How exactly did the antislavery movement go "mainstream?" In his research, Dr. Matthew Karp examines the antislavery politics of the 1850s and how the antislavery movement, through the vessel of the Republican Party, went from the margins to the political mainstream. Here, the election of 1856 is a key moment when antislavery made the historic leap from "radical activism" to "mass politics" and a time when the Republican Party confronted the world.