My last post dealt with the Republican Revolution of 1994 and how there were similarities to our current state of affairs. I was drawing parallels, hoping 2010 could prove to be similar.
Today I just read a commentary by Michael Barone run by Rasmussen commenting on the last time an unpopular bill was passed in Congress by a slim majority to become law. As Michael Barone points out; this was done in 1854 and was the driving force for the start of, you could say the first revolution that started the Republican Party.
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http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_michael_barone/when_legerdemain_is_used_to_pass_an_unpopular_bill
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If you remember your history, slavery was what the famed “Lincoln Douglas Debates” were all about. The legislation that fostered the debates was the passage by the legislature of the “Kansas-Nebraska Act” which created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and in effect allowed an expansion of slavery into more of the “Territories” than had been previously the law under the “Missouri Compromise” which allowed slavery in the territories south of Arkansas and not north of it.
The new “Kansas-Nebraska Act” allowed the two new territories which were north of Arkansas a choice. As in the Civil War to follow, both states rights and slavery were inseparably intertwined.
The Barone article shows that the Republican Party was formed to fight that legislation and in the following election (the first in which there were Republicans) the huge Democrat majority turned into a huge Republican Majority.
How amazing is that? A brand new party runs a Republican Candidate for President and candidates in all the states and wins not only the Presidency but the control of the US House by a huge margin.
I guess campaigns were easier back then. Lol
Below is a map of the USofA back in 1854. The Grey area was the slave states, the Red was the Free States and the Green were the previous Territories, while Kansas and Nebraska are in White.
As I’m always looking for methodologies in the past to point to a Republican Resurgence I feel remiss for missing the very first Republican Revolution which was truly a grassroots movement founded on Principled Action against an unpopular law pushed through the Congress by the majority with corruption and paybacks as its means of passage.
This movement at its core was a Freedom movement, not of state freedom vs Federal; but of individual freedom vs Federal government. Above all else we believed in individual freedom - then came all the rest. Above all else America stood for the idea that all are created equal in their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
One word on “Principled Action”. People have some principle upon which they hang their vote on issues. Slavery was one of those principles. Sure there were all sorts of other issues like states rights and the whole money thing.
As with issues today, there was no lack of funding for either side in the slavery issue. The Opening of the West and the idea of America as a Ocean to Ocean Nation was at stake. The decision of building a transcontinental railroad and from whence it would start ie Chicago, New Orleans etc was the funding mechanism for both sides. But what trumped the “Special Interests” was the principled outrage of the American people.
That is where Americans drew the line on the map. The government has no right to decide which people have freedom. They are there at our request to make sure all people keep hold of our inalienable rights. That is where we stood up and said that we would not hold for corruption when it causes us to lose our freedoms. That when you take away freedom for some you leave us all open to tyranny. Play all you want in Washington, but leave us alone.
That is where we fought a Civil War - that is where we will be willing to sacrifice, to fight for again if necessary.
Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative
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