USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. VI > Part 13
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by our predecessors in national conventions, an adverse political and religious test has been secretly organized by a party claiming to be exclusively American, and it is proper that the American Democracy should clearly define its relation thereto and declare its determined opposition to all secret political societies, by whatever name they may be called,
"Resolved, That the foundation of this Union of States having been laid in, and its prosperity, expansion, and preëmient example in free government built upon, entire freedom in matters of religious concernment and no respect of persons in regard to rank or place of birth, no party can justly be deemed national, constitutional, or in accordance with American principles which bases its exclusive organ- ization upon religious opinions and accidental birthplace. And hence a political crusade in the Nineteenth century, and in the United States of America, against Catholic and foreign-born is neither justified by the past history or the future prospects of the country, nor in unison with the spirit of toleration and enlarged freedom which peculiarly distinguishes the American system of popular government.
"Resolved, That we reiterate with renewed energy of purpose the well-considered declarations of former conventions upon the sec- tional issue of domestic slavery and concerning the reserved rights of the States :-
"1. That Congress has no power under the Constitution to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of every- thing appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the Consti- tution; that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevi- table tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be coun- tenanced by any friend of our political institutions.
"2. That the foregoing proposition covers, and was intended to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress; and therefore the Democratic party of the Union, standing on this
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national platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts known as the 'Compromise' measures, settled by the Con- gress of 1850, the 'act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor' included, which act, being designed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be repealed or so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.
"3. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renew- ing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made.
"That the Democratic party will faithfully abide by and uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Legisla- ture in 1799; that it adopts those principles as constituting one of the main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and import.
"And that we may more distinctly meet the issue on which a sectional party, subsisting exclusively (on slavery agitation, now relies to test the fidelity of the people, north and south, to the Con- stitution and the Union"-
"1. Resolved, That, claiming fellowship with and desiring the cooperation of all who regard the preservation of the Union under the Constitution as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sec- tional parties and platforms concerning domestic slavery which seek to embroil the States and incite to treason and armed resistance to law in the Territories, and whose avowed purposes, if consummated, must end in civil war and disunion, the American Democracy recognize and adopt the principles contained in the organic laws establishing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the 'slavery question' upon which the great national idea of the people of this whole country can repose in its determined conservation of the Union-NON-INTERFERENCE BY CONGRESS WITH SLAVERY IN STATE AND TERRITORY, OR IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
"2. That this was the basis of the Compromises of 1850-con- firmed by both the Democratic and Whig parties in national con-
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ventions, ratified by the people in the election of 1852, and rightly applied to the organization of Territories in 1854.
"3. That by the uniform application of this Democratic prin- ciple to the organization of Territories and to the admission of new States, with or without domestic slavery as they may elect, the equal rights of all the States will be preserved intact, the original compacts of the Constitution maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity and expansion of this Union insured to its utmost capacity of embrac- ing, in peace and harmony, every future American State that may be constituted or annexed, with a republican form of government.
"Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all the Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the legally and fairly expressed will of a majority of actual residents, and whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies it, to form a Constitution, with or without domestic slavery, and be admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other States.
"Resolved, finally, That in view of the condition of popular insti- tutions in the old world (and the dangerous tendencies of sectional agitation, combined with the attempt to enforce civil and religious disabilities against the rights of acquiring and enjoying citizenship in our own land), a high and sacred duty is devolved with increased responsibility upon the Democratic party of this country, as the party of the Union, to uphold and maintain the rights of every State, and thereby the Union of the States, and to sustain and advance among us constitutional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the Constitution which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive people.
"1. Resolved, That there are questions connected with the for- eign policy of this country which are inferior to no domestic question whatever. The time has come for the people of the United States
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to declare themselves in favor of free seas and progressive free trade throughout the world, and, by solemn manifestations, to place their moral influence at the side of their successful example.
"2. Resolved, That our geographical and political position with reference to the other states of this continent, no less than the inter- est of our commerce and the development of our growing power, requires that we should hold as sacred the principles involved in the Monroe doctrine. Their bearing and import admit of no miscon- struction ; they should be applied with unbending rigidity.
"3. Resolved, That the great highway which nature, as well as the assent of the states most immediately interested in its mainte- nance, has marked out for a free communication between the Atlan- tic and the Pacific Oceans, constitutes one of the most important achievements realized by the spirit of modern times and the uncon- querable energy of our people. That result should be secured by a timely and efficient exertion of the control which we have the right to claim over it, and no power on earth should be suffered to impede or clog its progress by any interference with the relations it may suit our policy to establish between our government and the governments of the states within whose dominions it lies. We can under no circumstances surrender our preponderance in the adjust- ment of all questions arising out of it.
"4. Resolved, That, in view of so commanding an interest, the people of the United States cannot but sympathize with the efforts which are being made by the people of Central America to regener- ate that portion of the continent which covers the passage across the interoceanic isthmus.
"5. Resolved, That the Democratic party will expect of the next administration that every proper effort be made to insure our ascend- ancy in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain a permanent protection to the great outlets through which are emptied into its waters the products raised out of the soil and the commodities created by the industry of the people of our western valleys and of the Union at large.
"Resolved, That the Democratic party recognizes the great im- portance, in a political and commercial point of view, of a safe and
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speedy communication, by military and postal roads, through our own territory between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of this Union, and that it is the duty of the Federal government to exercise promptly all its constitutional power for the attainment of that object.
"Resolved, That the administration of Franklin Pierce has been true to the great interests of the country. In the face of the most determined opposition it has maintained the laws, enforced economy, fostered progress, and infused integrity and vigor into every depart- ment of the government at home. It has signally improved our treaty relations, extended the field of commercial enterprise, and vindicated the rights of American citizens abroad. It has asserted with eminent impartiality the just claims of every section, and has at all times been faithful to the Constitution. We therefore pro- claim our unqualified approbation of its measures and its policy."
Republican Party
Constructed from the several elements of the "Anti- Nebraska" seceders from the old parties, the Republi- can organization, as we have seen, made its first contest at the State and Congressional elections of 1854. Va- rious claims have been urged on behalf of individuals and localities for the distinction of the earliest adop- tion of its name. In the respect of State initiative and action the priority is incontestably to be awarded to Michigan. At a convention of Anti-Nebraskans of that State held at Jackson on July 6, 1854, a mixed State ticket of anti-slavery Whigs, Free Soil Democrats, and former regular Democrats who had voted for Pierce in 1852 was nominated, and a strong platform was adopted which declared: "We will cooperate and be known as 'Republicans' until the contest be termi- nated." Other State organizations that early took the
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name Republican were those of Wisconsin and Ver- mont. With the approach of the Presidential cam- paign the Republican party had become everywhere recognized as comprising the united forces of political opposition to slavery.
As the result of a call issued by the party committees of the States of Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michi- gan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin, a national meeting for purposes of confer- ence convened in Pittsburgh on February 22, 1856. Twenty-three States were represented. Francis P. Blair, of Missouri, a former Democrat, was permanent chairman; and Henry J. Raymond, editor of the New York Times and a former Whig, was designated to pre- pare an "Address to the People"-which, being duly presented to the assemblage, received its unanimous approval and was issued as the first national declaration of the Republican party. Its essential expressions were :
"We demand, and shall attempt to secure, the repeal of all laws which allow the introduction of slavery into territory once conse- crated to freedom, and will resist by every constitutional means the existence of slavery in any Territory of the United States.
"We will support by every lawful means our brethren in Kansas," and are "in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a free and independent State."
A committee was selected to call a national nominat- ing convention.
Pursuant to call by this committee, the Republican party held its first national nominating convention in Philadelphia on June 17-19, 1856. Each State was in-
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vited to send six delegates-at-large and three delegates from each Congressional district. The convention was unusually large for those times, having over 550 mem- bers. All the northern States were represented, and also Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, the District of Columbia, and the Territory of Kansas. Temporary chairman, Robert Emmet, of New York; permanent chairman, Henry S. Lane, of Indiana.
An offer of cooperation was received from the bolt- ing (anti-slavery) faction of the Know-Nothings, but the convention rejected it. One of the chief reasons for the failure of the Free Soil party had been its proneness to fusions. The Republicans from the start very wisely avoided such fragile and transitory reli- ances. Know-Nothingism, moreover, was repugnant to their program of inviting the support of all opposed to slavery, including the naturalized citizens. In par- ticular, the party had already enjoyed notable acces- sions from the Germans, who had been arriving in large numbers since 1848 and were known to be much in- clined toward the predestined candidate, Fremont.
On an informal ballot for President, John C. Fre- mont, of California, received 359 votes ; John McLean, of Ohio, 190; Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, 2; Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, 1; and William H. Seward, of New York, 1. Fremont was then nomi- nated unanimously.
An informal ballot was also taken for Vice-Presi- dent, which resulted as follows: William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, 253; Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, 110; Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, 46; David
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Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, 43; Charles Sumner, 35; ten others, 52. Dayton was the unanimous choice on the next ballot.
Fremont was admittedly chosen for his availability. The situation demanded a nominee who would not be likely to repel any of the strongly prejudiced older voters on account of his previous party spirit and pub- lic course in relation to other matters than slavery, and whose personality would attract the young men. There was no claim that Fremont possessed marked attributes of political leadership; and in that regard it never afterward appeared that he had been underrated. Formerly a Democratic Senator from California, he had been defeated for reelection (1851) because of his anti-slavery views; otherwise he was politically with- out either special antecedents or record. His most positive recommendation was his picturesque career at the far west, which had made his name familiar.
Platform :
"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 administra- tion, 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 Presi- dent and Vice-President, do
"Resolve, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Con- stitution is 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.
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"Resolved, That with our republican fathers we hold it to be a self-evident truth that all men are endowed with the inalienable rights 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 should 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 Con- gress, of a Territorial Legislature, 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 main- tained.
"Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress sover- eign power over the Territories of the United States for their gov- ernment, 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 per- fect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty,' and contains ample provision for the protection of the life, liberty, and property of every citizen, the dearest con- stitutional 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, tyran- nical 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 ;
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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; the free- dom 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 the administration, the President, his advisers, agents, supporters, apolo- gists, and accessories either before or after the fact, before the coun- try and before the world; and that it is our fixed purpose to bring the actual perpetrators of these atrocious outrages, and their accom- plices, to a sure and condign punishment hereafter.
"Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately admitted as a State of the 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 cen- tral and practicable route is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country, and that the Federal government ought to ren- der immediate and efficient aid in its construction, and, as an auxiliary thereto, to the immediate construction of an emigrant route 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 accom- modation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by
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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 men of all parties, however differing from us in other respects, in sup- port of the principles herein declared; and, believing that the spirit of our institutions, as well as the Constitution of our country, guar- antee liberty of conscience and equality of rights among citizens, we oppose all legislation impairing their security."
Whig Party
The Whigs who still adhered to their old party organization held a national convention in Baltimore, September 17-18, 1856. Delegates were present from twenty-six States, and Edward Bates, of Missouri, pre- sided.
For President and Vice-President the nominees of the Know-Nothings, Millard Fillmore and Andrew Jackson Donelson, were endorsed.
Platform :
"Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States, now here assem- bled, hereby declare their reverence for the Constitution of the United States, their unalterable attachment to the national Union, and a fixed determination to do all in their power to preserve them for themselves and their posterity. They have no new principles to announce, no new platform to establish; but are content to broadly rest-where their fathers rested-upon the Constitution of the United States, wishing no safer guide, no higher law.
"Resolved, That we regard with the deepest interest and anxiety the present disordered condition of our national affairs-a portion of the country ravaged by civil war, large sections of our population embittered by mutual recriminations; and we distinctly trace these calamities to the culpable neglect of duty by the present national administration.
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"Resolved, That the government of the United States was formed by the conjunction in political unity of widespread geographical sec- tions, materially differing not only in climate and productions, but in social and domestic institutions ; and that any cause that shall per- manently array the different sections of the Union in political hos- tility and organize parties founded only on geographical distinctions, must inevitably prove fatal to a continuance of the national Union.
"Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States declare, as a fundamental article of political faith, an absolute necessity for avoid- ing geographical parties. The danger, so clearly discerned by the Father of his Country, has now become fearfully apparent in the agitation now convulsing the nation, and must be arrested at once if we would preserve our Constitution and our Union from dismem- berment and the name of America from being blotted out from the family of civilized nations.
"Resolved, That all who revere the Constitution and the Union must look with alarm at the parties in the field in the present Presi- dential campaign-one claiming only to represent sixteen northern States, and the other appealing mainly to the passions and prejudices of the southern States; that the success of either faction must add fuel to the flame which now threatens to wrap our dearest interests in a common ruin.
"Resolved, That the only remedy for an evil so appalling is to support a candidate pledged to neither of the geographical sections now arrayed in political antagonism, but holding both in a just and equal regard. We congratulate the friends of the Union that such a candidate exists in Millard Fillmore.
"Resolved, That, without adopting or referring to the peculiar doctrines of the party which has already selected Mr. Fillmore as a candidate, we look to him as a well-tried and faithful friend of the Constitution and the Union, eminent alike for his wisdom and firm- ness ; for his justice and moderation in our foreign relations; for his calm and pacific temperament, so well becoming the head of a great nation; for his devotion to the Constitution in its true spirit; his inflexibility in executing the laws; but, beyond all these attributes, in possessing the one transcendent merit of being a representative of
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