ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
July 6, 1854
The First Republican Party Convention is Held
On this day in 1854, the Republican Party's first convention was held in Jackson, Michigan. The party's first
nomination for president in the 1856 election was John C. Fremont.
The party's 1860 nominee was Abraham Lincoln, who would become the first Republican president. Originally Lincoln
was a member of the Whig party and was reluctant to leave it, however, the Whig party was split over the issue of
slavery and Lincoln finally decided that the anti-slavery platform of the Republican party better represented his
beliefs.
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