Republican Party Platform, 1864
1. Resolved, That it is the highest duty of
every American citizen to maintain against all
their enemies the integrity of the Union and the
paramount authority of the Constitution and laws
of the United States; and that, laying aside all
differences of political opinion, we pledge ourselves,
as Union men, animated by a common sentiment
and aiming at a common object, to do everything
in our power to aid the Government in quelling
by force of arms the Rebellion now raging
against its authority, and in bringing to the
punishment due to their crimes the Rebels and traitors
arrayed against it.
2. Resolved, That we approve the determination
of the Government of the United States not to
compromise with Rebels, or to offer them any terms
of peace, except such as may be based upon
an unconditional surrender of their hostility and
a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the United
States, and that we call upon the Government
to maintain this position and to prosecute
the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression
of the Rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-
sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor and the
undying devotion of the American people to the
country and its free institutions.
3. Resolved, That as slavery was the cause,
and now constitutes the strength of this Rebellion,
and as it must be, always and everywhere, hostile
to the principles of Republican Government, justice
and the National safety demand its utter and complete
extirpation from the soil of the Republic; and
that, while we uphold and maintain the acts and
proclamations by which the Government, in
its own defense, has aimed a deathblow at this gigantic
evil, we are in favor, furthermore, of such an
amendment to the Constitution, to be made by the
people in conformity with its provisions, as shall
terminate and forever prohibit the existence of
Slavery within the limits of the jurisdiction of the
United States.
4. Resolved, That the thanks of the American
people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the
Army and Navy, who have periled their lives in
defense of the country and in vindication of the
honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them
some permanent recognition of their patriotism
and their valor, and ample and permanent provision
for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable
wounds in the service of the country; and
that the memories of those who have fallen
in its defense shall be held in grateful and
everlasting remembrance.
5. Resolved, That we approve and applaud the
practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism and
the unswerving fidelity to the Constitution
and the principles of American liberty, with which
ABRAHAM LINCOLN has discharged, under circumstances
of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and
responsibilities of the Presidential office; that we
approve and endorse, as demanded by the emergency
and essential to the preservation of the nation
and as within the provisions of the Constitution, the measures and acts
which he has adopted to defend the nation
against its open and secret foes; that we
approve, especially, the Proclamation of Emancipation, and the employment
as Union soldiers of men heretofore held in
slavery; and that we have full confidence
in his determination to carry these and all other Constitutional
measures essential to the salvation of the country
into full and complete effect.
6. Resolved, That we deem it essential to the
general welfare that harmony should prevail in
the National Councils, and we regard as worthy
of public confidence and official trust those only
who cordially endorse the principles proclaimed
in these resolutions, and which should characterize
the administration of the government.
7. Resolved, That the Government owes to all
men employed in its armies, without regard to
distinction of color, the full protection of the
laws of war — and that any violation of these
laws, or of the usages of civilized nations
in time of war, by the Rebels now in arms,
should be made the subject of prompt and full redress.
8. Resolved, That foreign immigration, which
in the past has added so much to the wealth, development
of resources and increase of power to the
nation, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, should be fostered
and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
9. Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy
construction of the railroad to the Pacific coast.
10. Resolved, That the National faith, pledged
for the redemption of the public debt, must be
kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend
economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous
and just system of taxation; and that it is
the duty of every loyal state to sustain the
credit and promote the use of the National
currency.
11. Resolved, That we approve the position
taken by the Government that the people of the
United States can never regard with indifference
the attempt of any European Power to overthrow
by force or to supplant by fraud the institutions
of any Republican Government on the Western
Continent and that they will view with extreme
jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence
of their own country, the efforts of any such power
to obtain new footholds for Monarchical Government,
sustained by foreign military force, in near
proximity to the United States.
SOURCE: Reprinted in Donald Bruce Johnson, comp.,
National Party Platforms, vol. 1, 1840-1956, rev. ed. (Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1978), pages 35-36.
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