PREFACE. Early in February, 1900, the writer delivered an address before the Stamina Republican League of Cincinnati on "The Origin and Rise of the Republican Party." The interest in the subject shown by the audience and the many words of approbation led to a deeper consideration of the history of the Party, and the address was repeated on a more elaborate plan before many other organizations in Cincinnati and vicinity. It soon became apparent that the great majority of every audience had very vague recollections of the tragic events which led to the organization of the Party, and of its early history, owing perhaps to the fact that they belonged to a generation that had followed the enactment of those events. It was also clear that those who had lived in the momentous decade before the Civil War were deeply interested and stirred by a new recital of (xi) the history of that period, and thus it was suggested that a History of the Republican Party might prove of interest and value. Like the place of Homer's birth that of the Re publican Party is in dispute, but it is believed that the facts herein narrated are supported by the weight of evidence. It is hoped that this work does not display so much partisanship as to make it uninteresting to members of other political parties in the United States. GEO. W. PLATT. Cincinnati, February, 1904. |