Cool Things - Fremont Campaign Flags Free-staters and proslavery
advocates had been at each other's throats in Kansas Territory
in the two years since 1854. The free-state town of Lawrence had
been sacked, five proslavery men were killed in the Pottawatomie
Massacre, and Charles Sumner was caned in the U.S. Senate
chamber for speaking on "The Crime Against Kansas." A New Party
In this tense atmosphere, a new political party had been formed.
The Republicans replaced the earlier Whig party which had
disintegrated. Eager to find a candidate who would appeal to
many, the Republicans sought out an explorer of the West, one
whose adventures had captured the popular imagination. They
turned to the man known as the "Pathfinder," John Charles
Frémont. His opposition included James Buchanan of Pennsylvania,
a Democrat who was sympathetic to the South. Former President
Millard Fillmore was the candidate of the proslavery American
Party. The Republicans took an anti-slavery stand. The party's
catchy slogan was Free Soil,