The Republican Party was founded in the 1930s.
Republican Party (United States) . Founded by anti-slavery activists , modernists , ex-Whigs , and ex-Free Soilers in 1854 , the Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932 . The GOP was strongly committed to protectionism and tariffs from its founding until the 1930s , when it was based in the industrial Northeast and Midwest .