A decade prior to the Civil War there were two major political
parties in the United States:
Democrats, favoring freedom of choice to own slaves;
and Whigs, wanting a big tent party.
In Ripon, Wisconsin, anti-slavery activists met on February 28, 1854,
then held their first State Convention in Jackson, Michigan, JULY 6,
1854.
They named their party Republican, with the chief plank being “to
prohibit…those twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery.”
Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President, appointed Justice
Stephen Field, who wrote in the Supreme Court decision Davis v.
Beason, 1890:
“Bigamy and polygamy are crimes by the laws of all civilized and
Christian countries…They…destroy the purity of the marriage
relation…degrade woman and debase man…
There have been sects which denied…there should be any marriage
tie, and advocated promiscuous intercourse of the sexes as prompted
by the passions of its members…
Should a sect of either of these kinds ever find its way into this
country, swift punishment would follow.”
Justice Stephen Field continued:
“The constitutions of several States, in providing for religious
freedom, have declared expressly that such freedom shall not be
construed to excuse acts of licentiousness.”
Amercan Minute with Bill Federer
