OF BLACK REPUBLICANS
Leading the Way on Issues for African Americans
Did you know...
� The formation of the Republican party lay in the opposition to slavery
� Republicans dealt the death blow to slavery with Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and
the passage, by a Republican Congress, of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery.
� Republicans passed a Civil Rights Act in 1866 recognizing blacks as U.S. citizens.
� Republicans proposed the 14th Amendment, which became part of the Constitution in 1868
Republicans proposed and passed the 15th Amendment, which guaranteed voting rights regardless of race, creed or previous condition of servitude.
From the beginning Abolishing slavery. Free speech. Women's suffrage. In today's stereotypes, none of these sounds like a typical Republican issue, yet they are stances of the Republican Party yesterday and today.
Reducing the government. Streamlining the bureaucracy. Returning power to the states. These issues don't sound like they would be the promises of the party of Lincoln, the party that fought to preserve the national union, but they are, and logically so. With a core belief in the idea of the primacy of individuals, the Republican Party, since its inception, has been at the forefront of the fight for individuals' rights in opposition to a large, bloated government.
At the time of its founding, the Republican Party was organized as an answer to the divided politics, political turmoil, arguments and internal division, particularly over slavery that plagued the many existing political parties in the United States in 1854.
The Formation
The formation of the Republican Party lay in the opposition to slavery, which took a variety of forms in the pre-Civil War era. In the course of the Civil War, Republicans abolished slavery. They also adopted a far-reaching economic program as promised in their 1860 platform. The leading measures were (1) the Homestead Act, (2) the Morrill Land Grant Act, (3) higher tariff duties, (4) federal aid for a transcontinental railroad, and (5) encouragement of a national banking system.
Republicans lead on Civil Rights Issues
During Reconstruction; the Republicans passed several measures to improve the quality of life for blacks throughout the entire Union. First the Republicans passed a Civil Rights Act in 1866 recognizing blacks as U.S. citizens. This act gave Blacks power in a court of law and the right to own their own property.
Continuing to take advantage of their majority, Republicans proposed the 14th Amendment, which became part of the Constitution in 1868, stating: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
The Republicans fought to give blacks equal rights, voting was as a way of wresting control of the South away from the Democrats. During these times, all blacks voted Republican. Many Republican politicians risked their careers on that period's "third rail" of politics and managed to not only abolish slavery and eventually even established a black's right to vote as well. In fact, many blacks even held elected office and were influential in state legislatures. And, in 1869, the first blacks proudly entered Congress as members of the Republican Party.
The symbol of the elephant for the Republican Party was created by Thomas Nast, a famous illustrator and caricaturist for The New Yorker. In 1874, a rumor that animals had escaped from the New York City Zoo coincided with worries surrounding a possible third-term run by Grant. Nast chose to represent the Republicans as elephants because elephants were clever, steadfast and controlled when calm, yet unmanageable when frightened.
The Republican Party has always thrived on challenges and difficult positions. Its present role as leader of the revolution in which the principles of government are being re-evaluated is a role it has traditionally embraced.