1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:10,959 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: a show that gives a quick look it's something that 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: happened a long time ago. Today I'm Gay Bluesier, and 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're examining the day when members of 6 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: Congress took a notable first step toward black enfranchiseman during 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: the Reconstruction era. The day was January eighth, eighteen sixty seven. 8 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: The US Congress passed the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, 9 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: granting African American men the right to vote for the 10 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: first time in the nation's history. The bill's passage occurred 11 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: about two months before the Reconstruction Acts enfranchised black men 12 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: in the South, and three years before the Fifteenth Amendment 13 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: granted voting rights to all men regardless of race. Meanwhile, 14 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: black women, like all women in the United States, wouldn't 15 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: gain the rights to vote until nineteen twenty. The DC 16 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: Bill may have been the first law to grant suffrage 17 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: to African American men, but it still came with plenty 18 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: of caveats. The exceptions were male residents under the age 19 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: of twenty one, as well as anyone on welfare. Anyone 20 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: under someone else's guardianship, those who had been convicted of 21 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: a major crime, and those who had voluntarily sheltered Confederate 22 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: soldiers during the Civil War. At the time, the federal 23 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: government had direct control over the elections and voting rights 24 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: of the district. Citizens of d C were allowed to 25 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: vote for a local legislature called a council, but they 26 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: didn't have any representation in Congress, and they weren't allowed 27 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: to vote in presidential elections. All of that eventually changed, 28 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: but even today, the district remains woefully underrepresented in Congress, 29 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: and it's the only city budget in the country that 30 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: still requires Congressional approval. Federal oversight certainly has its downsides, 31 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: but in eighteen sixty seven, it actually worked in the 32 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: resident's favor for once. By the time the Civil War 33 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: ended in eighteen sixty five, the secession of Southern States 34 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: had cleared almost all of the Democrats out of Congress. 35 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: This put Lincoln's Republican Party firmly in charge, and one 36 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: of the first items on their agenda was to enfranchise 37 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: black men wherever they could. This inevitably led them to 38 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: focus on Washington, d C. Where Congress had the power 39 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: to do away with racial qualifications for voting, but there 40 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: was still one obstacle to overcome, and his name was 41 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: President Andrew Johnson. He had assumed the presidency following the 42 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: assassination of Abraham Lincoln in eighteen sixty five, and unlike 43 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: his predecessor, Johnson wasn't a Republican. He was a Unionist Democrat. 44 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: That means he hadn't favored secession, but still sided with 45 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: Southern states on many other matters. Lincoln had chosen Johnson 46 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: as his running mate in the eighteen sixty four election 47 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: in order to promote the idea of a newly unified nation. However, 48 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: that bipartisan gesture backfired when Johnson took over as president, 49 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: setting the executive branch at odds with a Republican legislature. 50 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: As President, Johnson put more importance on reconciling with the 51 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: former Confederate States than he did on securing equal rights 52 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: for citizens. As a result, when Congress first passed the 53 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: d C Suffrage Bill in early January of eighteen sixty seven, 54 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: President Johnson issued a veto to kill it. Still, in 55 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: the end, that was just a feudal gesture. Congress reconvened 56 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: three days later on January eight, and voted to override 57 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: Johnson's veto. The measure passed easily with a vote of 58 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: twenty nine to ten in the Senate and a hundred 59 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: and twelve to thirty eight in the House. President Johnson 60 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: would continue to fight the so called radical Reconstructionists and 61 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: Congress for the remainder of his presidency. His constant opposition 62 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: and frequent vetos eventually led to him becoming the first 63 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: US president ever to be impeached, though he wasn't convicted 64 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: of a crime or removed from office. The first chance 65 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: for black men in the District of Columbia to exercise 66 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: their new found right came in the summer of that 67 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: same year when the city's municipal elections were held. By 68 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,919 Speaker 1: the time of election day, black men accounted for a 69 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: stunning fifty percent of d C regis stirred voters, despite 70 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: being only thirty percent of the city's population. They had 71 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: finally won the right to vote, and they intended to 72 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: use it. The DC Suffrage Bill certainly had its limitations, 73 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 1: but it was a solid wind for the early civil 74 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: rights movement, and a hard fought one at that. This 75 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: particular victory hinged on the actions of white leaders in 76 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: the federal government. But it's important to remember that African 77 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: Americans had been fighting for freedom and equal rights themselves 78 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: since the earliest days of the country. During the Civil War, 79 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: black leaders used the social upheaval of the moment to 80 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: frame a strong political argument in favor of black male suffrage. 81 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: For example, during an address in eighteen sixty three, Frederick 82 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: Douglas argued that extending the vote to formerly enslaved citizens 83 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: would help preserve the Union's victory in the Civil War. 84 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: He said that if given the right to vote, African 85 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: Americans would become the country's quote best protector against the 86 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: traders and the descendants of those traders, who will inherit 87 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: the hate, the bitter revenge, which shall crystallize all over 88 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: the South and seek to circumvent the government that they 89 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: could not throw off. You may need him to uphold 90 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: in peace as he is now upholding in war. The 91 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: Star Spangled banner. Douglas had hit upon a practical appeal 92 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: for extending voting rights to black citizens. The party that 93 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: did so would likely win their votes for some time 94 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: to come. Republican members of Congress seem to have gotten 95 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: the memo and were swayed by the argument. By eighteen 96 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: sixty seven, they were finally ready to get to work 97 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: on the nationwide and franchisement of African American men, even 98 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: if mainly for their own ends. The district law was 99 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: a precursor to the Reconstruction Acts and constitutional amendments that 100 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: would follow it. Today, it's remembered as a small but 101 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: critical step on the long winding road to equal rights. 102 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: Over a century and a half later, that journey still 103 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: has no end in sight, But with so much on 104 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: the line, the important thing is that we just keep going. 105 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Louisier and hopefully you now know a little 106 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 107 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: enjoyed the show, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 108 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d i ah C Show, and if 109 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can only send 110 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: them my way by writing to this Day at i 111 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing 112 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you 113 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: back here again tomorrow for another Day in History Class 114 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: m H. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, visit 115 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you 116 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.