As the Republican National Convention kicks off in Tampa, Florida, CNN's Tom Foreman asks: 'Who are the Republicans, anyway?'
The modern Republican party owes its origins to the fight over slavery, says Foreman. Before the Civil War, political activists were worried about slavery spreading into the Western territories. They didn't think the other parties, the Democrats or the Whigs, would do anything about it - so they formed their own party.
By 1861, they had their first president Abraham Lincoln. Slavery fell and the Republicans began their 'long steady march to power.' Traditionally, their voting base was in rural areas and the West. They talked about immigration, religion and building a strong business climate.
But deep policy divisions over what to do in WWI, and then the Great Depression, saw the party 'scurrying off into retreat'. It was another twenty years before Dwight Eisenhower would win the White House back for the Republicans.
On Tuesday, White House hopeful Mitt Romney will travel to Tampa as the Republican National Convention prepares to crown him as the party's next presidential nominee.
Tampa's gala event, one of the most important on the presidential campaign calendar, opened on Monday, but the proceedings were quickly adjourned - delayed by a day due to the threat from Tropical Storm Isaac.
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