The American Secular Union (ASU, also sometimes called the "American Secular Union and Freethought Federation") espoused secularism and freethought at the end of the 19th century in the United States. As the National Liberal League suffered crippling factionalism and radicalization over the period 1878 to 1885, liberals reorganized in a non-political "American Secular Union" in 1884. Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) served as the first president of the Union. Ida Craddock was elected Secretary of the Philadelphia chapter of the Union in 1889. The American Secular Union and Freethought Federation dedicated themselves to the separation of church and state, and for its platform used the nine demands of liberalism, namely: The American Secular Union published over a dozen pamphlets on topics regarding separation of church and state between 1886 and 1928. Following Ingersoll's death in 1899 various leadership changes occurred. The organization withered around 1919.