil in the Republican Party right now, which finds itself mired in a civil war as we draw ever closer to the general election. Still, you might not know how the Republican Party started in the first place, which is the subject of this timely post. On March 20, 1854, former members of the Whig Party met in Ripon, Wisconsin, to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories. Created in 1834 to oppose the “tyranny” of President Andrew Jackson, the Whig Party had been unable to cope with the national crisis over slavery. The party derailed as a result of the successful introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854, an act that dissolved the terms of the Missouri Compromise and allowed slave or free status to be decided in the territories by popular sovereignty.  By February 1854, anti-slavery Whigs had begun convening in the upper midwestern states to consider the format...

I'll give you a few hints: He was born in 1809 in Hodgenville, Kentucky He grew up a member of a poor family in Kentucky and Indiana He attended school for only one year, but thereafter read on his own in a continual effort to enhance his mind Standing a whopping 6'4," he was a popular wrestler in Illinois  He entertained friends and strangers alike with his folksy wit and sense of humor, which helped him conceal bouts of depression He was quite the animal lover As an adult, he lived in Illinois and performed a slew of jobs before entering politics, including stints as a surveyor, postmaster, surveyor, and shopkeeper He served in the Illinois legislature from 1834 to 1836, and then became an attorney In 1842, he married Mary Todd, with whom he raised four sons He became leader of the new Republican party Known as the Great Emancipator, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation He warned that "a house divided against itself cannot stand" He guided the ...