The first official Republican convention in Illinois was held on May 29 , 1856 , in Bloomington . Chairman John M. Palmer was elected convention president after his opening address . Nine vice presidents and five secretaries were then elected . The convention nominated Bissell for governor with Francis Hoffmann as lieutenant governor , Ozias M. Hatch for secretary of state , Jesse K. Dubois as auditor , and James Miller as treasurer . Hoffmann was found to be ineligible for his position due to a residency requirement , and John Wood was nominated in his place . The following resolutions defining the party platform were approved : Resolved , That foregoing all former differences of opinions upon other questions , we pledge ourselves to unite in opposition to the present administration and to the party which upholds and supports it and to use all honorable and constitutional means to wrest the Government from the unworthy hands which now control it and to bring it back in its administration to the principles and practices of Washington , Jefferson and their great and good compatriots of the Revolution . Resolved , That foregoing all former differences of opinions upon other questions , we pledge ourselves to unite in opposition to the present administration of the Government ; that under the Constitution Congress possesses the power to prohibit slavery in the Territories ; and that , whilst we will maintain all constitutional rights of the South , we also hold that justice , humanity , the principles of freedom as expressed in our Declaration of Independence and our national constitution , and the purity and perpetuity of our Government require that that power shall be exerted to prevent the extension of slavery into territory heretofore free . Resolved , That the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was unwise and injurious ; an open and aggravated violation of the plighted faith of the States , and that the attempt of the present administration to force slavery into Kansas against the known wishes of the legal voters of that Territory is an arbitrary and tyrannous violation of the rights of the people to govern themselves , and that we will strive by all constitutional means to secure to Kansas and Nebraska the legal guaranty against slavery of which they were deprived at the cost of the violation of the plighted faith of the nation . Resolved , That we are devoted to the Union and will , to the last extremity , defend it against the efforts now being made by the dis-unionists of this administration to compass its dissolution , and that we will support the Constitution of the United States , in all its provisions regarding it , as the sacred bond of our Union and the only safeguard for the preservation of the rights of ourselves and our posterity . Resolved , That we are in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a member of this Confederacy under the constitution adopted by the people of said Territory . Resolved , That the spirit of our institutions as well as the Constitution of our country , guarantees the liberty of conscience as well as political freedom , and that we will proscribe no one by legislation or otherwise on account of religious opinions , or in consequence of place of birth . Lincoln delivered the closing address . The speech was purportedly so captivating that no reporter made a record of it . The address has become known as Lincoln 's Lost Speech . The delegates to the convention were : The Democrats had nominated Richardson for governor at their convention earlier that month . The remnants of the Whig party declined to run a candidate . The first Republican National Convention met that June , nominating John C. Fremont for president . Fremont was defeated handily in his bid for president , including in Illinois , but the Republican state ticket in Illinois was successful . Bissell became the first Governor from a party other than the Democrats since 1838 . Republicans would win every subsequent gubernatorial election through 1893
first Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
Bloomington Convention