nd feverish
success, and in 1845-5, under the name of _Know-Nothings_, enrolled
tens of thousands in secret lodges. But its creed was narrow, its
principles were illiberal, and its methods of procedure boyish and
undignified. The great body of thinking men in the North saw that
the real contest impending was against slavery and not against
naturalization laws and ecclesiastical dogmas. The Know-Nothings,
therefore, speedily disappeared, and a new party sprang into
existence composed of anti-slavery Whigs and anti-slavery Democrats.
The latter infused into the ranks of the new organization a spirit
and an energy which Whig traditions could never inspire. The same
name was not at once adopted in all the free States in 1854, but
by the ensuing year there was a general recognition throughout the
North that all who intended to make a serious fight against the
pro-slavery Democracy would unite under the flag of the Republican
party. In its very first effort, without compact organization,
without discipline, it rallied the anti-slavery sentiment so
successfully as to carry nearly all the free States and to secure
a plurality of the members of the House of Representatives. The
indignation of the people knew no bounds. Old political landmarks
disappeared, and party prejudices of three generations were swept
aside in a day. With such success in the outset, the Republicans
prepared for a vigorous struggle in the approaching Presidential
election.

The anti-slavery development of the North was not more intense than
the pro-slavery development of the South. Every other issue was
merged in the one absorbing demand by Southern slave-holders for
what they sincerely believed to be their rights in the Territories.
It was not viewed on either side as an ordinary political contest.
It was felt to be a question not of expediency but of morality,
not of policy but of honor. It did not merely enlist men. Women
took large part in the agitation. It did not end with absorbing
the laity. The clergy were as profoundly concerned. The power of
the Church on both sides of the dividing-line was used with great
effect in shaping public opinion and directing political action.
The Missouri Compromise was repealed in May. Before the end of
the year a large majority of the people of the North and a large
majority of the people of the South were distinctly arrayed against
each other on a question which touched the interest, the pride,
the