<P> Lunde (1978) 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 . </P> <P> McPherson (1972) 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 . </P> <P> Slap (2006) redeems the reputation of the Liberal Republicans from allegations of opportunism (as presented by Ari Hoogenboom), 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 . </P> <Ul> <Li> Charles Francis Adams, Sr., former congressman and ambassador, son of President John Quincy Adams . </Li> <Li> Nathaniel P. Banks, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and former Speaker of the House . </Li> <Li> 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 . </Li> <Li> John Baxter, federal judge . </Li> <Li> B. Gratz Brown, a governor of Missouri, vice-presidential candidate in the election of 1872 . </Li> <Li> Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, former U.S. Senator from Ohio and treasury secretary . </Li> <Li> David Davis, U.S. Supreme Court justice, later senator from Illinois . </Li> <Li> Reuben Fenton, while U.S. Senator from New York </Li> <Li> Jacob Dolson Cox, Secretary of the Interior under the Grant Administration . </Li> <Li> John McAuley Palmer, Governor of Illinois 1869 - 1873 </Li> <Li> Horace Greeley, newspaper editor, presidential candidate in the election of 1872 . </Li> <Li> George Washington Julian, congressman from Indiana, women's suffrage advocate </Li> <Li> T.A.R. Nelson, congressman from Tennessee . </Li> <Li> Carl Schurz, former ambassador, Civil War general, power - broker, and senator from Missouri . </Li> <Li> Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, anti-slavery advocate </Li> <Li> Lyman Trumbull, Illinois Senator, author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which officially outlawed slavery </Li> </Ul>

The formation of the liberal republican party and the presidential campaign of 1872