The Genesis of Republicanism: The Birth and Growth of the Grand Old Party, 1854-1872

Saturday, October 28, 2000
8:30am - 6:30pm

The Library Company of Philadelphia
1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

The return in 2000 of the Republican party to Philadelphia, where it held its first convention in 1856, invites consideration of the party's origins, meaning, and growth. The party began in the hothouse of the debates over slavery in the 1850s, grew to save the Union and free the slaves during the Civil War, then became the party of Reconstruction and business privilege after the war. The Library Company's symposium will bring together prize-winning historians on party politics, the Civil War, the concept of "freedom", and the postwar era to offer their views of the Republican party's beginnings. The papers presented will address such issues as: Republican party formation and campaigning; the ideas of free soil and free labor; the party's efforts at inclusiveness for blacks, women and others; and the complete transformation of the party by 1876. The symposium will be held in conjunction with the Library Company's exhibit of the same name, on view Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 4:45pm, until December 1.

For more information and to register on-line, visit our website, listed below, or phone at the number below.

Speakers and topics:

Eric Foner (Columbia University): "The Ideology of the Grand Old Party"

Michael Holt (University of Virginia): "Making and Mobilizing the Republican Party"

Phillip Paludan (University of Kansas): "The Party in Power: Winning the War and Making the Peace"

Mark E. Neely, Jr. (Penn State University): "The Republicans as Their Enemies Saw Them"

Jean Baker (Goucher College): "Defining Postwar Republicanism"

Brooks D. Simpson (Arizona State University): "The Reforging of a Majority"