The Liberal Republican Party was an American political party that was organized in May 1872 to oppose the reelection of President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

and his Radical Republican supporters in the presidential election of 1872. The party emerged in Missouri under the leadership of Senator

Carl Schurz Carl Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He immigrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent member of the new ...

and soon attracted other opponents of Grant; Liberal Republicans decried the scandals of the Grant administration and sought civil service reform. The party opposed Grant's Reconstruction policies, particularly the

Enforcement Acts The Enforcement Acts were three bills that were passed by the United States Congress between 1870 and 1871. They were criminal codes that protected African Americans’ right to vote, to hold office, to serve on juries, and receive equal protect ...

that destroyed the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. It lost in a landslide, and disappeared from the national stage after the 1872 election. The

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

had emerged as the dominant party in the aftermath of the Civil War, but many original Republicans became dissatisfied with the leadership of President Grant. Prominent liberal leaders like Schurz, Charles Sumner and

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull esta ...

had been leaders in the fight against slavery and for the first stages of Reconstruction. They considered the task accomplished, and thought continued radical policies to be oppressive. By 1872 they demanded an end to Reconstruction and a restoration of self-government to the South. The

1872 Liberal Republican convention An influential group of dissident Republicans split from the party to form the Liberal Republican Party in 1870. At the party's only national convention, held in Cincinnati in 1872, ''New York Tribune'' editor Horace Greeley was nominated for Pres ...

nominated a ticket consisting of

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...

, longtime publisher of the '' New-York Tribune''; and Missouri Governor Benjamin Gratz Brown. Seeking to defeat Grant, the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nominated the Liberal Republican ticket and endorsed the Liberal Republican platform. However, Grant emerged triumphant in the election, capitalizing on superior party organization. Democrats lacked enthusiasm for Greeley, who for decades had denounced them. Greeley received 44% of the popular vote, winning the states of Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Maryland. Grant received 286 of the 352 electoral college votes. Greeley died shortly after the election. The Liberal Republican Party vanished immediately after the election, though a handful of its leaders continued to serve in Congress. Former party members scattered into the Democratic and Republican parties. By cutting the allegiance of liberal elements to the Republican Party, the Liberal Republicans made it possible for many of these leaders to move to the Democratic Party.

History of the party

1872 Cincinnati Convention of Liberal Republicans (cropped)

Formation

Originally liberal Republicans advocated for a return to traditional classical republicanism, were concerned about corruption and centralized power creeping into the federal government, and wanted to reform the Republican Party. As the liberal Republicans began to form a political party, a few years later, it was taken over by others who were anti-Grant and anti-reconstruction. The party began in Missouri in 1870 under the leadership of

and spread nationwide. It had strong support from powerful Republican newspaper editors such as

Murat Halstead Murat Halstead (September 2, 1829 – July 2, 1908) was an American newspaper editor and magazine writer. He was a war correspondent during three wars. Biography Born in Paddy's Run (now Shandon), Ohio, in Butler County, Ohio, he was the son of G ...

of the '' Cincinnati Commercial'', Horace White of the '' Chicago Tribune'', Henry Watterson of the '' Louisville Courier-Journal'', Samuel Bowles of the '' Springfield Republican'' and especially Whitelaw Reid and

of the '' New-York Tribune''. Many Liberal Republican leaders had been Democrats and members of the Free Soil Party before joining the Republican Party after its creation in the 1850s. The Liberal Republicans thought that the Grant administration and the President personally were fully corrupt. More importantly, they thought that the goals of Reconstruction had been achieved. These goals were firstly the destruction of slavery, and secondly the destruction of Confederate nationalism. With these goals achieved the tenets of republicanism demanded that federal military troops be removed from the South, where they were propping up allegedly corrupt Republican regimes. Many of the original founders of the Republican party and leaders of the Civil War joined the movement, including its nominee

, Charles Sumner of Massachusetts,

of Illinois, Cassius Marcellus Clay of Kentucky and Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts. The party platform demanded "the immediate and absolute removal of all disabilities imposed on account of the rebellion" and local self-government for the southern states. It regarded "a thorough reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour". Many Liberal Republicans also sought a downward revision of the tariff, believing that powerful industries had unfairly won the protection of certain goods. The Liberal Republicans argued that the goal of ensuring civil and political rights for African Americans had been achieved. Hence, they contended it was time for "amnesty", which meant restoring to ex-Confederates the right to vote and hold office. A key motivation for many Liberal Republicans was a belief in states' rights and a fear of a strong federal government. Many Liberal Republicans had joined the Republican Party in the 1850s in opposition to the expansion of slavery into the territories, but with slavery no longer an issue and the Civil War over, other issues such as federal power re-emerged. Many of the Liberal Republicans, including Trumbull, had opposed the impeachment of Andrew Johnson and were wary of an upset of the traditional constitutional balance of power. According to historian Eric Foner, all four of the remaining Republican senators who voted to acquit President Johnson had joined the Liberal Republican Party in 1872.

1872 convention

Led by Schurz, judge Stanley Matthews and editor William Grosvenor, the Liberal Republican Party organized a national convention in Cincinnati in May 1872. In Missouri, Democrats and Liberal Republicans had successfully defeated the incumbent Republican governor and the Liberal Republicans hoped to nominate a presidential candidate who could likewise win the support of Democrats. Though Schurz had founded the party, he was ineligible to run for president as he had been born in Germany and instead became the chairman of the convention. Those who attended the convention had various motivations, though all were united in opposition to Grant. Many delegates were attracted to the party's support for civil service reform and an end to Reconstruction. Others like Reuben Fenton hoped to recapture control of state party organizations. In Missouri, the Liberal Republicans had become established as a major party, but the other states lacked a party organization and their delegations were little more than self-appointed committees. Entering the convention, Supreme Court Justice David Davis, Senator

of Illinois and former Congressman Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts were among the major candidates for the presidential nomination. Schurz favored Adams, but was unwilling to publicly back a candidate as he wished to retain the appearance of impartiality. Davis entered the week of the convention with perhaps the strongest backing, but saw his candidacy damaged by unfavorable coverage from newspapers aligned with the Liberal Republican movement. Newspaper publisher

of New York won the support of many former Davis backers, despite some concern about his lack of support for tariff reduction. On the first ballot of the convention, Adams and Greeley emerged as the two strongest contenders for the nomination. Most delegates voted for Adams or Greeley on subsequent ballots, though Trumbull retained significant support. On the sixth and final ballot, Greeley picked up just enough to clinch the nomination. Following the presidential nomination, the convention chose Missouri Governor Benjamin Gratz Brown as the party's vice presidential nominee. Brown had supported Greeley's nomination as a way to increase his power within the state party at the expense of Schurz, and Brown won the support of most pro-Greeley delegates on the vice presidential ballot.

1872 campaign

Prior to the Liberal Republican convention, Democratic leaders had given the Liberal Republicans assurances that they would nominate the Liberal Republican ticket. The Democrats believed that they could not win the 1872 election without anti-Grant Republicans and Democratic leaders hoped that they would reap patronage rewards from a Liberal Republican presidency. However, Democratic leaders were dismayed by the nomination of Greeley. Many Southern Democrats were eager to elect any candidate that might put an end to Grant's Reconstruction policies, but Greeley's frequent attacks on the Democratic Party had earned the enmity of many Democrats, especially in the Northeast. Despite these qualms, most Democrats decided that Greeley was better than Grant and represented their only chance to defeat the Republican president. Though several state conventions endured considerable debate, every state Democratic convention other than Delaware's convention ultimately endorsed Greeley. By a wide margin, the July

1872 Democratic National Convention The 1872 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at Ford's Grand Opera House on East Fayette Street, between North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, in Baltimore, Maryland on July 9 and 10, 1872. It resulted in ...

voted to endorse the Liberal Republican ticket and accept the party's platform without modification. After the convention, a group of disaffected Democrats led by

Blanton Duncan Blanton Duncan (July 2, 1827 – April 8, 1902) was an American landholder, printer, political organizer, and Confederate Army officer. Blanton was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His father was U.S. congressman Garnett Duncan who organized support ...

nominated

Charles O'Conor Charles O'Conor may refer to: * Charles O'Conor (historian) (1710–1791), Irish writer, historian, and antiquarian * Charles O'Conor (priest) (1764–1828), Irish priest and historian, grandson of the above * Charles O'Conor (American politician) ( ...

and John Quincy Adams II on the Straight-Out Democratic Party ticket, but both refused the nomination and neither actively campaigned. The Liberal Republican Party fused with the Democratic Party in all states except for Louisiana and Texas. In states where Republicans were stronger, the Liberal Republicans fielded a majority of the joint slate of candidates for lower offices; while in states where Democrats were stronger, the Democrats fielded the most candidates. In many states, such as Ohio, each party nominated half of a joint slate of candidates. Even initially reluctant Democratic leaders like

Thomas F. Bayard Thomas Francis Bayard (October 29, 1828 – September 28, 1898) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from Wilmington, Delaware. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he served three terms as United States Senate, United States ...

came to support Greeley. The 1872 campaign was primarily conducted on personalities rather than issues, with Greeley and Grant both sustaining numerous personal attacks. Greeley favored protectionism and did not emphasize civil service reform, two of the motivating issues for the party's founders. Greeley attacked many of Grant's many appointments as corrupt, but Greeley's past associations with Republican leaders undermined the corruption argument. Nonetheless, Liberal Republican leaders like Schurz and Sumner coalesced behind Greeley and most actively campaigned for the party's nominee. Grant's backers accused the Liberal Republicans of seeking to overturn the results of the Civil War and the Republicans mobilized veteran's organizations in support of Grant. Liberal Republicans argued that they sought reconciliation of North and South and that the time had come to end radical Reconstruction policies. Each party sought to appeal to African Americans, with the Liberal Republican appeal centering on Greeley's long history of abolitionism. However,

Fredrick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a ...

successfully organized blacks in support of Grant. Many inside and outside of the Liberal Republican Party believed that their coalition would triumph in the 1872 election and the outcome of the election remained in doubt until October. However, the Republicans utilized superior organization, the backing of financiers like Jay Cooke and lingering Democratic doubts about Greeley to win most contests throughout the country. Foner writes that in spite of Greeley's personal record of advocating civil rights, blacks held a sharp distrust due to his association in the election cycle with the Democratic Party, and furthermore recognized that civil service reform would inhibit their social and economic progress by effectively barring "the whole colored population" from public office. In the election, Greeley won 43.8% of the popular vote and just 66 of the 352 electoral votes, while O'Conor won 0.3% of the popular vote. Greeley died on November 29, 1872 before the presidential electors met on December 4 to cast the electoral votes. The Greeley electors were not able to coordinate their votes before meeting, but their action made no difference in the face of Grant's electoral college landslide.Most Greeley electors (42 of 66) voted for Thomas A. Hendricks for President. Greeley electors who were Liberal Republicans cast 18 electoral votes for B. Gratz Brown (8 in Missouri, 6 in Georgia, and 4 in Kentucky). Two Greeley electors voted for Charles Jenkins, one for David Davis, and three electors (in Georgia) voted for Greeley, even though he had died. Congress refused to count the three electoral votes cast for Greeley.

Aftermath

Although the Liberal Republican Party did not survive Greeley's death, several of its reforms materialized in the following decade. Reform Republicans accomplished the nomination and then election of Rutherford B. Hayes in

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

, who brought Reconstruction to an end and removed some of Grant's appointments. The Liberal Republican call for civil service reform was passed during the administration of President Chester Arthur. However, Greeley's relatively poor performance (he fared worse than

Horatio Seymour Horatio Seymour (May 31, 1810February 12, 1886) was an American politician. He served as Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1868 United States presidential elec ...

had in

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

) also put an end to the Democratic experiment with fusion tickets. Though the national party organization disappeared, several Liberal Republican members continued to serve in Congress after the 1872 elections. While those in the House were allowed to keep their committee assignments and chairmanships, Liberal Republican Senators became de facto independents and received inferior committee assignments. Most Liberal Republican Congressmen eventually joined the Democratic Party. Outside of the South, some Liberal Republicans sought the creation of a new party opposed to Republicans, but Democrats were unwilling to abandon their old party affiliation and even relatively successful efforts like Wisconsin's Reform Party collapsed. Even the Missouri Liberal Republican Party collapsed as the Democrats became the major opposition party to the Republicans. Democrats won several seats in Congress and numerous other offices in the 1874 elections, aided by dissatisfaction with Grant and the defection of former Liberal Republicans. As Republicans became increasingly worried about their chances in the

1876 elections Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

, they courted former Liberal Republican leaders like Schurz and Fenton. Both parties made direct appeals to former Liberal Republicans in the 1876 elections and former party supporters split roughly evenly between the two presidential candidates. Schurz actively campaigned for Hayes and became the Secretary of Interior after Hayes won the election. In the following years, former Liberal Republicans became members in good standing of both major parties. In the 1880s, many would join the Mugwump movement in opposition to

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

. Many also joined the Greenback Party, which sought inflationary policies and labor reforms.

Interpretations

Cincinnati Convention of Liberal Republicans

Historian Richard Gerber argues that most authors and historians portray the Liberal Republicans as an aberration, noting the many unresolved issues of the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

. He groups the historical interpretations of the party that prevailed after 1872 into two main categories. One historical interpretation emphasizes the Liberal Republican push for the re-establishment of self-government in the South and the restoration of national unity. The second interpretation sees the Liberal Republicans as primarily motivated by opposition to the corruption of the Grant administration and support for lower tariffs. Downey argues Greeley was nominated as a result of a crass political bargain imposed against the will of a convention that really wanted Charles Francis Adams. Men like Schurz supported Adams, but were inexperienced political idealists and not professional politicians. They neither acted nor voted as a bloc, particularly after the collapse of a boom for David Davis, a collapse engineered by a group of leading reformist Republican editors. The shift of particular votes to Greeley was not decisive, but the feeling of the delegates that Adams could not win support among Irish workers, the Western masses, or Democratic voters. Lunde argues Grant supporters hailed the Civil War as a great triumph which had bound the United States into a united nation, linked not only by sentiment but by rapidly increasing networks of railroads. The Democrats and their Liberal Republican allies thought the war was a tragedy, recoiled against centralization and sought to recapture the purity of prewar days through reconciliation and respect for the autonomy of the states. Greeley's benevolent image of nationalism was defeated by the centralizing, "blood and iron" concept of Grant. McPherson argues that three-quarters of ex abolitionists favored Grant, although such antislavery Republicans as Charles Francis Adams, Carl Schurz and Charles Sumner were key supporters of Greeley. Focused on the welfare of the freedmen, abolitionists were appalled by Greeley's formula for cooperation with "better class" southern whites by granting amnesty to all Confederates and adopting a hands-off policy toward the South. They supported Grant in the belief that his Southern policy promised the best protection for the African Americans. Most abolitionists believed that, moral suasion having failed earlier, true equality could be achieved only through relentless law enforcement. Slap (2006) redeems the reputation of the Liberal Republicans from allegations of opportunism (as presented by

Ari Hoogenboom Ari Arthur Hoogenboom (November 28, 1927 – October 25, 2014) was professor emeritus of history at Brooklyn College at the City University of New York. He was a scholar of the Gilded Age, particularly regarding the life and presidency of Ruthe ...

), of elitism (as presented by John G. Sproat) and racism as presented by the neoabolitionists. He joins Heather Cox Richardson and David Quigley in concluding that Reconstruction ended not because of politicized violence in the South, but because of the Northern decision that the war goals had been achieved and it would thwart republican ideals to continue Army rule of the South.

Prominent party members

Charles Francis Adams Sr. Charles Francis Adams Sr. (August 18, 1807 – November 21, 1886) was an American historical editor, writer, politician, and diplomat. As United States Minister to the United Kingdom during the American Civil War, Adams was crucial to Union effort ...

, former

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

, son of President John Quincy Adams. * Nathaniel P. Banks, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and former

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

. * John Cochrane Union General, New York Attorney General. As leader of the New York delegation to the Liberal Republican Convention at Cincinnati in 1872, he was instrumental in securing the nomination of Horace Greeley for the presidency. * John Baxter, federal judge.Charles A. Newell, Jr.,
John Baxter
, ''NCPedia'', 1979. Retrieved: 1 May 2013. *

B. Gratz Brown Benjamin Gratz Brown (May 28, 1826December 13, 1885) was an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator, the 20th Governor of Missouri, and the Liberal Republican and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in the presidential election of ...

, a governor of Missouri and vice presidential candidate in the election of 1872. *

Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...

, Chief Justice of the United States, former

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Ohio and

treasury secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

. * David Davis, U.S. Supreme Court justice, later

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from Illinois. * Reuben Fenton, while

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Thomas W. Tipton Thomas Weston Tipton (August 5, 1817November 26, 1899) was a Senator from Nebraska. Biography Tipton was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and attended Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He pursued classical studies and graduated from Madison Co ...

, while

from Nebraska *

Jacob Dolson Cox Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (October 27, 1828August 4, 1900), was a statesman, lawyer, Union Army general during the American Civil War, Republican politician from Ohio, Liberal Republican Party founder, educator, author, and recognized microbiologist ...

, Secretary of the Interior under the Grant administration. * John McAuley Palmer, Governor of Illinois from 1869 to 1873. *

, newspaper editor, presidential candidate in the election of 1872. *

George Washington Julian George Washington Julian (May 5, 1817 – July 7, 1899) was a politician, lawyer, and writer from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives during the 19th century. A leading opponent of slavery, Julian was the Free Soi ...

from Indiana and women's suffrage advocate. * Alexander McClure, Pennsylvania

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

* T.A.R. Nelson, congressman from Tennessee. *

, former ambassador, Civil War general, power-broker and senator from Missouri. * Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts and anti-slavery advocate. *

, Illinois Senator and author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which officially outlawed slavery. * Cassius M. Clay, ambassador, member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

J. B. C. Drew James Brackett Creighton Drew (July 26, 1843 – November 4, 1924), also referred to as J. B. C. Drew, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 10th Florida Attorney General. Early life and military service Drew was born in New ...

, Union officer and Florida Attorney General

References

External links

Proceedings of the Liberal Republican Convention, in Cincinnati, May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1872

* {{Authority control Political parties established in 1872 Political schisms Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant 1872 establishments in the United States 1876 disestablishments in the United States Classical liberal parties in the United States Defunct liberal parties in the United States 1872 United States presidential election Political parties in the United States * Civil service reform in the United States History of racism in the United States