Republican Party Accomplishments

No matter what one's political viewpoints, there is no denying that the Republicans have had many accomplishments in their history. The first and one of the most notable occurred in 1860 when the Republicans held their national convention and decided to build the Transcontinental Railroad. The actual Pacific Railway Act was not passed until 1862, however. Leland Stanford, a former Republican governor, drove the golden spike into the railroad at its completion.

In 1862, the Republicans would make yet another mark on history by passing the Land Grant College Act. This act was designed to distribute federal land to different states throughout the nation so that they could create institutions of higher learning. Colleges founded thanks to this act include the University of Illinois, Cornell University, the University of Arizona, Iowa State University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

One short year later, in 1863, the Republicans created what is known as the highest point in our nation's capitol, Washington D.C. This point is a large statue created by Philip Reid, which sits atop the United States Capitol building to this day. The statue was appropriately named "Freedom," as this is the most important things that the original Republican party stood for.

Also in 1863, the first Hispanic state treasurer was elected in California. his name was Romualdo Pacheco, and he later went on to be elected lieutenant governor in 1871. After that, he would eventually become a member of the United States senate, win three terms in the United States House of Representatives, and serve as an ambassador to Honduras and Guatemala.

Finally, in 1864, the Republicans fought for one of the most important issues of all time - abolishing slavery. That year, the abolishment of slavery and the passing of the 13th amendment became the goals of the Republican Party after being discussed at the Republican National Convention.