Don’t believe that 23 black Americans, Republicans All, served in the US Senate and the US House of Representatives in the late 1800s because the media and the Education Industrial Complex has been lying to you since the 1960s? Because Republicans freed the slave, because Republicans continued, long after the Civil War, promoting civil rights for blacks and because Democrats continued to suppress blacks, all black voters & politicians were Republicans. Then, the Democrats in the South figured out a way to prevent blacks from voting, to prevent blacks from running for office, and to prevent blacks from fully exercising all their civil rights.
In this portrait:
Seated: Hiram Revels: (Mississippi) The first African American US Senator; Benjamin S. Turner: (Alabama) US Representative; Josiah T. Walls: (Florida) US Representative; Joseph H. Rainey: (South Carolina) The first African American elected to the US House of Representatives; and Robert Brown Elliott: (South Carolina) US Representative.
Standing: Robert C. De Large: (South Carolina) US Representative and Jefferson H. Long: (Georgia) US Representative.
These seven men served in the 41st and 42nd Congresses (1869–1873) following the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which granted African American men the right to vote. All of the men pictured were members of the Republican Party as were the ones listed below. This progress was quickly reversed by the implementation of Jim Crow laws and disenfranchisement tactics implemented by Democrats in the late 19th century, including domestic terrorists: the Ku Klux Klan.
Educated African-Americans provided leadership for freed slaves. In 1870, Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first black member to serve in the House. During Reconstruction, 14 African-Americans held House seats. Eight had been born into slavery, six born free.
When federal troops left the South in 1877, Reconstruction ended. So did the era of opportunity. African-Americans gradually disappeared from the House. As Southern states passed “Jim Crow” laws enforcing segregation in the 1890s, African-Americans were barred from the polls and from political office.
BLACK LAWMAKERS NOT SHOWN IN PHOTO:
US Senator Blanche K. Bruce from Mississippi: The first African American to serve a full six-year term in the US Senate (1875–1881).
US House from South Carolina:
Alonzo J. Ransier served as Lieutenant Governor before joining Congress (1873-1875);
Richard H. Cain, a minister and newspaper editor served two non-consecutive terms (1873-1875 & 1877-1879);
Thomas E. Miller, served in the 51st United States Congress from September 24, 1890, to March 3, 1891. Although he was elected as a Republican from South Carolina’s 7th District in 1888, he did not take his seat until 1890 after successfully contesting the election results. He was one of the last five African Americans elected to Congress from the South during the Democrats’ Jim Crow Era before disenfranchisement completely removed black representation for decades. He later became president of what is now South Carolina State University;
George W. Murray served in the 53rd and 54th United States Congresses between 1893 and 1897 representing South Carolina’s 7th District. His tenure was marked by the intense political instability of the era, as his second term was nearly lost to a contested election. He was an inventor and the last black representative from the state until 1993; and
Robert Smalls, a Civil War hero who famously commandeered a Confederate ship to freedom, served several terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing South Carolina’s 5th and 7th districts during the following years: 44th Congress: 1875–1877, 45th Congress: 1877–1879, 47th Congress: 1882–1883 (Seated after successfully contesting the election of George D. Tillman), 48th Congress: 1884–1885 (Elected to fill a vacancy) and 49th Congress: 1885–1887
US House from North Carolina:
John A. Hyman, the state’s first black congressman served in the 44th United States Congress from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1877;
James E. O’Hara, a lawyer who focused on civil rights and labor, served in the 48th and 49th United States Congresses from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1877;
Henry P. Cheatham, one of the few to serve after the initial Reconstruction peak, served in the 51st and 52nd United States Congresses from March 4, 1889 to March 3, 1893; and
George Henry White served in the 55th and 56th United States Congresses from March 4, 1897 to March 3, 1901. He is a pivotal figure in American history as he was the last African American to serve in Congress from the post-Reconstruction era until the mid-20th century, before Jim Crow disenfranchisement took full effect.
US House from Alabama: James T. Rapier, a prominent labor organizer & orator served in the 43rd United States Congress from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1875; and Jeremiah Haralson, who served in the 44th United States Congress from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1877.
US House from Louisiana: Charles E. Nash, the state’s only black representative in the 19th century, served in the 44th United States Congress from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1877.
US House from Mississippi: John R. Lynch, a former Speaker of the Mississippi House and major figure in the national GOP, served in the 43rd, 44th, and 47th United States Congresses for a decade, between 1873 and 1883.
US House from Virginia: John Mercer Langston, a distinguished attorney and founder of Howard University Law School, served in the 51st United States Congress from September 23, 1890 to March 3, 1891; and Thomasrie Bayne, though he was a significant political figure in Maryland and Virginia, he never actually served in the U.S. Congress. Bayne ran for a seat in 1869 in the 41st Congress representing Virginia’s 2nd District, but his election was contested.
DEMOCRATS CALLED THEIR SCHEME “JIM CROW”
What came to be called “Jim Crow” laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation in southern states run by Democrats. Named after a black minstrel show character, the laws, which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1964/65 when Republicans were finally successful in passing widespread civil rights legislation, were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws, including whites, often faced arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence and death.
ONE BIG LIE
According to Carol M. Swain, former professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University who happens to be black:
“The Democratic Party prospers on the votes of the very people it has spent much of its history oppressing. Democrats falsely claim that the Republican Party is the villain, when in reality it’s the failed policies of the Democratic Party that have kept blacks down. Massive government welfare has decimated the black family. Opposition to school choice has kept them trapped in failing schools. Politically correct policing has left black neighborhoods defenseless against violent crime. So, when you think about racial equality and civil rights, which political party should come to mind?”
Follow me on X Diane L. Gruber
Democrat Party Created Ku Klux Klan To Terrorize Blacks & Republicans
Republicans, Conservatives, Trump Supporters, White Americans: Tired of being called “racist” and/or being accused of supporting the Democrat-created Klan just because you support our US Constitution & Bill of Rights? Not sure how to respond to such stupidity? In honor of Black History Month, here is the history of the Klan’s birth, activities & goals…
The author, Diane L. Gruber, is a First Amendment advocate who writes for Substack. She calls her Substack newsletter America First Re-Ignited. Follow me on X @DianeLGruber.
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