Alvan E. Bovay
Alvan E. Bovay (* 1818 in New York , † January 13, 1903 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American lawyer, teacher and politician . He was one of the founders of the United States Republican Party .
Life
Alvan E. Bovay attended Norwich University , where he also received his military training. After graduating, he taught mathematics and linguistics at various universities, including the Bristol Military Academy in Pennsylvania . After his wedding, he moved with his wife to New York City , where he also worked as a lawyer in addition to teaching. A few years later they moved to the newly formed settlement of Ripon , Wisconsin , where he opened a law firm and helped found Ripon College .
From 1852 he pursued the idea of founding a new party , which should turn against slavery and especially against its further spread to the west and north, as the opponents of slavery in the two major parties, Democratic Party and Whigs , only formed a small current. He went to New York to discuss his idea with Horace Greeley , editor of the influential New York Tribune newspaper . Thus the plan to found a party called the Republican Party was born.
After the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act , which had shifted the line of compromise between opponents and proponents of slavery, which had remained essentially unchanged since 1820, in favor of the latter, the Republican Party of the United States was declared a "party against the United States" on March 20, 1854 in the schoolhouse at Ripon Spread of Slavery ". Bovay, Greeley, and a double-digit number (the exact number varies) from several parties large and small were in attendance. Greeley's newspaper immediately began promoting the new party. In 1856 the first national party congress was held in Pittsburgh and the first presidential candidate, John C. Frémont , was chosen .
Alvan E. Bovay was later a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and served as a major during the Civil War . In 1874 he left the Republican Party because he saw its task with the abolition of slavery and the political new beginning in the southern states as fulfilled. He now campaigned for Prohibition and became the first chairman of the local Prohibition Party .
literature
- Samuel M. Pedrick: The Life of Alvan E. Bovay - Founder of the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bovay, Alvan E. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1818 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | new York |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 13, 1903 |
| Place of death | Santa Monica , California |