Biography

The Republican party (1854- ) is one of the two major political parties in the United States. Although originally being a party designed to help end the practice of slavery in the US, it has transformed itself over the years to represent the views of Conservative-leaning individuals of the US.

The Republican Party (also known as "The Grand Old Party" or "GOP" for short) was created in March 20, 1854 from the remnants of two existing political parties at the time: the Whigs and the Free Soil party. After holding their first convention in July 6th of that year, they originally designed their political platform to represnent the views of Anti-Slavery advocates through the slogan "Free Labor, Free Land, Free Men." After the election of their presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election, the party was able to fulfill it's stated goals to end slavery after winning the Civil War over the slave-holding south.

As the GOP transitioned from their initial anti-slavery stance, they held many political platforms before settling on the Conservative platform they are known for today. While many of their stances have stayed quite consistent over the years (particularly in being free market-supporters and favoring the prohibition of substances like alcohol and illegal drugs for relgious purposes), some stances (like their opinions on race-related issues such as Affirmative Action) have changed dramatically: which can indicate the reason why the party which was originally based in the Northeast and the Northern Midwest has now moved to the South.

In general, today's GOP's stances include being supportive of pro-free market/free-trade policies (such as NAFTA), being constitutionalist on their views on federal involvement in state issues, being tough on border enforcement, and being supportive of National Defense issues.

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