Originally a member of the Whig Party, Israel Washburn, by 1854 he no longer viewed the Party as in the best interest of the Country. Angry over the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Washburn called a meeting of 30 members of the U. S. House of Representatives to discuss forming what became the Republican Party. Republican gatherings had taken place in Wisconsin and Michigan earlier in the year, but Washburn's meeting was the first in the U.S. Capital, and among U.S. Congressmen. He was probably also the first politician of his rank to use the term "Republican,” in a 1854 speech and declare it as a separate, identifiable party and movement.
The present is an important, early articulation of the Republican position and observation of the current status of politics, i.e. the situation which led to their original formation. Not surprisingly, slavery played an important role, and is called out for special attention on the final leaf [as pictured].
Washburn Jr., I. Politics of the Country. Speech of Hon. I Washburn, Jr. of Maine, In the House of Representatives. June 21, 1856. Washington D. C. Buell & Blanchard, Printers. 1856. 14pp.
A good + copy, bound in wraps, generally solid, with light foxing, minor stains, and untrimmed pages.
