2 verb A word or group of words that modifies another word describes or classifies something, or restricts the meaning of the word. It is a rule of English that adjectives generally precede the noun they modify: we say `a good cry', not `a cry good'.
The Republican Party was formed by Free Soilers who did not want slavery to spread into the western territories. They were not friendly toward blacks, they just did not want to compete for jobs or lower the wages available.
In the 1840s and '50s, the party was in conflict over extending slavery to the Western territories. Southern Democrats insisted on protecting slavery in all the territories while many Northern Democrats resisted. The party split over the slavery issue in 1860 at its Presidential convention in Charleston, South Carolina.