Changes

The [[Free Soil Party]] performed above average in Wisconsin in the [[United States presidential election, 1848|1848]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1848 1848 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> and [[United States presidential election, 1852|1852]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1852 1852 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> presidential elections.<ref name="RiponGOP">[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-022/?action=more_essay Wisconsin and the Republican Party]. ''Wisconsin Historical Society''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref>

The [[Free Soil Party]] performed above average in Wisconsin in the [[United States presidential election, 1848|1848]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1848 1848 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> and [[United States presidential election, 1852|1852]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1852 1852 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> presidential elections.<ref name="RiponGOP">[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-022/?action=more_essay Wisconsin and the Republican Party]. ''Wisconsin Historical Society''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref>

====Formation of the Republican Party====

====Birthplace of the Republican Party====

[[File:C-library.jpg|thumb|290px|The Carnegie Library in Ripon, built 1910]]

[[File:GOP Ripon.jpeg|thumb|290px|Birthplace of the Republican Party, 1854]]

When the 1854 [[Kansas-Nebraska Act|Kansas-Nebraska bill]], which became law that same year, was proposed, it met very strong opposition in Wisconsin, regardless of one's political affiliation.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Numerous meeting were held against the bill, and in one of them held in Ripon, Wisconsin on March 20, 1854,<ref name="History.com"/><ref>According to Encyclopedia.com, the date was February 28, 1854 [http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/united-states-and-canada/us-political-geography/wisconsin].</ref> political leaders under the leadership of lawyer [[Alvan E. Bovay]] proposed the creation of a new political party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Other similar meetings also supported creating a new party, and "in July of 1854, a convention was held in [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] to organize the new party"—the [[Republican Party]].<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Ripon is thus considered by many to be birthplace of the party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> From the beginning, the Republican Party performed very well in the state.<ref name="RiponGOP"/>

When the 1854 [[Kansas-Nebraska Act|Kansas-Nebraska bill]], which became law that same year, was proposed, it met very strong opposition in Wisconsin, regardless of one's political affiliation.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Numerous meeting were held against the bill, and in one of them held in Ripon, Wisconsin on March 20, 1854,<ref name="History.com"/><ref>According to Encyclopedia.com, the date was February 28, 1854 [http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/united-states-and-canada/us-political-geography/wisconsin].</ref> political leaders under the leadership of lawyer [[Alvan E. Bovay]] proposed the creation of a new political party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Other similar meetings also supported creating a new party, and "in July of 1854, a convention was held in [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] to organize the new party"—the [[Republican Party]].<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Ripon is thus considered by many to be birthplace of the party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> From the beginning, the Republican Party performed very well in the state.<ref name="RiponGOP"/>