So far, I have tried to made a short historical review of the first years of the existence of the Republican party, identifying a few ideological main trends that defined the activity and the platform of the party. Namely, I have talked about the anti-slavery position (proved, among others, by the importance given to the Northern branches), somehow moderate in order to keep the votes of the nativist Americans, who used to sympathize with Know-Nothings factions but were rather liberal in terms of usage of slave work. The previous supporters of the Know-Nothings moved in a large amount towards the Republicans rather then to the Democrats, because the former managed to emphasize both sectionalism and nativism.

Generally, the political debate seemed to be focused rather on social problems than on major political controversies. Of course, any social issue is a bearer of potential political decision, and the threats the local...
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