WHEREAS, May 16-18,2016, officially marks the 156th Anniversary of one of the most historically important events in the American experience, namely, the nomination of Abraham Lincoln as the Republican candidate for president inside the Chicago "Wigwam;" and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this milestone by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, In the years 1856-1860 the sectional crisis over the issue of slavery intensified; and
WHEREAS, The fledgling Republican Party, representing a coalition of abolitionists, Free Soilers, former members of the defunct Whig Party and Northern mercantile and industrial interests desired to hold its second national nominating convention in a Midwestern location; and
WHEREAS, The Republican Party selected the City of Chicago, an emerging "crossroads of commerce" driven by the rapid expansion of twelve east-west railroad trunk lines, as its host city; and
WHEREAS, With a growing population of 112,000, the city lacked an adequate convention hall to accommodate state delegations, out-of-town newspaper reporters and scores of dignitaries and public officials; and
WHEREAS, In response the Chicago Republican Club collected $7,000 in private subscriptions, to erect a temporary three-sided wood-planked structure they named the "Wigwam;" and
WHEREAS, The hastily-constructed "Wigwam" stood just south of the Chicago River at the present site of Lake Street and Wacker Drive on land owned by the Garrett Bible Institute; and •
WHEREAS, An estimated crowd of 30,000 people descended upon Chicago in the^nagfj week of May 1860 to participate in or to observe the convention proceedings; and
WHEREAS, The Republican Party platform committee drafted seventeen statements of principle calling for the preservation of the Union and freedom of immigration while opposing the expansion of slavery, the Fugitive Slave Law; and
WHEREAS, Thirteen declared and undeclared candidates, including Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, vied for the party's...
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