Chapter 580 Republican Party

Chapter 573 Republican Party

Compared to the current Buchanan who still has unrealistic fantasies about reconciliation, Lincoln has a very clear political goal: firmly advocating the abolition of slavery.

Over the years, in order to gain more support, Lincoln has been giving speeches everywhere to promote his five political ideas.

First, freedom and equality. (Advocating the abolition of slavery and supporting the basic human rights and equal rights of all Americans.)

Second, federalism. (Firmly supporting the authority and unity of the U.S. federal government and opposing the division or separation of states.)

Third, people's government. (Lincoln believes in the concept of people's government and believes that the power of the government should come from the people and serve the people. He emphasized the democracy and representativeness of the government. The principle of "of the people, by the people, for the people" proposed in his famous Gettysburg Speech in November 1863 has already taken shape at this time.)

Fourth, the American Dream. (That is, everyone has the opportunity to achieve personal goals and success in the vibrant country of America through diligence and hard work.)

Fifth, reconciliation and forgiveness. (Although Lincoln had a tough attitude on the issue of slavery, he did not completely close the door to all Southerners. In his opinion, there were many "good people" in the South who sympathized with black slaves and supported abolition, and these people could be won over.)

On the special train to Omaha, Liang Yao compiled Lincoln's political propositions based on several large-scale speeches by Lincoln in recent years and the content of public meetings with the Republican Party.

At this time, Lincoln's political ideas were relatively mature and complete, and he had completed the transformation from an excellent orator to an ambitious politician.

These five political ideas were proposed by Lincoln for different groups within the United States. Except for not taking care of the interests of the southern slave owners, other groups were more or less taken care of. Including the new immigrant groups from outside.

At this time, the Republican Party was not as solid a party as people imagined. On the contrary, the Republican Party at this time was a party with many internal factions and a relatively divided party.

One of the important reasons why the Republican Party was able to rise to become the largest opposition party in less than ten years is that it was a new party formed by the convergence of many parties, including the former Whig Party, the Democratic Party, the Free Soil Party, the Native Party and other split parties that opposed slavery.

These people from different parties formed different factions within the Republican Party. Among them, the Whig Party and the Democratic Party are the two largest factions in the Republican Party. If we have to compare their strength, the Democratic Party has a slight advantage, but it has not formed a more obvious advantage over the Whig Party.

William Henry Seward, the former governor of New York and leader of the US Senate, is the former left-wing leader of the Whig Party. His political reputation is better than that of Lincoln, who has less experience, both inside and outside the party.

It is worth mentioning that William Henry Seward is the Secretary of State who, despite doubts, tried his best to promote the purchase of Alaska from Tsarist Russia.

Seward is the most prestigious member of the party, and it is generally believed that Seward is the most likely candidate to win the Republican presidential nomination. As for Lincoln, he was not favored and was more of a runner-up.

After all, Lincoln was only 50 years old at that time, which was a very young age for a politician. For example, the current President Buchanan is now 67 years old.

And the highest position Lincoln had ever held was the governor of Illinois, and one term had not yet ended. With such a thin political qualification, it was almost impossible for him to become president under normal circumstances.

In addition, there were also hawkish Republicans, centrist Republicans, and dove Republicans based on the degree of hardness of their attitude towards abolition.

For example, Simon Cameron, the governor of Pennsylvania, was a moderate like Seward in dealing with slavery.

Finally, region, industry, and even the university where one graduated were also important factors in dividing and forming factions within the party.

In particular, the Republican Party absorbed many members from marginal slave states, and these members from slave states even held important positions in the Republican Party and had great influence in the Republican Party.

For example, Edward Bates from the Native Party, who was also eligible to compete for the presidential nomination, came from a marginal slave state, not a free state.

How to balance the competition and conflict of interests within the Republican Party when seniority and reputation are not superior to other party members. This is a test of the political skills and wisdom of Lincoln, the leader of the Republican Party.

The population of Nebraska Territory is small. Liang Yao rarely saw people outside the window along the way. It was not until Omaha, the largest city in the nearby Nebraska Territory, that the population gradually became dense.

In fact, since the bloody Kansas time broke out in 1854, the American Civil War has been rehearsed in Kansas Territory in advance, and a local civil war has broken out. The war has not stopped until now, but the scale and intensity of the conflict cannot be compared with the full-scale civil war later.

The slave states in the South used Oklahoma City in Oklahoma Territory and St. Louis in Missouri as logistics bases, and continuously transported armed personnel to Kansas Territory from the south and the east.

The North transported armed personnel from the north to Kansas Territory through Des Moines in Iowa and Omaha in Nebraska Territory.

Armed personnel from both the North and the South fought each other in Kansas Territory, which was quite lively.

Although both sides claimed that this was a voluntary action by civilian armed groups.

But this is only part of the truth. It is true that many fanatical abolitionists and slaveholders went to Kansas with their own ammunition and dry food to fight for each other's ideals, beliefs and interests.

However, the commanders of these armed groups are basically retired officers from the army, and the materials they need for combat are also funded by the consortiums of the North and the South.

Only a fool would believe that the armed groups fighting in Kansas would continue a local civil war for five years without the endorsement of large consortiums and officials.

When approaching the suburbs, Liang Yao clearly saw a convoy of carriages from the south through the bright glass windows of the special train.

Because the central region is sparsely populated and high-value precious metal deposits have not been discovered for the time being, the desire of both the North and the South to invest in the central region and build railways in the central region is not high. Up to now, the Pacific Railway is still the only railway that crosses the central region.

Mule and horse transportation is the only way for the North and the South to transport materials and personnel to Kansas.

Inefficient logistics is also an important reason why the two sides can fight for five years in Kansas, a small place with few people.

Of course, with the opening of the Pacific Railway, the North gradually gained a slight advantage in this local war.

However, the ownership of the Pacific Railway was in the hands of Liang Yao and Vanderbilt, of which Liang Yao held the majority of the shares, and Liang Yao restricted the North from using the Pacific Railway.

In addition, the people in the South were fierce, and the fighting will of the armed personnel in the North was not as strong as that of the South, so the North was unable to turn its slight advantage into victory.