Origin of the GOP
The Gallant/Grand Old Party, or the GOP, dates back to the 1850s, when defectors from the Whig party and the Democrat party desired a political party to represent the Northern half of the newly-formed nation -- particularly the states that wanted to abolish slavery.
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Identification
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While the party came to be known as the Republican party, the term "GOP" was first used synonymously in an article in the "New York Herald" in October of 1884. It was originally a nickname of the Democrats, but in 1888, the "Chicago Tribune" used GOP for the Republican party and it stuck.
The Mascot
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In 1874, the same cartoonist that defined the Democratic party with the image of a donkey drew a cartoon for "Harper's Weekly," labeling an elephant with the caption "The Republican Vote."
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Fun Fact
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The first time the GOP ran a slate for president, it lost, but still managed to garner one-third of the vote. The second time, the party ran Abraham Lincoln, who won and was instantly charged with ending slavery and preventing the South from seceding from the Union. The result was a hard-fought Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery.
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References
- Photo Credit elephant image by michele goglio from Fotolia.com
