 These republicans banded together after 1897, ostensibly to protest the British ultimatum; their appeals grew on fears of British colonialism, Spanish reoccupation or to challenge the failed policies of the parties in government.Teachers, journalists, small businessmen, clerks, and artisans were drawn to the Republicans, who appealed to nationalism, universal suffrage, separation of church and state and (most notably) the abolition of the monarchy and the privileges of the nobility.As a "party of attraction and assimilation", it included in its membership (and as allies) other groups who were not so "idealistic"