How Important was the Kansas Nebraska Act in the rise of the Republican

party up to 1856
Introduction:

The Republicans parties rise to power was a swift one going from a little know party in Wisconsin in 1854, to having
party member Nathaniel Banks elected speaker of the house in 1856. This did not occur by magic and was due to
several important factors such as the decline of the Whigs, Republican party strengths and the issues for the
American party but neither of these were nearly as important Kansas Nebraska Act, which was the most important
factor in the Rise of the Republican party.

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The Kansas Nebraska Act was the most important factor in the rise of the Republican party as it directly caused the
necessary political upheaval for the party to find a place on the political stage.

This can be seen in many Northerners fear of Slave Power becoming more prominent due to the passing of the
Kansas Nebraska Act which repealed the ‘sacred’ Missouri Compromise, many Northerners were horrified when the
Act was passed as one of the bills main functions was to repeal the Missouri compromise, this was seen as terrible as
to many in the North the Missouri Compromise was the only thing stopping slavery from expanding Northward and
with it gone there was nothing to stop the South from doing that. This subsequent fear was then blamed on the
Slave Power conspiracy which involved the idea that the South controlled the government and so were able to pass
the Act, the truth this statement though did not matter as the Republicans saw this and put themselves firmly on the
stance of being Anti slave power which struck a cord with many in the North giving a rise to the Republican party.

Additionally the Kansas Nebraska Act led to what many refer to as ‘Bleeding Kansas’ which saw sectional tensions
sky rocket and many in the North take far more anti-slavery stances that would then be capitalized on by the rise of
the Republican party, with violence breaking out all over Kansas over the state being slavery or anti-slavery many in
the North were rooting for free staters, they were then shocked and horrified when the free state city of Lawrence
was burnt with Northern newspapers overemphasizing the event leading to an increase in the Anti-slavery stance,
the actions of John Brown were also heavily supported by Northerners who celebrated him as a hero while the South
decreed him a criminal clearly sectionalizing the country, something that the upcoming Republican party would use
to their advantage to fully rise.

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The Kansas Nebraska Act while being an important factor was not the most important factor with the Republican
Parties strengths being a big reason in why they where able to gather so much support so quickly and make them
rise to power.

This can be seen in their very harsh stance against slavery striking a reservoir of concerns in the North that not even
the Whigs had been willing to touch out of fear of losing Southern voters, the Whigs while certainly not for slavery
had usually taken a more neutral stance when approaching the issue in the hopes they wouldn’t alienate their
voters, the Republicans did not share this sentiment. Many prominent members of the Republicans like Lincoln gave
many rousing speeches against slavery winning the hearts and minds of Northerners across the states showing the
great importance of the Republicans strengths in the rise of the party.

Additionally the Republicans focus on gaining Northern votes over Southern ones was one of their greatest
strengths, by focusing on the North the Republicans knew that they wouldn’t have to sacrifice their ideals like the
American or Whig parties did and so would be able to build a strong support base that would bring together former
Whigs, Democrats and even American party members. This Strength while seeming like it would limit the reach of
the Republicans actually worked for them with the majority of Electoral College votes being found in the North, this
is why during their first ever election running for office in 1856 while it appears geographically they lost by a large
margin in reality they were only two states from victory showing how the Republican parties strengths were an
important factor in their rise to power.

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The Kansas Nebraska Act while being an important factor was not the most important factor with the Whig decline
also playing a large role in the rise of the Republican party as it gave an opportunity for a new party to take its place.

This can be seen in the Whigs trying to change tactics and gain more votes but instead only losing voters, the Whigs
found most of their support in the Northern states, this meant that when they changed their stance on Immigration
to try and be more inclusive to Catholic Immigrants they failed on both fronts, the majority of Catholic Immigrants
chose to stay on the side of the Democrats who they felt better represented them but also saw many strong
Anglican/ Protestant Northerners refuse to vote for them resulting in the Whigs winning only 4 out of 31 states in
152 election signaling their decline and leaving a power vacuum for the Republicans to rise into.

Additionally the death of the Two titans of the Whig party and the following bad leadership led to its decline, the
two titans Webster and Clay had watched over the Whigs for the last few decades and with them both passing in
1852 the party was left leaderless, this led to a poor choice of Candidate in 1852 election with Scott being chosen
simply because he was a former General and the Whigs had, had success with Taylor in the past. Scott was heavily
disliked with him being said to offend somebody every time he opened his mouth but this was no the main reason
for the Whigs great defeat in election and subsequent decline, the reason was that to many Americans he reminded
them far too much of Zachary Taylor the President who had nearly led the Union into a Civil War causing many in the
North to abstain voting for the Whigs or vote for a different party all together with the election of 1852 acting as a
killing blow to an already leaderless party and subsequently giving a slot for the Republican party with new leaders
to take its place.

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The Kansas Nebraska Act while being an important factor was not the most important factor with the American
Parties Issues being an important factor in the rise of the Republican party as it was through its issues that the
Republicans were able to secure their position as the undisputed rivals of the Democrat Party.

This can be seen in the American Party losing support as their main focus immigration became less important to the
population, the Republicans were able to get so many Northerners to vote and support them as the fear of
immigrants which the American Party had used to gain support no longer was as strong, the main waves of Irish
Catholic and German Immigration had come to pass making many ideas that the Pope was the biggest threat to
America merely absurd, as such people started to focus on other issues such as slavery which unlike the Dough faces
of the American Party the Republicans had a strong stance against that was supported by many Northerners making
them seem like a more reasonable choice then the American Party seeing it start to decline in supporters.

Additionally the Republicans were able to rise due the American Party issues of them dropping their Anti-Kansas
stance, this was done originally in the hope of copying Whig success and gaining Southern voters but they had
already been won over by the Democrats making the American Party only alienate their Northern Supporters who
majorly stood against Kansas and so changed their party support to the Republicans who openly had an Anti-Kansas
stance.

Overall