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The Bloomington Convention was a meeting held in Bloomington, Illinois, on May 29, 1856, establishing the Illinois Republican Party. It was an attempt to unite Anti-Nebraska members of the Opposition Party into a single party. The convention adopted a party platform and nominated a ticket led by William Henry Bissell for Governor of Illinois. Bissell would be elected later that year, making him one of the first governors elected as a Repbublican. ==Background== By 1850, the Democratic Party had emerged as the leading political party in the United States. An uncertain stance on slavery led to the demise of the main Democratic competitor, the Whig Party. The slavery debate was briefly quelled by the Compromise of 1850, which settled several questions about the legality of slavery in new territories. However, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, proposed four years later, reignited tensions. The act would create two new territories and determined that slavery status there would be determined by a popular vote of residents. Illinois had been a free state since its inception. The Kansas–Nebraska Act was designed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas and supported by his colleague James Shields, both Democrats. William Alexander Richardson led support of the bill in the United States House of Representatives, but failed to win the support of Democratic representatives Long John Wentworth and William Henry Bissell, as well as all Whigs. The act was passed on May 30, 1854, sparking a political upheaval. The Whig party dissolved and anti-slavery Democrats, including Bissell and Wentworth, abandoned their party; they united in a ''de facto'' Anti-Nebraska party, known as the Opposition Party.〔 After its ratification, Douglas spoke in the state capital of Springfield during the Illinois State Fair on behalf of the act. During the fair, prominent abolitionist Owen Lovejoy attempted to organize a convention against slavery, but struggled to convince political allies to join. Lincoln countered Douglas' defense of the act, and went on to debate him in seven other cities. Fueled by support in the central and northern parts of the state, the Opposition Party secured enough support to send Lyman Trumbull to the US Senate in place of Shields. Elihu B. Washburne, James H. Woodworth, James Knox, and Jesse O. Norton were elected to US Congress on behalf of the Opposition, which helped to usher in a national plurality in the lower house.〔 On January 15, 1856, the chairman of the nine existing state Republican Parties called for an informal convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 22. Delegates from twenty-four states and four territories attended the event, which officially established a national Republican Party after three sessions. Concurrently, an Editorial Convention was held in Decatur, Illinois, for all state anti-Nebraska newspaper editors; twenty-five papers were represented. One of the resolutions approved by this convention was for the appointment of a state committee to call a state Republican convention.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bloomington Convention」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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