1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 573 Republican Party

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

Over the years, in order to gain more people's support, Lincoln continued to give speeches to promote his five political ideas.

First, freedom and equality. (Advocates for the abolition of slavery and supports basic human and equal rights for all Americans.)

Second, federalism. (Firmly supports the authority and unity of the U.S. federal government and opposes the division or secession of states.)

Third, the people's government. (Lincoln believed in the concept of people's government and believed that the power of the government should come from the people and serve the people. He emphasized the democratic and representative nature of the government. In November 1863, he proposed in the famous Gettysburg Address that "the government belongs to the people, The principle of "government by the people, for the people" has already begun to take 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 hard work and hard work.)

Fifth, reconciliation and forgiveness. (Although Lincoln had a tough stance on the issue of the abolition of slavery, he did not completely close the door to all Southerners. In his view, there were many "good people" in the South who sympathized with black slaves and supported the abolition of slavery. These people are the ones to fight for.)

On the special train to Omaha, Liang Yao sorted out Lincoln's political ideas based on the contents of Lincoln's several large-scale speeches and public meetings with the Republican Party over the years.

At this time, Lincoln's political philosophy was relatively mature and complete, and he had completed his transformation from an excellent speaker to an ambitious politician.

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

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

One of the important reasons why the Republican Party was able to rise to become the largest opposition party in less than ten years was that it was a new party formed by many parties. Its members include the former Whigs who opposed slavery, the Democratic Party, and the Free Soil Party. , the Native Party and other splinter parties.

These people from different parties unite with each other and form different factions within the Republican Party. Among them, the Communist Whig faction and the Democratic faction are the two largest factions in the Republican Party. If we have to compare their strength, the Democratic faction has a slight advantage, but it does not have a clear advantage over the Whig faction.

William Henry Seward, former governor of New York and leader of the U.S. Senate, was a former left-wing leader of the Whig Party. His political prestige, whether within or outside the party, is better than that of the less senior Lincoln.

It is worth mentioning that William Henry Seward was the Secretary of State who pushed hard to buy Alaska from Tsarist Russia despite doubts.

Seward is the most popular member of his party and widely considered the front-runner to win the Republican presidential nomination. As for Lincoln, he was not favored and was treated more as a sidekick.

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

And the highest office Lincoln ever held was governor of Illinois, and his term had not yet ended. With such meager political qualifications, it would be almost impossible to become president under normal circumstances.

In addition, there are also divided into hawkish Republicans, centrist Republicans, and dove Republicans according to the degree of hardline attitude towards abolition.

For example, Pennsylvania Governor Simon Cameron was a moderate on the issue of slavery, as was Seward.

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

In particular, the Republican Party has attracted many party members from marginal slave states, and these party members from slave states even hold important positions in the Republican Party and have 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 competition and conflicts of interest within the Republican Party without seniority and prestige giving any advantage to other party members. It was a test of Republican leader Lincoln's political skills and wisdom.

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

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

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

From the north, armed personnel were transported from the north to the Kansas Territory through Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, the Nebraska Territory.

Armed men from the North and the South were fighting in the Kansas Territory, which was very lively.

Although both sides claimed to the outside world that this was a voluntary act by civilian armed groups.

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

However, the commanders of these armed groups are basically retired officers from within the army, and the materials needed for their operations are also funded by consortiums from 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 full years without the support of large financial groups and official officials.

As he approached the outskirts of the city, Liang Yao clearly saw a convoy of carriages coming from the south through the bright glass windows of the special train.

Since the central region is sparsely populated and no high-value precious metal deposits have been discovered yet, both the north and the south have little desire to invest in and build railways in the central region. To this day, the Pacific Railroad remains the only railroad across the Midlands.

Mule and horse transportation was the only way for both the North and the South to transport supplies and personnel to Kansas.

Inefficient logistics was also an important reason why the two sides were able to fight for five years in a place as large as Kansas with not many 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. Liang Yao's shares accounted for the majority. Liang Yao restricted the use of the Pacific Railway in the north.

In addition, the folk customs in the south are fierce and the armed personnel in the north are not as willing to fight as the south. Therefore, the north has been unable to turn its weak advantage into victory.