THC Science

Radical Abolitionist Party
Radical Abolitionist Party
Founded	1855; 169 years ago
Dissolved	1859; 165 years ago
Ideology	Abolitionism
	Politics of the United States; Political parties; Elections;

This sandbox is in the article namespace. Either move this page into your userspace, or remove the {{User sandbox}} template.The Radical Abolition Party (also known as the Radical Political Abolition Party and American Abolition Society) was a political party formed by abolitionists in the United States in the decade preceding the American Civil War as part of a reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.^[1] The party was formed following their first convention in 1855 and lasted until the end of the decade. The Radical Abolition Party was distinct from other contemporary political groups of the time for their aims to immediately eliminate the institution of slavery (rather than containing it to where it already existed) and advocate for full citizenship rights for African Americans. They also advocated for other marginalized groups' rights, such as women and Native Americans.^[2] Many prominent black and white abolitionists were founders and members including Frederick Douglass, James McCune Smith, William Goodell, Gerrit Smith, and John Brown. The party was unsuccessful in electing a candidate to office, however, made significant contributions to political discourse and helped shape the Republican Party’s future platform on slavery.^[3]

History

Background

The party’s roots are found in the Liberty Party of 1840. The Liberty Party split with the more conservative wing evolving into the Free-Soil Party, and the more radical wing evolving into the Radical Abolition Party.^[1] Several founding members of the Liberty Party, including Gerrit Smith and William Goodell, became founding members of the Radical Abolition Party.^[3]

Formation (Convention of 1855)

The inaugural convention was held in Syracuse, New York in June of 1855, with attendants from ten states and Canada. This was a historically significant moment as James McCune Smith was first black man to chair a national convention.^[1]

Disintegration

The party came to its end four years after its conception by February 1859. M. Leon Perkal argues that the party’s failure was due to “its refusal to recognize that its constitutional argument challenged the basic convictions and prejudices of the times."^[3]

Activities

Publishing and Distribution of Information

The party distributed printed materials such as pamphlets and newspapers to make their arguments more widely known, especially their constitutional argument against slavery^[3]

Radical Abolitionist (the party’s main newspaper, edited by William Goodell)

Unconstitutionality of Slavery by Lysander Spooner (pamphlet)

The Kansas Struggle of 1856, In Congress, and in the Presidential Campaign With Suggestions for the Future

Elections

During the presidential election of 1856, the Radical Abolition Party drew a small number of votes away from the Republican candidate, John C. Fremont. Despite being the candidate nominated by the Radical Abolition Party, surprisingly, Gerrit Smith provided financial support for the Republican Candidate. Frederick Douglass also voiced support for Fremont saying, “it was better to have a half a loaf than no loaf at all."^[3] The Radical Abolition Party continued to nominate Gerrit Smith as their candidate in the NY Gubernatorial Election of 1858 and Presidential Election of 1860 but was unsuccessful in winning office.^[1]

Ideology

Distinctions from Contemporary Parties

The primary ideology of the Radical Abolition Party's platform was based in an active form of abolitionism that was distinct from how other political parties of the time approached the issue of slavery. They were ideologically farthest distanced with the Whigs, Democrats, and Know-Nothing parties that supported and actively worked to perpetuate the institution of slavery. The Free Soilers and Republican parties were ideologically closer but held less radical views. Kellie Carter Jackson argues that “while Free Soilers and Republicans were playing defense in terms of slavery’s expansion, Radical Abolitionists were taking up an offensive stance. They firmly advocated for African American rights, including citizenship."^[2] One could assume the Radical Abolitionist Party were ideologically closest to the American Anti-Slavery Society (or Garrison Party). However, the Radical Abolitionists believed the Garrison Party's primary strategy of moral suasion was insufficient to eradicate slavery. They also disagreed with the Garrison Party's view regarding the Constitution as the Radical Abolitionists interpreted the Constitution as a fundamentally anti-slavery document.^[2]

Constitutional Argument for Abolishing Slavery

William Goodell contributed his formulation of the Constitutional argument against slavery which was grounded in his interpretation of multiple provisions^[3]:

The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment
The Guarantee Clause (provided for all states a republican form of government, republican government is inconsistent with slavery).
The Commerce Clause gave Congress the right to determine what was property and prohibit the slave trade among the states
The Declaration of Independence was part of US Constitutional Law and it prohibited slavery by its equality clause.

John Stauffer argues Goodell's constitutional argument is based on John Quincy Adams' original interpretation, however, Adams did not believe that immediate emancipation was a realistic possibility. Rather, Adams believed emancipation would eventually happen through a more gradual process.^[1]

The Dred Scott decision hindered Radical Abolitionists' efforts to convince people of the constitutional argument. The majority opinion by Chief Justice Taney and dissenting opinion by Justice Curtis and Justice McLean directly countered the Radical Abolitionists' constitutional interpretation.^[3]

Use of Violence

Scholars have different interpretations of another distinct feature of the Radical Abolition Party which is their affirmation of using violence as a strategy.

Perkal contends “the question of using violent means to abolish slavery was the most divisive issue at the Convention."^[3]

Stauffer argues “the party’s platform specifically affirmed violence as a way to end slavery and oppression.”^[1] His description of the events at the inaugural convention suggests there was overwhelming support from attendants after letters written by John Brown's sons were read out loud. The letters described the ongoing violence in Kansas following the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Stauffer goes on to describe how John Brown received fervent support including funds and weapons.^[1]

Jackson's interpretation aligns with Stauffer as she describes how for Radical Abolitionists, “violence was justified and even sanctioned from a biblical standpoint."^[2] She goes on to share a powerful quote from James McCune Smith,

“Our white brethren cannot understand us unless we speak to them in their own language; they recognize only the philosophy of force”^[2]

Legacy

Stauffer argues that despite the Radical Abolition Party's brief time, their existence has "…deep cultural relevance…unprecedented moment of interracial unity and collapsing of racial barriers.” ^[1]

Perkal also emphasizes the party's significance despite the modest results from campaign activities by arguing the party had "an important role in the antislavery movement of the 1850’s. The radicals were able to exert some moral influence upon the Republican Party, perhaps preventing further compromise with abolitionist ideals."^[3]

Notable Members

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Stauffer, John (2002). The Black Hearts of Men. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674013674.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Jackson, Kellie Carter (2019). Force and freedom: black abolitionists and the politics of violence. America in the nineteenth century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-5115-9.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Perkal, M. Leon (1980). "American Abolition Society: A Viable Alternative to the Republican Party?". The Journal of Negro History. 65 (1): 57–71. doi:10.2307/3031548. ISSN 0022-2992.

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+{{Short description|Historical abolitionist political party}}
-{{user sandbox}}
+{{Draft topics|politics-and-government}}
+{{AfC topic|soc}}
+{{AfC submission|||ts=20240327052516|u=164.68.60.189|ns=2}}
+{{user sandbox}}The '''Radical Abolition Party''' (also known as the Radical Political Abolition Party and American Abolition Society) was a political party formed by [[abolitionists]] in the United States in the decade preceding the [[American Civil War]] as part of a reaction to the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Stauffer |first1=John |title=The Black Hearts of Men |date=2002 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674013674}}</ref> The party was formed following their first convention in 1855 and lasted until the end of the decade. The Radical Abolition Party was distinct from other contemporary political groups of the time for their aims to immediately eliminate the institution of slavery (rather than containing it to where it already existed) and advocate for full citizenship rights for African Americans. They also advocated for other marginalized groups' rights, such as women and Native Americans.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kellie Carter |title=Force and freedom: black abolitionists and the politics of violence |date=2019 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-5115-9 |series=America in the nineteenth century |location=Philadelphia}}</ref> Many prominent black and white abolitionists were founders and members including Frederick Douglass, James McCune Smith, William Goodell, Gerrit Smith, and John Brown. The party was unsuccessful in electing a candidate to office, however, made significant contributions to political discourse and helped shape the Republican Party’s future platform on slavery.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Perkal |first=M. Leon |date=1980 |title=American Abolition Society: A Viable Alternative to the Republican Party? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3031548 |journal=The Journal of Negro History |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=57–71 |doi=10.2307/3031548 |issn=0022-2992}}</ref>
-{{Infobox organization
+{{Infobox political party
-| name                = Women Strike for Peace
+| name             = Radical Abolitionist Party
-| image               = Women Strike for Peace NYWTS.jpg
+| logo             =
-| formation           = 1961
+| leader           =
+| foundation       = {{start date and age|1855}}
-| type                = Anti-nuclear<br />Anti-war
+| dissolution      = {{end date and age|1859}}
-| affiliations        = Women's International League for Peace and Freedom<br />Women's Peace Society<br />Women's Peace Union<br />National Committee of the Causes and Cure of War
+| newspaper        =
-Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
-| abbreviation        = WSP
+| ideology         = [[Abolitionism]]
-| founder             = [[Bella Abzug]], [[Dagmar Wilson]]
+| country          = the United States
 }}
 ==History==
+=== Background ===
+The party’s roots are found in the [[Liberty Party of 1840]]. The Liberty Party split with the more conservative wing evolving into the Free-Soil Party, and the more radical wing evolving into the Radical Abolition Party.<ref name=":1" /> Several founding members of the Liberty Party, including Gerrit Smith and William Goodell, became founding members of the Radical Abolition Party.<ref name=":0" />
-=== Formation ===
+=== Formation (Convention of 1855) ===
+The inaugural convention was held in [[Syracuse, New York]] in June of 1855, with attendants from ten states and Canada. This was a historically significant moment as [[James McCune Smith]] was first black man to chair a national convention.<ref name=":1" />
-Women Strike for Peace was founded by [[Bella Abzug]] and [[Dagmar Wilson]] in 1961.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/search/results.aspx?t=k&q=WAUSWAP4073_1_4073_2.xml|title=Archives West: Results|website=archiveswest.orbiscascade.org|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref>  The group initially was part of the movement for a ban on [[nuclear testing]]<ref>{{Cite news|title=A Proud History of Women Advocating for Peace|last=Safstrom|first=Sarah V.|date=2003|work=National NOW Times}}</ref> and to end the [[Vietnam war]], first demanding a negotiated settlement, and later total United States withdrawal from [[Southeast Asia]]. Their tactics included different forms of legal pressure such as petitions, demonstrations, letter writing, mass lobbies, and lawsuits. The group lobbied individual [[United States Congress|Congressmen]] with proxy requests from the Congressman's constituents. They also had a few forms of illegal, nonviolent direct action activities that included [[sit-ins]] in congressional offices, and statements of complicity with draft resisters aimed at tying up the courts.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Women Strike for Peace: Traditional Motherhood and Radical Politics in the 1960s|last=Swerdlow|first=Amy|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1993|location=Chicago}}</ref>
-=== Actions ===
+=== Disintegration ===
+The party came to its end four years after its conception by February 1859. M. Leon Perkal argues that the party’s failure was due to “its refusal to recognize that its constitutional argument challenged the basic convictions and prejudices of the times."<ref name=":0" />
-On November 1, 1961, at the height of the [[Cold War]], about 50,000 women brought together by Women Strike for Peace marched in 60 cities in the United States to demonstrate against [[nuclear weapons]] under the slogan "End the Arms Race not the Human Race".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Womanpower Unlimited and the Black Freedom Struggle in Mississippi. Athens|last=Morris|first=Tiyi|publisher=The University of Georgia Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-8203-4731-8|location=Athens, Georgia|pages=90}}</ref> It was the largest national women's [[Peace march|peace protest]] of the 20th century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2011-01-30 |title=Dagmar Wilson dies at 94; organizer of women's disarmament protesters |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-dagmar-wilson-20110130-story.html |access-date=2017-11-03 |work=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |issn=0458-3035}}</ref> About 1,500 women led by Dagmar Wilson gathered at the foot of the [[Washington Monument]] while President [[John F. Kennedy]] watched from a window at the [[White House]]. The protest helped "push the United States and the Soviet Union into signing a [[nuclear test-ban treaty]] two years later".<ref name=":0" /> In January 1962, Berkeley Women for Peace had a thousand women attend the [[California State Legislature|California legislative session]] to oppose civil defense legislation.<ref name=":2" /> Affiliate Seattle Women Act for Peace (SWAP) played a significant role in the protests against the Trident submarine base at Bangor, Washington.<ref name=":0" /> The women were moved to action by the Soviet resumption of atmospheric nuclear tests, after a three-year moratorium and by the United States' declaration that it would hold its own tests in retaliation. The group consisted mainly of married-with-children middle-class white women.<ref name=":0" /> Its early tactics—including marches and street demonstrations were uncommon in the U.S. at that time—in many ways prefigured those of the [[anti-Vietnam War movement]] and of [[Second-wave feminism]]. The roots of the organization lay in the traditional female culture, the role women played as full-time wives and mothers and its rhetoric in those years drew heavily on traditional images of [[motherhood]].<ref name=":2" /> In particular, in protesting atmospheric nuclear testing, they emphasized that [[Strontium-90]] from nuclear fallout was being found in mother's milk and commercially sold cow's milk, presenting their opposition to testing as a motherhood issue,<ref name=":1" /> what [[Katha Pollitt]] <nowiki/>has called "a maternity-based logic for organizing against nuclear testing."<ref name=":1" /> As middle-class mothers, they were less vulnerable to the redbaiting that had held in check much radical activity in the United States since the [[McCarthy Era]].<ref name=":1" /> The image projected by WSP of respectable middle-class, middle-aged ladies wearing white gloves and flowered hats while picketing the [[White House]] and appealing to the [[Moscow Kremlin|Kremlin]] to save their children and the planet, helped to legitimize a radical critique of the Cold War and U.S militarism.<ref name=":2" />
+==Activities==
-In 1962, the members of the advance party of Women Strike for Peace met with Gertrude Baer, who at the time was the secretary for the [[Women's International League for Peace and Freedom]] (WILPF) in [[Geneva]] at the Seventeen-Nation Disarmament Conference. With their sights set on anti-militarism, they allied themselves with four other peace women's organizations: WILPF, [[Women's Peace Society]] (WPS, which was founded in 1919 by [[Fanny Garrison Villard]], daughter of the nineteenth century [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] [[William Lloyd Garrison]]), the [[Women's Peace Union]] (WPU), and the National Committee of the Causes and Cure of War (NCCCW).<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Thirty Years of Treason: Excerpts from Hearings Before the House Committee on Un-American Activities|last=Bentley|first=Eric|publisher=Nation Books|year=2002|isbn=1-56025-368-1|pages=950–951}}</ref>
+=== Publishing and Distribution of Information ===
-=== House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) ===
+The party distributed printed materials such as pamphlets and newspapers to make their arguments more widely known, especially their constitutional argument against slavery<ref name=":0" />
-Women Strike for Peace played a crucial role in bringing down the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC).<ref name=":3" /> From the beginning of the Women Strikes for Peace in 1961 the FBI had the group under surveillance due to fear that communism had spread to the mothers of America.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era|last=May|first=Elaine Tyler|publisher=BasicBook|year=1988|isbn=0-465-03055-6|url=https://archive.org/details/homewardboundame00maye_0}}</ref> Women Strikes for Peace approached the committee hearings differently than those summoned before them. In November 1962 the leaders of the group were subpoenaed by the HUAC. After the subpoenas were distributed to the women, Women Strikes for Peace released the information to the media before the HUAC could issue a press release, as the committee usually used the news media to discredit the organizations subpoenaed.<ref name=":2" /> When under question the women used their status as mothers to argue their moral high ground, as mothers arguing for peace were the most loyal Americans.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Bond, Kruegler, Powers, Vogele |title=Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |isbn=978-0815309130}}</ref> Another strategy that differed from those before them was the use of a large quantity of WSP members to volunteer to testify at the hearings, effectively showing that the group had nothing to hide.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Swerdlow|first=Amy|date=Autumn 1982|title=Ladies' Day at the Capitol: Women Strike for Peace versus HUAC|jstor=3177709|journal=Feminist Studies|volume= 8| issue =  3|pages=493–520|doi=10.2307/3177709 }}</ref> Political theorist [[Jean Bethke Elshtain]] determined that the Women Strikes for Peace's performance at the HUAC was a success due to the  "deconstructive power of a politics of humor, irony, evasion, and ridicule".<ref name=":4" /> The use of motherhood and family as a tool for the attack on the congressional hearings showed the "familial-cold war consensus" would soon crumble.<ref name=":5" />
+* ''Radical Abolitionist'' (the party’s main newspaper, edited by William Goodell)
-=== Post-1960s ===
-In [[Los Angeles]], in 1965 and 1970, the Women Strike for Peace Movement, headed by Mary Clarke, published a cookbook that Clarke inspired. The cookbooks, ''Peace de Resistance'', were printed by the noted [[Ward Ritchie]] at the Anderson, Ritchie & Simon Press. Author Esther Lewin had lived in [[France]] for a period of time and was well-versed in [[French cuisine|French cooking]]. Lewin included simple recipes for those days when WSP required their efforts and more complicated recipes for the more relaxed days.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Peace de Resistance - Volume 1|last=Esther & Rivkin, Jay|publisher=Anderson, Ritchie & Simon Press|year=1965|location=Los Angeles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Peace de Resistance - Volume 2|last=Esther & Rivkin, Jay|publisher=Anderson, Ritchie & Simon Press|year=1970|location=Los Angeles}}</ref>
+* ''Unconstitutionality of Slavery'' by Lysander Spooner (pamphlet)
-WSP remained a significant voice in the peace movement throughout the 1980s and 1990s, speaking out against U.S. intervention in [[Latin America]] and the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Persian Gulf states]]. On June 12, 1982, Women Strike for Peace helped organize one million people who demanded an end to the arms race. In 1988, they supported Carolyna Marks in the creation of the Unique Berkeley Peace Wall, as well as similar walls in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[Moscow]], [[Hiroshima]], and [[Israel]] (a joint [[Jews|Jewish]] and [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] children's Peace Wall). In 1991, they protested the Iraq-Persian [[Gulf War]]; afterwards, they urged the American government to lift sanctions on [[Iraq]]. In the late 1990s, Women Strike for Peace mainly focused on nuclear disarmament.<ref name=":2" />
+* ''The Kansas Struggle of 1856, In Congress, and in the Presidential Campaign With Suggestions for the Future''
-==Structure==
+=== Elections ===
-The Women Strike for Peace's structure is characterized by a nonhierarchical, loosely structured "unorganizational" format that gives nearly total autonomy to its local chapters, and uses consensus methods. Some of the local chapters rapidly became very strong groups in their own right. This structure was created due to the red-baiting other peace organizations, such as [[Peace Action#History|SANE]] and the [[Women's International League for Peace and Freedom]] had experienced<ref>{{Cite book|title=Peace as a Women's Issue: a History of the U.S. Movement for World Peace and Women's Rights|last=Alonso|first=Harriet Hyman|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=1993}}</ref>
+During the presidential election of 1856, the Radical Abolition Party drew a small number of votes away from the Republican candidate, John C. Fremont. Despite being the candidate nominated by the Radical Abolition Party, surprisingly, Gerrit Smith provided financial support for the Republican Candidate. Frederick Douglass also voiced support for Fremont saying, “it was better to have a half a loaf than no loaf at all."<ref name=":0" /> The Radical Abolition Party continued to nominate Gerrit Smith as their candidate in the NY Gubernatorial Election of 1858 and Presidential Election of 1860 but was unsuccessful in winning office.<ref name=":1" />
-== Notable Cases ==
+==Ideology==
-* [[Bella Abzug]], founder of Women Strike for Peace, founder of [[National Women's Political Caucus]], and U.S. Representative for New York.
-* [[Dagmar Wilson]], founding member of Women Strike for Peace and children's book illustrator.
-* [[Ruth Gage-Colby]], coordinator of the WSP and UN press correspondent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swerdlow |first=Amy |url=http://archive.org/details/womenstrikeforpe00swer |title=Women Strike for Peace : traditional motherhood and radical politics in the 1960s |date=1993 |publisher=Chicago : University of Chicago Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-226-78635-3}}</ref>
-* [[Alice Herz]], founding member of Detroit's WSP. The first activist to self-immolate on American soil in protest of the Vietnam war.<ref name=":2" />
+=== Distinctions from Contemporary Parties ===
-==See also==
+The primary ideology of the Radical Abolition Party's platform was based in an active form of abolitionism that was distinct from how other political parties of the time approached the issue of slavery. They were ideologically farthest distanced with the Whigs, Democrats, and Know-Nothing parties that supported and actively worked to perpetuate the institution of slavery. The Free Soilers and Republican parties were ideologically closer but held less radical views. Kellie Carter Jackson argues that “while Free Soilers and Republicans were playing defense in terms of slavery’s expansion, Radical Abolitionists were taking up an offensive stance. They firmly advocated for African American rights, including citizenship."<ref name=":2" /> One could assume the Radical Abolitionist Party were ideologically closest to the American Anti-Slavery Society (or Garrison Party). However, the Radical Abolitionists believed the Garrison Party's primary strategy of moral suasion was insufficient to eradicate slavery. They also disagreed with the Garrison Party's view regarding the Constitution as the Radical Abolitionists interpreted the Constitution as a fundamentally anti-slavery document.<ref name=":2" />
-*[[National Women's Political Caucus]]
-*[[Seneca Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice]]
+=== Constitutional Argument for Abolishing Slavery ===
-* [[Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp]]
+William Goodell contributed his formulation of the Constitutional argument against slavery which was grounded in his interpretation of multiple provisions<ref name=":0" />:
-*[[Counterculture of the 1960s]]
-*[[The Ribbon International]]
+* The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment
-*[[House Un-American Activities Committee]]
+* The Guarantee Clause (provided for all states a republican form of government, republican government is inconsistent with slavery).
-*[[List of women pacifists and peace activists]]
+* The Commerce Clause gave Congress the right to determine what was property and prohibit the slave trade among the states
-*[[List of peace activists]]
+* The Declaration of Independence was part of US Constitutional Law and it prohibited slavery by its equality clause.
-* [[List of anti-war organizations]]
-*[[Canadian Voice of Women for Peace]]
+John Stauffer argues Goodell's constitutional argument is based on John Quincy Adams' original interpretation, however, Adams did not believe that immediate emancipation was a realistic possibility. Rather, Adams believed emancipation would eventually happen through a more gradual process.<ref name=":1" />
+The Dred Scott decision hindered Radical Abolitionists' efforts to convince people of the constitutional argument. The majority opinion by Chief Justice Taney and dissenting opinion by Justice Curtis and Justice McLean directly countered the Radical Abolitionists' constitutional interpretation.<ref name=":0" />
+=== Use of Violence ===
+Scholars have different interpretations of another distinct feature of the Radical Abolition Party which is their affirmation of using violence as a strategy.
+Perkal contends “the question of using violent means to abolish slavery was the most divisive issue at the Convention."<ref name=":0" />
+Stauffer argues “the party’s platform specifically affirmed violence as a way to end slavery and oppression.”<ref name=":1" /> His description of the events at the inaugural convention suggests there was overwhelming support from attendants after letters written by John Brown's sons were read out loud. The letters described the ongoing violence in Kansas following the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Stauffer goes on to describe how John Brown received fervent support including funds and weapons.<ref name=":1" />
+Jackson's interpretation aligns with Stauffer as she describes how for Radical Abolitionists, “violence was justified and even sanctioned from a biblical standpoint."<ref name=":2" /> She goes on to share a powerful quote from James McCune Smith,  <blockquote>“Our white brethren cannot understand us unless we speak to them in their own language; they recognize only the philosophy of force”<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>
+==Legacy==
+Stauffer argues that despite the Radical Abolition Party's brief time, their existence has "…deep cultural relevance…unprecedented moment of interracial unity and collapsing of racial barriers.” <ref name=":1" />
+Perkal also emphasizes the party's significance despite the modest results from campaign activities by arguing the party had "an important role in the antislavery movement of the 1850’s. The radicals were able to exert some moral influence upon the Republican Party, perhaps preventing further compromise with abolitionist ideals."<ref name=":0" />
+==Notable Members==
+[[Frederick Douglass]]
+[[James McCune Smith]]
+[[Gerrit Smith]]
+[[William Goodell]]
+[[John Brown]]
+[[Jermain Loguen]]
+[[Lewis Tappan]]
+== See Also ==
+Liberty Party
+Free Soil Party
+Republican Party
+American Missionary Association
 == Citations ==
@@ Line 56: / Line 99: @@
 ==Further reading==
-* Swerdlow, Amy, ''Women Strike for Peace: Traditional Motherhood and Radical Politics in the 1960s.'' University of Chicago Press (1993). {{ISBN|0-226-78635-8}}.
-* Alonso, Harriet Hyman, ''Peace as a Women's Issue: A History of the U.S. Movement for World Peace and Women's Rights.'' Syracuse University Press (1993). {{ISBN|9780756754587}}.
-* May, Elaine Tyler, ''Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era. BasicBooks'' (1988). {{ISBN|0-465-03055-6}}
-==External links==
-*[https://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/DG100-150/DG115/DG115WSP.html Women Strike for Peace Records, 1961-1996 Collection: DG 115] at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, official finding aid.
-*[http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0002td38 Image of Women Strike for Peace members dressed in black while carrying roses and signs during a march in Los Angeles, California, 1965.] [[Los Angeles Times]] Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, [[Charles E. Young Research Library]], [[University of California, Los Angeles]].
-{{US anti-nuclear movement}}{{Authority control}}
-{{Portal bar|Society|United States}}
+{{Anti-slavery parties (US)}}
-[[Category:Peace organizations based in the United States]]
+{{United States political parties}}
-[[Category:Women's political advocacy groups in the United States]]
+{{Authority control}}
-[[Category:Organizations established in 1961]]
-[[Category:Anti-nuclear organizations based in the United States]]