The Democrats and Republicans before the Civil War Essay

The Democrats and Republicans before the Civil War - Essay Example Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane after the latter made an impassioned speech about the deteriorating situation in the disputed state of Kansas, where hostilities had exploded around the issue of slavery (â€Å"Bleeding Kansas†). The Democratic Party platform (Cooper 36–39), resolutely promoting the interests of the Southern slaveholders, was explicit in its calls for limited Federal government powers -- in effect placing more authority in the hands of individual states. A portion of the opening statement that stated it would be â€Å"inexpedient and dangerous† for the Federal government to â€Å"exercise doubtful constitutional powers† left very little mystery regarding the remaining thrust of the document. Adopting a â€Å"strict constructionist† interpretation of the Constitution, the Democrats further posited that general powers were not granted to the central government in relation to commerce, to conduct â€Å"improvements,† or to assume debt for the individual states. Also addressed were the national administration’s right to disperse funds from public lands or to charter a national bank. All of the aforementioned matters had a direct bearing on the ultimate ability of the central government to exercise any overarching powers to control individual states, especially on the slavery question. A weak, non-invasive, decentralized government was exactly what Southern politicians desired. While the Democratic platform gradually worked up to addressing the issue of slavery directly, the Republican Party immediately got to the heart of the matter (Cooper 39–40). Right at the outset, their platform declared that Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a free state. Refuting the Democratic Party’s desire for a weak Federal government, the Republicans declared that the Constitution conferred sovereign power to Congress over the