Journal Review: "The Radicals' Abandonment of the Negro During Reconstruction" by Patrick W. Riddleberger
I recall many months ago eagerly researching the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party during the Gilded Age, and desperately seeking more information about its members. I came across this journal on JSTOR, which stated that the faction's members included Radical Republicans Benjamin Wade, Oliver P. Morton, and Zachariah Chandler. First off, it should be noted that the journal is describing the setting of the 1872 presidential election, where the Republican Party split into the "regulars" and the insurgent "Liberals." During 1872, the term "Stalwart" as a reference to the pro-Grant faction became during the mid-1870s. Although the leading Grant loyalists became the core of the Stalwart faction later during the Hayes presidency, the evidence suggests that they were not yet known by that term during 1872. The argument of Riddleberger in the journal suggests that the Grant loyalists and the Liberal Republicans were alike, and argues that both abandone...