The Republican Party began in 1854 with a singular determination: stop slavery in the United States. To that end, the Grand Old Party fought not only to end slavery forever but to preserve the Union while doing so.
Today, we remain steadfastly determined to keep our country true to the principles on which it was founded: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness… not only for the privileged and elite few but with equality and justice for all.
We Are the Party of Equality
Republicans wrote and passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, ending slavery in the United States, ensuring, among other things, equal protection and due process under the law for all, and guaranteeing Black men the right to vote in all elections. In 1870, Republican Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first Black American to serve in the U.S. Congress.
In 1887 Republicans endorsed Prohibition Party candidate Susanna M. Salter, securing her election as the first woman mayor in both Kansas and the United States, turning the tide for women’s suffrage across the nation.
The GOP is the first party to make official recognition of women in a major party platform. As early as 1878, Republican men began introducing what would become the 19th Amendment and, after regaining control of the Congress in 1919, the party’s first act was to finally pass the Equal Suffrage Amendment (19th Amendment); it was ratified in 1920, guaranteeing women the right to vote in all elections. Republican Representative Jeanette Rankin, elected in 1916, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress.
Today, the Republican Party stands by its time-tested principles that recognize our God-given liberties and we remain as committed as ever to preserving freedom, prosperity, and opportunity for all.