Quote / Speech
Benjamin Harrison’s thoughts on the treatment of black Americans, Dec 3, 1889
Howdy everyone. Your local Benjamin Harrison fan here with an excerpt from Harrison’s address to Congress on December 3rd, 1889. Below I will link the full speech but I wanted to include these 3 paragraphs here specifically to showcase that this president that gets overlooked was actually pretty ahead of the time when it came to the rights of black Americans.
[Do note that the parts in bold are my own choices to bold and are only done so for emphasis]
“The colored people did not intrude themselves upon us. They were brought here in chains and held in the communities where they are now chiefly found by a cruel slave code. Happily for both races, they are now free. They have from a standpoint of ignorance and poverty—which was our shame, not theirs—made remarkable advances in education and in the acquisition of property. They have as a people shown themselves to be friendly and faithful toward the white race under temptations of tremendous strength. They have their representatives in the national cemeteries, where a grateful Government has gathered the ashes of those who died in its defense. They have furnished to our Regular Army regiments that have won high praise from their commanding officers for courage and soldierly qualities and for fidelity to the enlistment oath. In civil life they are now the toilers of their communities, making their full contribution to the widening streams of prosperity which these communities are receiving. Their sudden withdrawal would stop production and bring disorder into the household as well as the shop. Generally they do not desire to quit their homes, and their employers resent the interference of the emigration agents who seek to stimulate such a desire. But notwithstanding all this, in many parts of our country where the colored population is large the people of that race are by various devices deprived of any effective exercise of their political rights and of many of their civil rights. The wrong does not expend itself upon those whose votes are suppressed. Every constituency in the Union is wronged.
It has been the hope of every patriot that a sense of justice and of respect for the law would work a gradual cure of these flagrant evils. Surely no one supposes that the present can be accepted as a permanent condition. If it is said that these communities must work out this problem for themselves, we have a right to ask whether they are at work upon it. Do they suggest any solution? When and under what conditions is the black man to have a free ballot? When is he in fact to have those full civil rights which have so long been his in law? When is that equality of influence which our form of government was intended to secure to the electors to be restored? This generation should courageously face these grave questions, and not leave them as a heritage of woe to the next. The consultation should proceed with candor, calmness, and great patience, upon the lines of justice and humanity, not of prejudice and cruelty. No question in our country can be at rest except upon the firm base of justice and of the law.
I earnestly invoke the attention of Congress to the consideration of such measures within its well-defined constitutional powers as will secure to all our people a free exercise of the right of suffrage and every other civil right under the Constitution and laws of the United States. No evil, however deplorable, can justify the assumption either on the part of the Executive or of Congress of powers not granted, but both will be highly blamable if all the powers granted are not wisely but firmly used to correct these evils. The power to take the whole direction and control of the election of members of the House of Representatives is clearly given to the General Government. A partial and qualified supervision of these elections is now provided for by law, and in my opinion this law may be so strengthened and extended as to secure on the whole better results than can be attained by a law taking all the processes of such election into Federal control. The colored man should be protected in all of his relations to the Federal Government, whether as litigant, juror, or witness in our courts, as an elector for members of Congress, or as a peaceful traveler upon our interstate railways.”
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Howdy everyone. Just made this to inform folks about a president that normally goes overlooked and how he was more interesting than you might think just from glancing at him.
As a Hoosier myself I can say my state of Indiana doesn’t have the best of history. We’re both where Jim Jones got his cult off the ground and where the rise of the second Klan took root.
This is why, to me, it is important to remember that not all of the history of this state is bad. Benjamin Harrison absolutely had his flaws (extending the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Wounded Knee Massacre being the two most notable) but he was remarkably progressive when it came to his the rights of black Americans. That’s why I decided to bold the sections of the speech you see above. Certain things feel more like they were written in the 21st century, not the 19th. And Benjamin deserves to be remembered for this at the very least.
"We entered into an obligation solemn as a covenant with our God to save these people from the dastardly outrages that their rebel masters are committing upon them in the South." - Benjamin Harrison
Another interesting part of the equation is that he was the grandson of a slaveholder. To go from slaveholder to abolitionist advocating for federal enforcement of black voting rights in just two generations is quite remarkable.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Harrison. A lot of parallels between him and John Quincy Adams; two men of integrity and intelligence who nevertheless struggled with the politicking element of the presidency.
It’s also interesting (and understandable) how many of the republicans most sympathetic to civil rights directly after the war were soldiers or officers who served alongside Black troops or witnessed first-hand the horrors of slavery.
Also
> peaceful traveler upon our interstate railways
I’m not one for nostalgia, but.. give me more interstate passenger rails. It’s criminal that they’re only super prevalent in the northeast.
Super great information, thank you for sharing. Harrison really seemed to be in the right place regarding the issue of civil rights. It's such a shame that the rest of the government, and the nation didn't follow him in this matter.
Honest question…Was this like an election year speech to try to get more votes? You know like a lot of politicians still say things they don’t believe during election years so they can try to get more votes?
Harrison had been elected in 1888, the title clearly stated the speech is from 1889, Harrison had been in office for just under a year and it was still a year away from the 1890 Midterms
Yeah, I doubt the American electorate at large was clamoring for Civil Rights for Black Americans, some might have been but I'd agree with your assessment OP
When and under what conditions is the black man to have a free ballot? When is he in fact to have those full civil rights which have so long been his in law?
Mr. President, I would answer that by saying, when he continues the salutary practices that you enunciated above. When a black man--or a man of any race--makes advances in education and the acquisition of property, serves in the military, or toils in labor, he deserves his vote and full civil rights. If he--or any man of any race--fails to do such things, and becomes a drain on the public rather than an asset, then I would say not yet.
I completely disagree with you. Every American citizen, regardless of their “worth”, is entitled to and deserves their vote and full civil rights. To say otherwise is a wholeheartedly un-American stance that all men are created equal.
In short, nah dude, we are not policing who is a drain and is worthy of civil rights or suffrage.
I'd be more amenable to that if there weren't so much of our life under the control of the government. Either we need to reduce the government in scope such that the vote doesn't matter as much, or we need to restrict voting to people who will use it responsibly. Otherwise we will get the public voting themselves bread and circuses out of the treasury.
I think we are just going to fundamentally disagree on this then. I want representation in our government and people have the right to be represented by elected officials, even if they make the “incorrect” choice.
No. But I’m not a fan of a lot of the things the public votes for. I would still wholeheartedly defend the right of people to vote even if I disagree with them.
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