The origins of the liberal Republican movement in Missouri

"Thus, the years from 1860 to 1865 saw the downfall of the old political organizations, the triumph of the Unionists, their split over the emancipation question, into Radicals and Conservatives, the victory of the Conservatives, aided by Lincoln, and later in the war, the gradual tendency toward more radical measures. The Radical Convention of protest in September 1863 well voiced the sentiments of the party which was to rule Missouri. The death of Governor Gamble in 1864, and the absence from the state of the other Conservative leader, General Blair, saw the extremists, under aggressive leadership, secure control of the State, a control which they were able to maintain for over five years."