This committee began its work at once and completed its task with a report on the evening of the second day, May 17. Platform The platform was drawn up by the Platform Committee chaired by Judge William Jessup of Pennsylvania. The reading of the platform was received with stormy applause and an immediate move followed to adopt the document unanimously and without amendments. US Representative Joshua Reed Giddings of Ohio proposed an amendment to insert the famous language from the Declaration of Independence that "All men are created equal; and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights..." This amendment was initially rejected by the Convention, prompting Giddings to walk out. The matter was hastily reconsidered by the Convention, and with the addition of the amendment the disgruntled Mr. Giddings returned to his seat, crisis resolved. The 1860 Republican platform consisted of 17 declarations of principle, of which 10 dealt directly with the issues of "free soil", slavery, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the preservation of the Union, while the remaining 7 dealt with other issues. Clauses 12 through 16 of the platform called for a protective tariff, enactment of the Homestead Act, maintaining the current naturalization laws and full rights to all "native or naturalized" citizens, internal improvements, and the construction of a Pacific railroad. In addition to the preservation of the Union, all five of these additional promises were enacted by the Thirty-seventh Congress and implemented by Abraham Lincoln or the presidents who immediately succeeded him. Presidential nomination Presidential candidates The Republican National Convention met in mid-May 1860, after the Democrats had been forced to adjourn their convention in Charleston, South Carolina. With the Democrats in disarray and a sweep of the Northern states possible, the Republicans felt confident going into their convention in Chicago. William H. Seward from New York was considered the front-runner, followed Salmon P. Chase from Ohio, and Missouri's Edward Bates. Abraham Lincoln from Illinois, was lesser known, and was not considered to have a good chance against Seward. Seward had been governor and senator of New York, was from firm Whig backgrounds, and was a very able politician. Also running were John C. Frémont, William L. Dayton, Cassius M. Clay, and Benjamin Wade, who might be able to win if the convention deadlocked. As the convention developed, however, it was revealed that frontrunners Seward, Chase, and Bates had each alienated factions