In the course of the next two years,
however, the Kansas agitation and another cause, to be presently
noticed, had so swollen the ranks of the so-called Republicans, that, in
the House of Representatives of the Thirty-sixth Congress, which met in
December, 1859, neither party had a decided majority, the balance of
power being held by a few members still adhering to the virtually
extinct Whig and "American," or Know-Nothing, organizations, and a still
smaller number whose position was doubtful or irregular. More than eight
weeks were spent in the election of a Speaker; and a so-called
"Republican" (Mr. Pennington, of New Jersey) was finally elected by a
majority of one vote. The Senate continued to be decidedly Democratic,
though with an increase of the so-called "Republican" minority.
The cause above alluded to, as contributing to the rapid growth of the
so-called Republican party after the elections of the year 1857, was the
dissension among the Democrats, occasioned by the introduction of the
doctrine called by its inventors and advocates "popular sovereignty," or
"non-intervention," but more generally and more accurately known as
"squatter sovereignty." Its character has already been concisely stated
in the preceding chapter. Its origin is generally attributed to General
Cass, who is supposed to have suggested it in some general expressions
of his celebrated "Nicholson letter," written in December, 1847.
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