the nationalists also directly participated in the organizational convention of the new political party held in st. louis in 1892. bellamy and "the new nation" attempted to advance a perspective that was both friendly and aloof from the new party, declaring to his adherents that "nationalism is a movement and not a party" and that the role of the nationalists was to influence a broad spectrum of reform organizations. despite these efforts, severe attenuation of nationalism as an independent political movement followed with local bellamy clubs being rapidly supplanted by local units of the nascent political reform party.