The Republican Party supported a stronger federal government, the abolition of slavery, and high tariffs. The south was mostly Democratic, which supported states rights, slavery, and low tariffs. The south did not want to loose their slaves because they were used mostly for agriculture. Agriculture was the southern states' main industry. Finally, The Republicans' protective tariff policy had a negative affect on the southern economy. Founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists, first came to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency and presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction.