CRITICAL RACE HISTORY

MAY 04, 2022

By Christopher Hekimian

The history of the Democratic Party on matters of race from the party’s inception through the Civil War.

• 19 February 1807. Aaron Burr Arrested for Treason. Later acquitted based on suspicious circumstances involving the judge (Chief Justice John Marshall), who was a foe to President Jefferson[1] , who brought the suit against Burr, and Chief Juror John Randolph- who was also an outspoken critic of Jefferson.[2]
• 1812 Tammany Hall, the seat of the democratic party in New York City was notorious for its legendary corruption which spanned most of the 19th century and sone of the 20th.[3]
• March 4th, 1829. Andrew Jackson was elected president. Records indicate that Andrew Jackson was pro-slavery and was himself a brutal slave owner. Moreover, he did not free the slaves he purchased upon his death like many others, including Thomas Jefferson did.[4] [5]
• 28 May, 1830. Democrats under Jackson pass the Indian Removal Act and begins the eradication of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations. thousands of Native Americans died as a result of the land confiscation and human relocation efforts authorized by the act. Jackson's democrats passed the bill by a margin of 101 to 97- Jackson's democrats made up 97% of those voting for the confiscation of indian lands and the forced removal of the Indians. In contrast, about 96% of the representatives from other parties opposed the bill.[6] [7]
• 1836, democrat Franklin Pierce, while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, supported what came to be known as the slavery gag rule, which allowed for anti- slavery petitions to be received by the house of representatives, but not read or considered. This passed the House in 1836 and remained in place until 1844.[8] [9]
• 4 March 1837. Democrat Van Buren wins the presidency and upholds his commitment in support of slavery. In his inauguration speech he expressed "I must go into the Presidential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every attempt on the part of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia against the wishes of the slaveholding states, and also with a determination equally decided to resist the slightest interference with it in the States where it exists."[10]
• The closing of the Bank of the United States by Andrew Jackson plunged the US into the economic depression known as the "Panic of 1837". The bank closure was perceived as an attack against the funding sources of opponents to the democratic party by many. Jackson was censured by Congress for what they claimed was an abuse of presidential power against the Bank of the United States.[11] [12]
• Van Buren completes the indian removal process initiated by Democrats under Andrew Jackson. Van Buren ordered the U.S. Army into the Cherokee Nation. The army rounded up as many Cherokees as possible into temporary stockades and then marched the captives, to the Indian Territory (what would eventually become Oklahoma. Estimates of the dead native Americans range between 4000 and 25000. The tragic event occurred over the course of between 3 to 6 months. It became known as "the Trail of Tears".[13] [14]
• James Polk was elected President. Polk purchased slaves with his salary as President and did not free his slaves upon his death in 1853.[15] Polk even used his slaves in the White House instead of paid staff.[16]
• Democrat James Buchanan, as U.S. Secretary of State, sided with pro-slavery southern democrats in blocking the Wilmot Proviso which would have banned slavery in any territories acquired from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War. Supporters for the Wilmot Proviso helped form the basis for the Republican Party.[17]
• Buchanan supported the Compromise of 1850 which admitted California as a free state but would allow any new western territories to decide the slavery question on their own before being admitted as a state. Part of the compromise made it easier for slaveowners to recover runaway slaves.[18]
• In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was passed. This repealed the Missouri Compromise and would allow slavery west of the Missouri river. Missouri would enter the union as a slave state and Kansas would be allowed to determine the question of slavery on it's own. 69% of Democrats voted in favor of the act and 81% of the Whig party voted against it. This event led to a wave of violence against abolitionists in Kansas referred to as "Bleeding Kansas". Democrat Franklin Pierce was president at the time.[19]
• "Bleeding Kansas" occurs when pro-slavery democrats from Missouri beat, tar and feather and murder abolitionists in Kansas. The leader of the Pro-Slavery Missourans was Democrat United States Senator David Rice Atchison. Atchison was quoted as saying "kill every God-damned abolitionist in the district" when referring to Kansas. About 55 people were killed during the 4 year Bleeding Kansas debacle.[20] [21]
• March, 1855. Pro-Slavery Democrats from Missouri cast 4968 fraudulent votes for slavery in a Kansas territorial election- such that 94.6% of the total of 5247 pro-slavery votes cast were fraudulent and cast by Missourans. Democrat President Franklin Pierce let the fraudulent election results stand.[22]
• March 6th, 1857. Democrat Justice Roger Taney hands down the Dred Scott decision effectively barring slaves from the protections of the U.S. Constitution. The supreme court decision was split 7-2 in favor, on party lines. The Whig (Republican) justices voted for constitutional protections for slaves. Justice Samuel Nelson, who voted against constitutional protections for slaves was a democrat appointed by Whig president John Tyler.[23]
• August 1858. Pro-slavery Missouri Democrats again attempt to steal the election for the territorial government of Kansas. Democcrat President James Buchanan accepted their efforts as legitimate and declared Kansas "as much of a slave state as Georgia or South Carolina" The fraud leading to the adoption of the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution in Kansas was so rampant and obvious, the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the Democrat-held Senate and President and a new election was ordered, which the abolitionists won, garnering 85% of the vote.[24] [25]
• 1858, In retaliation against Democrat Senator Stephen Douglas for not supporting the Lecompton Constitution and for opposing the electoral fraud perpetrated by Democrats in the Kansas territorial election, President Buchanan uses government contracts and Executive influence to derail Douglas' upcoming election. The effort does not succeed and Douglas was reelected. Although Stephen Douglas opposed the obvious fraud of the Lecompton Constitution, he was no friend of African Americans. In his Presidential debate with Republican, Abraham Lincoln, he said "I do not regard the Negro as my equal, and positively deny that he is my brother or any kin to me whatsoever."[26] [27]
• August 1861- July 1864, the Republican Congress passed the set of acts collectively known as the Confiscation Acts. The acts were designed to weaken the confederacy, first by freeing the slaves that were used in support of the confederate military and then those that were owned by civilian and military confederate officials. Another act extended to confiscation of property and ultimately the emancipation of all slaves was passed. The acts were passed by Republicans against near unanimous Democrat opposition.[28]
• April 16, 1862: President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in Washington DC. The tally showed a distinct partisan divide with all the yes votes coming from Republicans and all the Democrats and Unionists voted against or absent. One Republican voted against the bill. The bill passed 29 to 14.[29]
• July 2, 1862: After being vetoed by Democrat President James Buchanan, Republican Congressman John Morrill from Vermont championed and successfully passed the Land Grant Act. The Land Grant Act established colleges and universities that would be open to native American and African Americans. The act passed in part due to the secession of 11 southern states that were aligned with the confederacy.[30] [31]
• 8 April 1864: The 13th amendment, banning slavery passes the U.S. Senate 38 to 6 with 100% Republican support and with 43% of democrats in opposition.[32]
• 15 June, 1864 the Republicans amended the Militia Act of 1862 to give equal pay to African American soldiers.[33]
• June, 1864 the Republican controlled congress voted to repeal the Democrats Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. No Democrats voted to repeal. [34]
• October 29th, 1864: Sojourner Truth, a female African-American abolitionist and former slave wrote " I never was treated by anyone with more kindness and cordiality than were shown to me be that great and good man (Abraham Lincoln)"[35]
• 31 January 1865: the 13th amendment, banning slavery was passed by the house with unanimous Republican support and with 77% of Democrats voting against it.[36]
• 3 March, 1865: Republican congress establlishes the Freedmen's Bureau to provide healthcare, education and technical assistance to emancipated slaves. The bill passed both houses of congress but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. The bill was signed by President Lincoln and became law- but it's provisions only lasted for one year. After Lincoln's assassination and when Andrew Johnson was President, Republican senator Lyman Trumbull introduced a bill to reinstate the provisions and to expand the program. Twice bills passed by the house and senate were vetoed by President Johnson until 1866 when the senate and house were able to override Johnson's veto.[37]
• 9 April, 1865. Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S.Grant at Appomattox courthouse in Virginia.[38]
• April, 1865. "Black codes", laws designed to impair the upward mobility of freed slaves in southern society were passed by Democratic-held legislatures in several southern states. The black codes were intended to ensure that African Americans remained second-class citizens in the south. The Freedmen's Bureau and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 were championed by Republicans in order to protect the interests of southern blacks. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed by Republicans against unanimous Democrat opposition. [39] [40]
• April 14, 1865. John Wilkes Booth, a pro-slavery sympathizer with the Democrat party assassinated Abraham Lincoln.[41]

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Note: The researcher uncovered multiple references to how somehow "Republicans" and "Democrats" switched places after the civil war. No explanation is ever given with the incorrect assertion. In fact, it is based on a misunderstanding involving "Conservatives" of the time that wanted to "conserve" slavery (mostly southern Democrats) and "Liberals" that favored abolition and liberating the slaves (Republicans in general). It is the labels of "liberal" and "conservative" that have changed over time. As the history shows, pre-civil war Democrats were predominantly in favor of slavery and pre- civil war Republicans were predominantly against it. With respect to civil rights for African Americans, the pre-war trend continued well into the 20th century.

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[1] "The Conflict That Shaped Our Constitutional Order", Kyle Sammin, National Review, 3/10/2018, URL: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/john-marshall-thomas-jefferson-shaped-american-order/. Accessed 4/10/22

[2] "John Randolph of Roanoke" Wikipedia. URL: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Randolph_of_Roanoke#Political_career. Accessed 4/10/22

[3] "Tammany Hall- New York City's Political Machine Was the Home to Legendary Corruption". Robert McNamara, ThoughtCo. URL: https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-tammany-hall-1774023. Accessed 4/10/22

[4] "The 5 Reasons Why Andrew Jackson was a Cruel Slaveholder". Charlotte Zobeir Ali. La Bibliothèque. URL: https://medium.com/la-biblioth%C3%A8que/the-5-reasons-why-andrew-jackson-was-a-cruel-slaveholder-b4da742713c5. Accessed 4/10/2022

[5] "List of presidents of the United States who owned slaves". Wikipedia.URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_who_owned_slaves. Accessed 4/10/2022

[6] "Indian Removal Act". Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Removal_Act#Vote. Accessed 4/15/2022.

[7] "To Pass S.102.(P.729)". Govtrack. URL: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/21-1/h149. Accessed 4/15/2022.

[8] "Franklin Pierce". Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce#U.S._House_of_Representatives. Accessed: 4/29/2022

[9] "21st Rule". Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Rule. Accessed: 4/29/2022

[10] Martin Van Buren Inaugural Speech. 4 March, 1837. Reprinted by Bartleby. URL:https://www.bartleby.com/124/pres25.html. Acessed 4/15/2022.

[11] "Panic of 1837", Wikipedia, URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837. Accessed 4/10/2022.

[12] "1833, September 10- Andrew Jackson shuts down Second Bank of the U.S.". (This day in history) History. URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/andrew-jackson-shuts-down-second-bank-of-the-u-s. Accessed 4/10/2022

[13] "Indian Removal Act". Softschools. URL: https://www.softschools.com/viewTimeline.action?id=415. Accessed: 4/15/2022

[14] "How long did the Trail of Tears last in days". Similaranswers. URL: https://similaranswers.com/how-long-did-the-trail-of-tears-last-in-days/#how-long-did-the-trail-of-tears-start-and-end. Accessed 4/15/2022.

[15] "This President Secretly Purchased Enslaved Children While in Office". Becky Little. History.com. URL: https://www.history.com/news/president-james-polk-slavery-children. Accessed: 4/18/2022

[16] "Plantations & Politics". Zacharie W. Kinslow. The White House Historical Association. URL: https://www.whitehousehistory.org/plantations-politics. Accessed: 4/18/2022

[17] "Wilmot Proviso- United States history". Encyclopedia Britannica. URL: https://www.britannica.com/event/Wilmot-Proviso. Accessed: 4/18/2022

[18] "James Buchanan". History.com. URL: https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/james-buchanan. Accessed: 4/18/2022

[19] "Kansas–Nebraska Act". Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas%E2%80%93Nebraska_Act#Enactment. Accessed: 4/18/2022

[20] " People & Events- Bleeding Kansas 1853 - 1861". PBS Resource Bank. URL: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html. Accessed: 4/19/2022

[21] "Violence Disrupts First Kansas Election". History.com. URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/violence-disrupts-first-kansas-election. Accessed:4/19/2022

[22] "Community Conflict- LeCompton Constitution Senate Speeches". Springfield-Greene County Library District. URL: https://ozarkscivilwar.org/archives/1426. Accessed:4/19/2022

[23] "Dred Scott v. Sandford". Ballotpedia. URL: https://ballotpedia.org/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford. Accessed: 04/19/2022

[24] "James Buchanan- The LeCompton Constitution". World Biography- U.S. Presidents. URL: https://www.presidentprofiles.com/Washington-Johnson/James-Buchanan-The-lecompton-constitution.html. Accessed: 4/19/2022

[25] "John McLean". Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLean. Accessed: 04/19/2022

[26] "Stephen A. Douglas: A Study of the Attempt to Settle the Question of Slavery in the Territories by the Application of Popular Sovereignty- 1850-1860". The Washington Historical Quarterly. Vol II, October 1907 to July, 1908. pp 314-317. URL: https://books.google.com/books?id=hbQ3AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Accessed: 4/19/2022

[27] "First Debate: Ottawa, Illinois". The Lincoln- Douglas Debates. National Park Service. URL: https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/debate1.htm. Accessed: 4/19/2022

[28] "Civil War- Confiscation Acts". Mr. Lincoln and Freedom. URL: http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/civil-war/congressional-action-inaction/confiscation-acts/. 4/27/2022

[29] "On a party line vote, the U.S. Senate votes to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia". House Divided- Civil War Research Engine. Dickinson College. URL: https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/38983.  Accessed: 4/19/2022

[30] "Morrill Land-Grant Acts". Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrill_Land-Grant_Acts#Passage_of_original_bill . Accessed: 4/27/2022

[31] "Creating Land-Grant Colleges". U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. URL: https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/artifact/roll-call-vote-morrill-act-us-senate-june-10-1862. Accessed: 4/27/2022

[32] "The Senate Passes the Thirteenth Amendment- April 8, 1864". U.S. Senate. URL: https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/senate-passes-the-thirteenth-amendment.htm. Accessed: 4/27/2022

[33] "The History of Equal and Fair Payment to Bothe the Black and White Soldiers". Walter Opinde. Black then and Now. URL: https://blackthen.com/history-equal-fair-payment-black-white-u-s-soldiers/. Accessed: 4/29/2022

[34] "To Consider H. R. 512, (13 Stat 200) A Bill Repealing The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and All Acts and Parts oOf Acts For The Rendition of Fugitive Slaves." Govtrack. URL: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/38-1/s333. Accessed: 4/27/2022

[35] "Sojourner Truth Visits President Lincoln". Civil War Book of Days, Volume 5, Issue 43. URL: https://civilwarbookofdays.org/2014/10/24/sojourner-truth-visits-president-lincoln/. Accessed: 4/29/2022

[36] "How Republicans and Democrats Voted on Key Constitutional Amendments". Almanac News-Town Square. URL: https://almanacnews.com/square/2015/01/15/how-republicans-and-democrats-voted-on-key-constitutional-amendments. Accessed: 4/27/2022

[37] "Freedmen’s Bureau Acts of 1865 and 1866". United States Senate. URL: https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/FreedmensBureau.htm. Accessed: 04/29/2022

[38] "When and How Did the American Civil War End?". HistoryHit. URL: https://www.historyhit.com/american-civil-war-ends/?msclkid=7d0a91c5c7cc11ec8d2e663e66971b50. Accessed: 4/29/2022

[39] "What Were the Black Codes?". Study.com. URL: https://study.com/learn/lesson/what-were-the-black-codes-history.html. Accessed: 4/29/2022

[40] "Republicans passed the first Civil Rights Act, in 1866". Human Events. URL: https://archive.humanevents.com/2012/04/17/republicans-passed-the-first-civil-rights-act-in-1866/. Accessed: 4/29/2022

[41] "Was John Wilkes Booth a Democrat?". Study.com. URL: https://study.com/academy/answer/was-john-wilkes-booth-a-democrat.html. Accessed: 4/27/2022

Volume 2 of the “Critical Race HISTORY” list will address key events like the formation of the KKK, the attempts to legalize lynching, Jim Crow laws and attempts to fight or circumvent civil rights laws.

History is free to all people. Thank you to the information sources listed above. This document can be copied and circulated without restriction. 2022

https://www.mcgop.com/newsletter

https://www.mcgop.com/waking_to_a_new_reality

APRIL 10, 2022

CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE

Montgomery County is in transition. Like many of the jurisdictions around the country, Montgomery County is waking up to a new reality, a reality unlike what they envisioned for themselves and their families even 20 years ago.

Our County has become a place where people don’t feel safe in their homes and children aren’t safe in school. The Montgomery County Public School system has devolved from being one of the top public school systems in the nation, to not even being top in the state of Maryland. Our local economy has stagnated and fallen behind Northern Virginia, Prince George's County and even Washington, DC.  Our residents and business owners feel over-mandated, controlled, and subordinate to local leaders who are tone deaf to the real issues addressing the County.

County residents are fed up and have grown weary with the current County leadership that has propagated the same failed policies and played musical chairs with the same people for 12 years with no real progress. County residents are seeing the worsening violent crime, decline in school performance, increasing debt to finance the county budget, and moribund business and job growth. This is not sustainable. 

The time for change and new leadership is now.

We need leaders that can bring common sense back to our local government. Specific strategies include reviewing our current expenses before committing to new ones; prioritizing County spending so our tax dollars are focused on need-to-have rather than nice-to-have programs; partnering with local business instead of being an impediment to progress; supporting and funding our police and first responders; having our children taught the core basic educational requirements in reading, math and science, as well as the arts; and providing mental and financial help to those in real need.

Even with the mess that the current county leadership has left us with, I still have hope that the voters “get it.” That simple, basic, conservative values will make a resurgence…but the time to act is now. It’s time to get out from behind your keyboard, get off Facebook and get in the ring.

We can’t make a change until we get good people in office.

With only a week to file, we need great candidates. If you have the fire in the belly and want to make real change in in Montgomery County, please  contact me at Chairman@MCGOP.com

Come join us and be part of the RED WAVE in Montgomery County - Be Silent No Longer - stand up, speak up and together we will make a difference!!

This past week the Montgomery County Council again delayed their “Vaccine Passport Mandate.”  Most of the public speakers, Republicans, Democrats and Unaffiliated voters were in strong opposition to this measure, saying it would do more damage to the businesses and the citizens of this great County.

Make no mistake… We are in a WAR for our County!

We must work together. With local businesses still shuttered, schools still closed, our police being defunded, “ghosts” on our voter rolls, the teaching of CRT in schools, we face the largest tax increase in recent history. 

If there is ever a time to stand up and make a difference, the time is now!!

We need to come out of the shadows and embrace our basic conservative values, strengthen our structural foundations, identify key issues, and present clear, simple, common sense solutions that will resonate with ALL voters in Montgomery County. 

My goal is to develop a platoon of like-minded people that can work together to push our common values forward and to leverage the talent and passion that we have in the County’s 100,000 Republicans, the MCGOP, and our trusted clubs and associations for the benefit of the citizens of Montgomery County. It is my goal to develop committees centered on specific issues, push people to become engaged with topics that they are passionate about, and get the message out. It is also one of my goals to utilize technology like never before and connect and engage with ALL voters. If you have expertise, time and/or ideas, please JOIN US !

It will take money to get the message out beyond our echo chamber. I am personally asking you to donate to our efforts to get our message out. Please  DONATE.

I want to thank everyone for the honor and privilege to serve as the new Chair of the Montgomery County Central Committee. I know we have a lot of work to accomplish ahead, and I am very excited and ready to see what we can accomplish together.  We have so many committed Republicans, many of whom I have spoken to and engaged with over the last few months, and I believe if we work together as a team and not lose sight of our goals, we can push the County Republican party to new prominence. 

I would like to hear what you think. Write to me at Chairman@MCGOP.com.

By Ann Guthrie Hingston

Major changes have taken place in recent years that present Republicans with unprecedented opportunities to help our floundering county.  Thanks to Republican activists, especially an army of Republican women, and thousands of residents paying attention, there is a completely new playing field in the 2022 election.  Savvy candidates have unprecedented opportunities to run for County Council or Delegate and win.

We’ve won two rounds and it is up to us to make it three. 

#1  All 2016 County Council members but one are gone!  Thanks to term limits, initiated by a Republican and supported by teams of Republican activists, no council member or county executive can serve more than 12 years.  Term limits passed with 70% of the vote.  The impact of term limits should not be underestimated.  We brought change! 

#2  There will be 7 Council districts, 5 without an incumbent, on the 2022 ballot.  Thanks to the efforts of Republican activists to gain fair representation for upcounty residents, there are two new Council districts.  This change would never have happened if the Nine Districts for MoCo team had not collected the necessary signatures.  Republicans joined with Democrats and Independents collected signatures in the midst of the COVID lockdown.  Redistricting redrew all Council districts further shaking up the status quo.  We brought change!

# 3  Voters are ready for competent officials and commonsense.  Voters are tired of Council members who place ideological policies ahead of commonsense that weaken safety and public schools and harm businesses and job creation. Over the last year, thousands of previously unengaged residents have organized to push back at the Council on one or more issues.  They are upset that the Council closed schools and businesses, imposed mandates and threatened residents with vaccine passports. These actions have created divisions among their friends between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.  They want to be heard by their officials and have told Council members that they will vote them out of office.  

Residents of Montgomery County deserve competent leaders with commonsense.  It is up to you to take to the field.  The timing is right, the issues are right.  Help lead our campaign! 

Contact Ann at annhingston@gmail.com

_______________

Ann Guthrie Hingston is chair of the Republican candidate recruitment committee. She was a leader of the Term Limits and Nine Districts for MoCo campaigns.