The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford History of the United States)

by Richard White

Reformers expanded their repertoires beyond direct action and propagandizing to lobbying and supporting individual candidates. To attempt anything larger—to do what antislavery crusaders had done, and gain control of a major political party, or form one that could contain a significant chunk of the electorate—seemed beyond them. No major reform party took shape;