The Harris County Republican Party (HCRP) is a volunteer organization. HCRP is part of the Texas Republican Party and is the official Republican Party Organization in Harris County.

HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

GRAND NEW PARTY

It began in a little schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1854. A small group of dedicated abolitionists gathered to fight the expansion of slavery, and they gave birth to a Party dedicated to freedom and equal opportunity.

The name “Republican” was chosen, alluding to Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party and conveying a commitment to the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Party was formally organized in July 1854 by thousands of anti-slavery activists at a convention in Jackson, Michigan. And it was no accident that two years later, in 1856, the first Republican National Convention took place in Philadelphia, where the Constitution was written.

PARTY OF FREEDOM

Though popularized in a Thomas Nast cartoon, the GOP’s elephant symbol originated during the 1860 campaign, as a symbol of Republican strength.  Republicans envisioned “free soil, free speech, free labor.”  Under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln, the GOP became the Party of the Union as well.

President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, but it was the entire Republican Party who freed the slaves.  The 1864 Republican National Convention called for the abolition of slavery, and Congressional Republicans passed the 13th Amendment unanimously, with only a few Democrat votes.

The early women’s rights movement was solidly Republican, as it was a continuation of abolitionism.  They were careful not to be overly partisan, but as did Susan B. Anthony, most suffragists favored the GOP.  The 19th Amendment was written by a Republican senator and garnered greater support from Republicans than from Democrats.