Funny how the Republican party was started to free the slaves.

Funnier yet when you consider that such a statement is untrue. Oh, yes, the
Republicans wrap themselves in the emancipation flag today, but 140 years ago,
that was not the case at all.

Republicans fought against the extension of slavery to newly acquired western
territories. True. They did this primarily because the southern planters were
threatening to shift the base of economic and political power away from highly
capitalized, industrial NE by dominating the House of Representatives. In the
middle of the 19th Century, slaves and indentured servants
were considered 3/5 of a person- so planters with enormous holdings could
almost count on controlling a specific congressional district. The greater a
state's population, (even at 3/5 per head) the greater the number of
congressional districts and representatives.

Don't forget what the Republicans proposed to *do* with the freed slaves. "Send
'em back to Africa!" (see the history of Liberia). Things haven't changed all
that much, I'm sure there are a lot of folks in the red states who still feel
the best solution for dealing with racial diversity would be, "Send 'em back to
Africa!"