Radical Democracy Party (United States)

American political party

Radical Democracy Party

Founded| May 1864
Dissolved| September 1864
Split from| Republican Party
War Democrats[1]
Preceded by| Radical faction of the Republican Party
Merged into| National Union Party

* Republican Party
* War Democrats

Succeeded by| Radical faction of the Republican Party
Newspaper| New Nation
Ideology| Abolitionism
Unconditional Unionism
Hardline Reconstructionism
Radicalism
Pro-civil liberties
Pro-political reform
Political position| Big tent

* Politics of United States
* Political parties
* Elections

The Radical Democracy Party was an abolitionist and anti-Confederate political party in the United States. The party was formed to contest the 1864 presidential election and it was made up largely of disaffected Radical Republicans who felt that President Abraham Lincoln was too moderate on the issues of slavery and racial equality. John C. Frémont was nominated as the party's presidential candidate, with John Cochrane as his running mate. However, their campaign failed to gain momentum and, not wanting to act as a spoiler against Lincoln, they withdrew from the race in September.

## History

[edit]

### Cleveland convention

[edit]

The new party convened in Chapin's Hall in Cleveland, Ohio on at the end of May 1864, one week before the Republican convention. Different estimates were given on the number of attendees, ranging from 200 to 2,000.[2] Often the number given depended on the political leanings of those making the estimate.[3] As well as Radical Republicans, there were also a number of Democrats who were unhappy with their own party's perceived lack of dedication to the war against the Confederacy.[4] Noted abolitionist and previous Republican presidential candidate John C. Frémont was nominated for President while the War Democrat John Cochrane was nominated as Vice President. Among the notable figures who attended or supported the convention were Frederick Douglass,[5] Elizabeth Cady Stanton[6] and Parker Pillsbury.[7] Abolitionist Wendell Phillips did not attend in person, but wrote a letter on behalf of the new organization which was read out. In it, he criticized Lincoln's model of reconstruction, citing the experience of Louisiana following its recapture by Union forces and stated that Lincoln's model "makes the freedom of the negro a sham, and perpetuates Slavery under a softer name".[8]

The platform adopted at Cleveland called for the continuation of the war without compromise, a Constitutional amendment banning slavery and authorizing equal rights, confiscation of rebel property, control of post-war reconstruction by Congress and enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine. The platform also called for a one-term Presidency as well as other implicit calls for civil service reform. To appeal to Democrats, the platform adopted emphasized the protection of the rights of free speech, a free press and the writ of habeas corpus as the Democrats had criticized Lincoln on these issues.[9] Historian James M. McPherson has argued that because of the party wishing to appeal to Democrats, it refused to take on specific calls for black suffrage and land grants for freed slaves that it might otherwise have explicitly endorsed.[10]

### Campaign

[edit]

Frémont and Cochrane campaign poster

Many of the new party's supporters did not necessarily want it to stand in the election. Rather, the hope was that the formation of a new party would cause Lincoln not to gain the Republican nomination.[11] Although this did not occur, Frémont maintained over the course of his campaign that he would drop out if Lincoln did likewise, in favor of a candidate whose platform more closely matched the ideals of the Radical Republicans.[12]

Frémont gained the support of a number of prominent abolitionists. However, the majority of Radical Republicans continued to support Lincoln as it was felt that Frémont could not win and that supporting him would split the abolitionist vote in favor of the Democratic candidate George McClellan.[13] Additionally, many were less than enthusiastic about the party platform with its compromises aiming to attract Democrats.[14] Frémont continued these overtures during his campaign.[15] As the campaign failed to gain momentum, many abolitionists urged Frémont to withdraw his nomination. No major newspaper supported Frémont.[16] However, some Democrat-supporting newspapers such as the New York World did talk up Frémont's credentials in order to disunite Republicans.[17] Confederates as well as Democrats took a close interest in Frémont's campaign, hoping it could help McClellan win in November.[18]

### Withdrawal

[edit]

Frémont and Cochrane dropped out of the race on September 21, 1864. In a letter to The New York Times, Frémont wrote that it had become increasingly clear that the Democrats could not be trusted on the issues of union or abolition. As such, he did not want to act as a spoiler against Lincoln.[19] At the same time, Frémont remained critical of Lincoln, writing that "his Administration has been politically, militarily and financially, a failure, and that its necessary continuance is a cause of regret for the country".[20] In another letter to the same paper written one week previously, but published in the same edition, he wrote that the ideas of the Radical Democracy Party would nevertheless be pursued.[21] It has been speculated that Frémont's withdrawal may have been part of a deal with Lincoln whereby the more conservative Postmaster General Montgomery Blair was removed from his post.[22]

Most Radical Democracy Party supporters went on to support Lincoln in the general election,[23] though there were some exceptions to this, notably Wendell Philips.[24] The party itself was finished, having only formed to run a candidate in the 1864 election.

## See also

[edit]

* Liberty Party (United States, 1840) – prior small abolitionist party that this party was compared to

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Charles Bracelen Flood (2009). 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History. Simon & Schuster. p. 107.
2. ^ William Ganson Rose (1990). Cleveland: The Making of a City. Kent State University Press. p. 324
3. ^ Ganson Rose (1990). p. 324.
4. ^ Charles Bracelen Flood (2009). 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History. Simon & Schuster. p. 107.
5. ^ Michael Burlingham (2008). Abraham Lincoln: A Life. Volume Two. Johns Hopkins University Press.
6. ^ Flood (2009), p. 109.
7. ^ James M. McPherson (1964). The Struggle for Equality: Abolitionists and the Negro in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Princeton University Press. P. 270.
8. ^ McPherson (1964), pp. 269-70.
9. ^ Info at elections.harpweek.com
10. ^ McPherson (1964), p. 270.
11. ^ McPherson (1964), p. 270.
12. ^ McPherson (1964), p. 281.
13. ^ Adam I. P. Smith (2006). No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North. Oxford University Press. P. 115.
14. ^ McPherson (1964), p. 273.
15. ^ McPherson (1964), p. 273.
16. ^ Smith (2006), p. 115.
17. ^ McPherson (1964), p. 274.
18. ^ Larry E. Nelson, Bullets, Ballots and Rhetoric: Confederate Policy for the United States Presidential Contest of 1864. The University of Alabama. 1980. p. 51.
19. ^ Letter of John C. Frémont to the New York Times, published September 23, 1864. Available: [1]. Retrieved 10 August 2017
20. ^ Frémont letter of September 23
21. ^ Letter of John C. Frémont to the New York Times, published September 23, 1864. Available: [2]. Retrieved 10 August 2017
22. ^ Flood (2009), p. 283.
23. ^ Flood (2009), p. 283.
24. ^ Don E. Fehrenbacher (1982) 'The Anti-Lincoln Tradition’ in Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association Vol. 4 Issue. 1. Available: [3]. Retrieved 09 August 2017.

* v
* t
* e

Historical anti-slavery parties in the United States

Presidential tickets|

| Liberty Party|

* James G. Birney/Thomas Earle (1840)
* James G. Birney/Thomas Morris (1844)

|

Free Soil Party|

* Martin Van Buren/Charles F. Adams (1848)
* John P. Hale/George W. Julian (1852)

Republican Party|

* John C. Frémont/William L. Dayton (1856)
* Abraham Lincoln/Hannibal Hamlin (1860)

National Union Party|

* Abraham Lincoln/Andrew Johnson (1864)

National conventions|

* 1848 Free Soil
* 1856 Republican
* 1860 Republican
* 1864 National Union

Other party leaders|

* Gerrit Smith
* Salmon P. Chase
* Charles Sumner
* William H. Seward
* Simon Cameron
* Edward Bates
* Francis P. Blair

Related groups|

* American Anti-Slavery Society
* Anti-Nebraska movement
* Barnburners
* Conscience Whigs
* North American Party
* Radical Democracy Party

* v
* t
* e

Reconstruction era

Participants|

Federal government

* Presidents
* Abraham Lincoln
* Andrew Johnson
* Ulysses S. Grant
* Rutherford B. Hayes

* Congress
* 38
* 39
* 40
* 41
* 42
* 43
* 44
* 45
* Radical Republicans
* Moderate Republicans
* Conservative Republicans
* African-American senators
* African-American representatives
* Reconstruction Amendments
* United States Congressional Joint Committee on Reconstruction
* United States House Select Committee on Reconstruction

* Federal judiciary
* Taney Court
* Chase Court
* Waite Court

* Federal bureaucracy
* Edwin Stanton
* Freedmen's Bureau
* Justice Department

|

State governments

* Southern United States
* Confederate States of America

Others|

* African Americans
* Free people of color
* Freedman
* Politicians
* Carpetbaggers
* Ku Klux Klan
* Scalawag
* Redeemers
* White League
* Red Shirts
* Democratic Party
* Bourbon Democrat
* Horatio Seymour
* Samuel J. Tilden
* Republican Party
* Stalwarts
* Charles Sumner
* Thaddeus Stevens
* Lyman Trumbull
* Benjamin Wade
* John Bingham
* James Mitchell Ashley
* Freedman's Savings Bank
* Women during the Reconstruction era

Elections|

Presidential

* 1864
* DNC
* National Union Convention
* Radical Democracy Party

* 1868
* DNC
* RNC

* 1872
* DNC
* RNC
* Liberal Republican Party
* Straight-Out Democratic Party
* Victoria Woodhull

* 1876
* DNC
* RNC
* Greenback Convention
* Prohibition Convention
* Electoral Commission
* Compromise of 1877

|

U.S. Senate|

* 1864–65
* 1866–67
* 1868–69
* 1870–71
* 1872–73
* 1874–75
* 1876–77

U.S. House|

* 1864–65
* 1866–67
* 1868–69
* 1870–71
* 1872–73
* 1874–75
* 1876–77

Gubernatorial|

* 1863
* AL
* CA
* CT
* KY
* MA
* MN
* NH
* OH
* PA
* VA
* VT
* WI
* WV

* 1864
* CT
* IL
* IN
* LA
* MD
* MA
* MI
* MO
* NH
* VT
* WV

* 1865
* CT
* FL
* LA
* MA
* MN
* NJ
* OH
* SC
* VT
* WI

* 1866
* CT
* DE
* MA
* ME
* MI
* NC
* OR
* PA
* TX
* VT
* WV

* 1867
* CA
* CT
* MA
* MD
* ME
* MN
* OH
* VT
* WI

* 1868
* AL
* CT
* FL
* IL
* IN
* LA
* MA
* ME
* MI
* MO
* NC
* NJ
* SC
* VT
* WV

* 1869
* CT
* IA
* MA
* ME
* MN
* MS
* OH
* PA
* RI
* VA
* VT
* WI

* 1870
* AL
* CT
* DE
* MA
* ME
* MI
* MO
* OR
* RI
* SC
* VT
* WV

* 1871
* CA
* CT
* IA
* KY
* MA
* MD
* ME
* MN
* NJ
* OH
* RI
* WI

* 1872
* AL
* CT
* FL
* IL
* IN
* LA
* MA
* ME
* MI
* MO
* NC
* PA
* RI
* SC
* VT
* WV

* 1873
* CT
* IA
* MA
* ME
* MN
* MS
* OH
* TX
* VA
* WI

* 1874
* AL
* CT
* DE
* KS
* MA
* ME
* MI
* MO
* NJ
* NV
* OR
* SC
* VT

* 1875
* CA
* CT
* IA
* KY
* MA
* MD
* ME
* MN
* OH
* OH
* WI

* 1876
* AL
* CO
* CT Apr.
* CT Nov.
* FL
* IL
* IN
* KS
* LA
* MA
* ME
* MI
* MO
* NC
* RI
* SC
* VT
* WV

U.S. elections|

* 1864
* 1866
* 1868
* 1870
* 1872
* 1874
* 1876

Key events|

| Prelude|

* American Indian Wars
* Slavery in the United States
* A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
* The Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women (1838)
* Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1839)
* Seneca Falls Convention (1848)
* National Women's Rights Convention (1850)
* American Civil War
* Confiscation Act of 1861
* Confiscation Act of 1862
* District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act (1862)
* Militia Act of 1862

|

1863|

* Emancipation Proclamation
* General Order No. 143
* Lincoln's presidential Reconstruction
* Ten percent plan
* National Bank Act
* Women's Loyal National League
* New York City draft riots
* 1863 State of the Union Address

1864|

* Wade–Davis Bill
* 1864 elections
* 1864 State of the Union Address

1865|

* 13th Amendment
* Second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
* Address
* Black Codes
* Special Field Orders No. 15
* Freedmen's Bureau
* Freedmen's Bureau bills
* Confederates surrender at Appomattox
* Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
* Shaw University
* New Departure
* 1865 State of the Union Address
* Founding of the Ku Klux Klan

1866|

* Civil Rights Act of 1866
* Memphis massacre of 1866
* New Orleans Massacre of 1866
* Swing Around the Circle
* Southern Homestead Act of 1866
* Fort Smith Conference and Cherokee Reconstruction Treaty of 1866
* Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty of Washington of 1866
* Tennessee readmitted to Union
* Petition for Universal Freedom
* National Labor Union
* Ex parte Garland
* Ex parte Milligan
* Slave Kidnapping Act of 1866

* 1866 elections

1867|

* Tenure of Office Act
* Command of Army Act
* Indian Peace Commission
* Knights of the White Camelia
* Pulaski riot
* Reconstruction Acts
* Reconstruction military districts
* Constitutional conventions of 1867
* Habeas Corpus Act of 1867
* Peonage Act of 1867
* First impeachment inquiry into Andrew Johnson
* 1867 State of the Union Address

1868|

* 14th Amendment
* Second impeachment inquiry into Andrew Johnson
* Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
* Timeline
* Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson
* Impeachment managers investigation
* Articles of impeachment
* Arkansas readmitted to Union
* Florida readmitted to Union
* North Carolina readmitted to Union
* South Carolina readmitted to Union
* Louisiana readmitted to Union
* Alabama readmitted to Union
* Opelousas massacre
* Fourth Reconstruction Act
* Georgia v. Stanton
* 1868 elections
* 1868 State of the Union Address

1869|

* National Woman Suffrage Association
* American Woman Suffrage Association
* Alabama Claims
* Proposed annexation of Santo Domingo
* Board of Indian Commissioners
* Public Credit Act of 1869
* Black Friday (1869)
* Ex parte McCardle
* First transcontinental railroad
* 1869 State of the Union Address

1870|

* 15th Amendment
* Enforcement Act of 1870
* Justice Department
* Naturalization Act of 1870
* Kirk–Holden war
* Shoffner Act
* 1870 elections
* 1870 State of the Union Address

1871|

* Ku Klux Klan hearings
* Second Enforcement Act
* Ku Klux Klan Act
* Alcorn State University
* Meridian race riot of 1871
* Treaty of Washington
* New York custom house ring
* Civil service commission
* United States expedition to Korea
* 1871 State of the Union Address

1872|

* General Mining Act of 1872
* Crédit Mobilier scandal
* Modoc War
* Star Route scandal
* Salary Grab Act
* Amnesty Act
* 1872 elections
* 1872 State of the Union Address

1873|

* Panic of 1873
* Colfax massacre
* Timber Culture Act
* Slaughter-House Cases
* Virginius Affair
* Coinage Act of 1873
* Long Depression
* Comstock laws
* 1873 State of the Union Address

1874|

* Brooks–Baxter War
* Battle of Liberty Place
* Coushatta massacre
* Red River War
* Timber Culture Act
* White League
* Election Massacre of 1874
* Vicksburg massacre
* Black Hills Gold Rush
* Sanborn incident
* Anti-Moiety Acts
* 1874 elections
* 1874 State of the Union Address

1875|

* United States v. Cruikshank
* Civil Rights Act of 1875
* Red Shirts
* Mississippi Plan
* Clifton Riot of 1875
* Yazoo City Riot of 1875
* Specie Payment Resumption Act
* Whiskey Ring
* Wheeler Compromise
* Delano affair
* Pratt & Boyd
* 1875 State of the Union Address

1876|

* Hamburg massacre
* South Carolina civil disturbances of 1876
* Ellenton massacre
* Great Sioux War of 1876
* Battle of the Little Bighorn
* United States v. Reese
* Trader post scandal
* Centennial Exposition
* Cattellism
* Safe burglary conspiracy
* 1876 elections
* 1876 State of the Union Address

1877|

* Electoral Commission
* Compromise of 1877
* Nez Perce War
* Desert Land Act
* Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Aftermath|

* Posse Comitatus Act (1878)
* Civil Rights Cases (1883)
* United States v. Harris (1883)
* Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
* Williams v. Mississippi (1898)
* Wilmington insurrection of 1898
* Giles v. Harris (1903)
* Disenfranchisement

Aspects|

| Historiography|

* Bibliography of the Reconstruction era
* James Shepherd Pike
* The Prostrate State (1874)
* James Bryce
* The American Commonwealth (1888)
* Claude G. Bowers
* The Tragic Era (1929)
* Columbia University
* John Burgess
* Walter Lynwood Fleming
* Dunning School
* William Archibald Dunning
* Charles A. Beard
* Howard K. Beale
* W. E. B. Du Bois
* Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
* C. Vann Woodward
* Joel Williamson
* William R. Brock
* The American Crisis (1963)
* John Hope Franklin
* From Slavery to Freedom (1947)
* After Slavery (1965)
* Leon Litwack
* Been in the Storm So Long (1979)
* Eric Foner
* Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 (1988)
* Kenneth M. Stampp
* Steven Hahn
* A Nation Under Our Feet (2003)
* The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (2019)

|

Memory|

* Winslow Homer
* A Visit from the Old Mistress (1876)
* Thomas Dixon Jr.
* The Leopard's Spots (1902)
* The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan (1905)
* D. W. Griffith
* The Birth of a Nation (1915)
* United Daughters of the Confederacy
* Gone with the Wind (1939)
* David W. Blight
* Race and Reunion (2001)

Legacy|

* Women's suffrage in the United States
* Labor history of the United States
* Gilded Age
* Jim Crow era
* Civil rights movement
* American frontier

Other topics|

* African American founding fathers of the United States
* Forty acres and a mule
* Habeas corpus
* History of the United States (1865–1917)
* Paramilitary
* Race (human categorization)
* Reconstruction Treaties
* Suffrage
* Technological and industrial history of the United States
* White supremacy
* Whitecapping

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template