Liberty Power: Antislavery Third Parties and the Transformation of American Politics (American Beginnings, 1500-1900)

Abraham Lincoln’s Republican Party was the first party built on opposition to slavery to win on the national stage—but its victory was rooted in the earlier efforts of under-appreciated antislavery third parties. __Liberty Power__ tells the story of how abolitionist activists built the most transformative third-party movement in American history and effectively reshaped political structures in the decades leading up to the Civil War. As Corey M. Brooks explains, abolitionist trailblazers who organized first the Liberty Party and later the more moderate Free Soil Party confronted formidable opposition from a two-party system expressly constructed to suppress disputes over slavery. Identifying the Whigs and Democrats as the mainstays of the southern Slave Power’s national supremacy, savvy abolitionists insisted that only a party independent of slaveholder influence could wrest the federal government from its grip. A series of shrewd electoral, lobbying, and legislative tactics enabled these antislavery third parties to wield influence far beyond their numbers. In the process, these parties transformed the national political debate and laid the groundwork for the success of the Republican Party and the end of American slavery. Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party was the first party built on opposition to slavery to win on the national stage--but its victory was rooted in the earlier efforts of underappreciated antislavery third parties. Liberty Power tells the story of how abolitionist activists built the most transformative third-party movement in American history and effectively reshaped political structures in the decades leading up to the Civil War. As Cory M. Brooks explains, abolitionist trail-blazers who organized first the Liberty Party and later the more moderate Free Soil Party confronted formidable opposition from a two-party system expressly constructed to suppress disputes over slavery. Identifying the Whigs and Democrats as the mainstays of the southern Slave Power's national supremacy, savvy abolitionists insisted that only a party independent of slaveholder influence could wrest the federal government from its grip. A series of shrewd electoral, lobbying, and legislative tactics enabled these antislavery third parties to wield influence far beyond their numbers. In the process, these parties transformed the national political debate and laid the groundwork for the success of the Republican Party and the end of American slavery. -- Provided by the publisher Contents Introduction Chapter One. Political Abolition and the Slave Power Argument, 1835–1840 Interlude One. “Bowing Down to the Slave Power”: Northern Whigs, Slavery, and the Speakership, 1839 Chapter Two. Agitating the Congress: Abolitionist Lobbying and Antislavery Alliances, 1836–1844 Interlude Two. “A Temporary ‘Third Party’”: Antislavery Whig Dissidents in the 1841 Speakership Contest Chapter Three. Building Third-Party Electoral Power, 1841–1846 Chapter Four. Antislavery Upheaval in the Capitol: The Wilmot Proviso Debates and the Widening Sectional Divide, 1846–1848 Interlude Three. “Let the Lines Be Drawn”: Conscience Whig Insurgency and the 1847 Speakership Election Chapter Five. Liberty Men and the Creation of an Anti–Slave Power Coalition, 1846–1849 Interlude Four. “Glorious Confusion in the Ranks”: The Free Soil Balance of Power, 1849 Chapter Six. Free Soil Politics and the Twilight of the Second Party System, 1849–1853 Chapter Seven. The Nebraska Outrage and the Advent of the Republican Party, 1853–1855 Interlude Five. “A New Era in Our History”: The Longest Speakership Contest in American History and the First Republican National Victory, 1855–1856 Conclusion Acknowledgments Abbreviations Notes Index Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party was the first party built on opposition to slavery to win on the national stage - but its victory was rooted in the earlier efforts of under-appreciated antislavery third parties. Liberty Power tells the story of how abolitionist activists built the most transformative third-party movement in American history and effectively reshaped political structures in the decades leading up to the Civil War