• Conservatives didnt help end slavery though. The Republicans at the time were not the conservative party. They were progressive relative to the Democrats of the time. Their was a ideological shift in the middle 20th century that swapped the party ideologies. Republicans today would have been Democrats back then and vice versa. They are claiming Republican victories of the past because they are technically they same party, but they in no way, shape, or form the same party ideologically, just the same name. It’s the ship of Theseus in policitical party form.