Saturday, December 06, 2008

The Republican Party Abolished Slavery


On this day in 1865, the 13th Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution.

From Michael Zak (Grand Old Partisan blog), who is all about teaching the real history of our country:

Despite protests from the Democrats, the Republican Party made banning slavery part of its national platform in 1864. Senator Lyman Trumbull (R-IL) wrote the final version of the text, combining the proposed wordings of several other Republican congressmen.

All Republicans in Congress voted for the 13th Amendment, while nearly all Democrats voted against it. So strongly did President Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) support the 13th Amendment, he insisted on signing the document, though presidential approval is not part of the amendment process.

Outlawing slavery was a Republican achievement.

It's quite ironic, isn't it? All Republicans voted for the 13th Amendment and nearly all Democrats voted against it. And here we are 144 years later and the first black President ever to be elected is a member of the same party that voted to keep blacks, like him, slaves.

Maybe there should a new "Roots" movie that shows the true history of Republicans fighting for the rights of the African American and Democrats fighting against those rights right up to the civil rights movement.
In the 26 major civil rights votes after 1933, a majority of Democrats opposed civil rights legislation in over 80 percent of the votes. By contrast, the Republican majority favored civil rights in over 96 percent of the votes.
There is another interesting little historical tidbit you might not be aware of that I found a Michael Zak's blog as well:
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For decades after the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist wing of the Democratic Party. Klansmen murdered hundreds of Republican activists and office-holders, including U.S. Representative James Hinds (R-Arkansas).
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On this day in 1871, the Republican-controlled 42nd Congress passed and the Republican President, Ulysses Grant, signed into law the Ku Klux Klan Act. The law banned the KKK and other Democrat terrorist organizations. President Grant then deployed federal troops to crush a Klan uprising in South Carolina.
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Eleven years later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned most provisions of the Act. Though legalized, this original version of the Ku Klux Klan faded. Why? Because as Democrats regained control over southern state governments, they could oppress African-Americans openly, without need of white sheets.
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In my opinion the Democrats still oppress blacks, but in a covert way. They do it by promising that the government will take care of them in one way or another. Being taken care of is a powerful incentive and it works.
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Republicans have done a sorry job in reaching out to the black community. We need to step up to the plate and teach them the history of the Republican party as it relates to them. We need to spread our message of less government and how to empower their communities with hard work, values, and prosperity.
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We are the party of Lincoln. Let's get back to it.