Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Here�s Why Frederick Douglass was a Republican
Many people may not realize that one of the champions in the fight for African American
rights was a �black, dyed in the wool Republican� by his own account.
In remarks at the White House on Tuesday, President Donald Trump described abolitionist
and former slave Frederick Douglass as a �great American icon,� noting his 200th birthday
to be celebrated on Feb. 14.
Douglass was a lifelong member of the GOP and strongly supported two of its most prominent
presidents � Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant � in their efforts to secure the
rights of black Americans.
�I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong
to any other party than the party of freedom and progress,� Douglass is credited with
saying.
The reason why is understandable.
The Grand Old Party was founded in 1854 with the stated mission of stopping the growth
of slavery into the western territories.
Lincoln argued in his famous debates with Sen. Stephen Douglas in 1858 and his Cooper
Union Address in 1860 that the founders had placed slavery on the pathway to extinction
by limiting its geographic sphere, which politicians in the 19th century reversed by allowing it
to expand west.
Lincoln repeatedly referenced the Declaration of Independence with its well-known words
that �all men are created equal� and �endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights� to argue the case that black people should be free.
Frederick Douglass frequently did the same.
In one of his most celebrated speeches entitled �What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?�
in 1852, Douglass said, �(Y)ou hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are
created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,� he said, but then pointed out
that �you� also hold on to slavery.
He continued, �The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism
(as in constitutional republic) as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, and your
Christianity as a lie.�
Following Lincoln�s issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Douglass� mission
changed from abolitionist to recruiter.
He now traveled town-to-town, church-to-church, anywhere people could be gathered, and encouraged
the young black men to join the Union ranks and fight for the cause of freedom.
Black men heeded Douglass� call to fight.
By the end of the war, 180,000 had served, making up 10 percent of the Union�s ranks.
In recognition of his recruiting efforts, Douglass became the first African American
in the nation�s history to visit the White House and meet with the president in an official
capacity.
During his final year in office, Lincoln championed passage of the 13th Amendment, which ended
slavery throughout the United States once and for all.
The measure was introduced by Republicans and passed with unanimous support of its members
of Congress, while only a handful of Democrats (2 in the Senate and 16 in the House) voted
in the affirmative.
In an oration honoring the assassinated Lincoln after the war, Douglass said, �Our faith
in him was often taxed and strained to the uttermost� as he moved in measured steps
toward freeing the slaves, �but it never failed.�
Grant, who had served as commander of the Union forces under Lincoln, would take up
his former boss� banner when he became commander-in-chief.
The nation�s 18th president fully supported passage of the 15th Amendment, which guaranteed
the right to vote, regardless of race or previous condition as a slave.
Once again, it was Republican members of Congress who passed the measure, but this time with
no Democrat votes.
Grant backed up the words and promises of the post Civil War amendments by sending federal
troops into the former Confederate states to ensure their enforcement and to protect
the lives of the recently freed slaves.
Of Grant, Douglass said, �To him more than any other man the *** owes his enfranchisement
and the Indian a humane policy.
� He was accessible to all men.
� The black soldier was welcome in his tent, and the freedman in his house.�
One hundred years after the Civil War ended, the Republican Party backed the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 in greater percentages than the Democrat Party.
Eighty percent of Republican senators voted for it versus 69 percent of Democrats, and
in the House, it was 80 percent of Republicans to the Democrats 63 percent.
One cannot know whether Douglass would be a Republican in 2018, but the GOP is proud
to count him as part of its storied history.
At remarks at the Smithsonian�s National Museum of African American History and Culture
on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence honored the legacy of Douglass.
Two-hundred years ago,� Pence said, �America was blessed by the birth of a man who, in
his lifetime, through his intellect and personal courage and through his inspiration that would
echo through the generations, transformed America into a more perfect Union.�
Randy DeSoto is The Western Journal�s senior staff writer and author of the book �We
Hold These Truths.�
What do you think?
Scroll down to comment below.