Benjamin Harrison and Civil Rights
Benjamin Harrison was raised in the Presbyterian Church. His mother was a very devout member. He fought in the Civil War, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General, last serving under General William T. Sherman. Harrison served in the Senate from March 4, 1881, to March 4, 1887. Harrison unsuccessfully supported James Garfield's plan of aid for education of Southerners, especially the children of the slaves freed in the Civil War. Harrison believed that education was necessary to make the white and black populations truly equal in political and economic power. Senator Harrison differed from his party in opposing the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, believing that it violated existing treaties with China.
When he became President, Harrison endorsed the proposed Federal Elections Bill written by Representative Henry Cabot Lodge and Senator George Frisbie Hoar in 1890. The bill would have allowed the federal government to ensure that elections were fair. It was created primarily to guarantee blacks, predominantly Republican at the time, the right to vote in the south. The Fifteenth Amendment already formally guaranteed that right, but white Southern Democrats had found loopholes to effectively prevent blacks from voting. The bill was successfully filibustered and eventually defeated in the Senate. This was to be the last civil rights legislation attempted by Congress until the 1920s.
Following the failure to pass the bill, Harrison continued to speak in favor of African American civil rights in addresses to Congress. For example, in 1892, Harrison went before Congress to speak out against the practice of lynching of African-Americans in the south. He said "the frequent lynching of colored people is without the excuse...that the accused have an undue influence over courts and juries." Harrison was critical of many of the southern states' civil rights records. He acknowledged that it was the states who had the authority over civil rights, but said "we have a right to ask whether they are at work upon it."
Harrison's civil rights views were similar to many northern Republicans of his era. During his term as President he lacked the support to effect any significant advancements in the field of civil rights, but I suspect that if he had greater support in Congress during his term in office, he would have been the author or much more progressive reforms. Let's be fair to Ben. His heart was in the right place, but a President who lacks the support of congress and who is steering the ship through a bad economy is going to find it practically impossible to effect any major social policy changes. I'm sure that President Obama can relate to this.
When he became President, Harrison endorsed the proposed Federal Elections Bill written by Representative Henry Cabot Lodge and Senator George Frisbie Hoar in 1890. The bill would have allowed the federal government to ensure that elections were fair. It was created primarily to guarantee blacks, predominantly Republican at the time, the right to vote in the south. The Fifteenth Amendment already formally guaranteed that right, but white Southern Democrats had found loopholes to effectively prevent blacks from voting. The bill was successfully filibustered and eventually defeated in the Senate. This was to be the last civil rights legislation attempted by Congress until the 1920s.
Following the failure to pass the bill, Harrison continued to speak in favor of African American civil rights in addresses to Congress. For example, in 1892, Harrison went before Congress to speak out against the practice of lynching of African-Americans in the south. He said "the frequent lynching of colored people is without the excuse...that the accused have an undue influence over courts and juries." Harrison was critical of many of the southern states' civil rights records. He acknowledged that it was the states who had the authority over civil rights, but said "we have a right to ask whether they are at work upon it."
Harrison's civil rights views were similar to many northern Republicans of his era. During his term as President he lacked the support to effect any significant advancements in the field of civil rights, but I suspect that if he had greater support in Congress during his term in office, he would have been the author or much more progressive reforms. Let's be fair to Ben. His heart was in the right place, but a President who lacks the support of congress and who is steering the ship through a bad economy is going to find it practically impossible to effect any major social policy changes. I'm sure that President Obama can relate to this.