1. Topics: Democratic Party Republican Party Homestead Act

2. Republican Party/ G.O.P. • Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president • it began at a protest meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin on February 1854 • They are were for anti-slavery, known as the Free Soliers • The first convention was held in Jackson, Michigan on July 6,1854 • Emerged out of the north • Was one of the legatees of the Whig organization

3. PICTURES.!!!!!!!!!;)

4. DEMOCRATIC PARTY • Andrew Jackson is considered the first democratic president. • Favors states rights and the constitution, opposed the national bank. • is one of the two major political parties. • Focuses on the growth of people regardless of wealth.

5. PICTURES

6. HOMESTEAD ACT • This act was included in the Republican party platform of 1860. • The Homestead Act provided adult citizens that you could claim 160 acres of government land. • The claimant would pay $1.25 per acre. • After 5 years on the land the original filer was entitled to the property. • The act however was not the answer to poverty. • After the Civil War , union soldiers could deduct the time they had surveyed from the residency requirements. • The act gave many people the opportunity to own land that would not have it before stimulated economic growth.