When you know Our Republican History …
It is easy to Be Bold – Be Courageous – Be Republican and Be Proud!
Our Republican History… The People’s Party
MARCH 20, 1854 First Republican Party meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin. It all started with people who opposed slavery. They were common, everyday people who bristled at the notion that men had any right to oppress their fellow man.
JULY 6, 1854 Just after the anniversary of the nation, an anti-slavery state convention was held in Jackson, Michigan. The hot day forced the large crowd outside to a nearby oak grove. At this “Under the Oaks Convention” the first statewide candidates were selected for what would become the Republican Party.
• January 1, 1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation
• January 31, 1865 Republican-controlled 38th Congress passes the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery..
• January 13, 1866 With unanimous Republican support and against intense Democrat opposition, Congress passes the 14th Amendment granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.
• March 1, 1872 Republican-controlled 42nd Congress establishes Yellowstone as first national park.
• December 9, 1872 First African-American governor, Pinckney Pinchback (R-LA)
• April 2, 1917 First woman in Congress, Rep. Jeannette Rankin (R-MT)
• May 21, 1919 Republican-controlled 66th Congress passes the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote
• June 2, 1924 Republican-controlled 68th Congress and President Calvin Coolidge grant citizenship to Native Americans with the Indian Citizenship Act
• December 7, 1928 First Hispanic U.S. Senator, Senator Octaviano Larrazolo (R-NM)
• January 3, 1949 Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) becomes the first woman to serve in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
• May 17, 1954 Brown v Board of Education strikes down racial segregation in public schools; majority decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, former Republican governor (CA) and vice presidential nominee.
• September 9, 1957 President Dwight Eisenhower signs the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
• August 21, 1959 First Asian-American U.S. Senator, Hiram Fong (R-HI)
• June 10, 1964 Senate passes the 1964 Civil Rights Act when the Republican leader, Everett Dirksen (R-IL), defeats Democrat filibuster
• September 25, 1981 Sandra Day O’Connor, appointed by President Reagan, becomes the first woman on the Supreme Court
• June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan calls for liberation of East Europeans from Communism with “Tear Down This Wall” speech
