(1867) Rev. E. J. Adams, “These are Revolutionary Times”
In March 1867, as Congress passed the first Reconstruction Acts, African Americans
gathered in mass meetings throughout the South to support Congress’s action and to
plan their own agenda. One of the earliest of these meetings took place in Charleston,
South Carolina on March 19, 1867. At the conclusion of the meeting Rev. E. J. Adams, a
leader of the Charleston black community gave the address below.
… When our war first broke out, it was the idea even of the Republican party,
and even of the most radical of that party, that slavery should be confined to
where it then existed; that it should have no further advancement, or be
introduced into any of the territories shortly to become states. But the
overruling hand of Providence, whose ways are in the whirlwind, brought good
out of the wind, and today we can say, as Joseph said to his brethren, "As for
you, ye meant evil unto me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass that
which has this day saved much people alive.
(1867) Rev. E. J. Adams, “These are Revolutionary Times” (cont.)
Some are opposed to universal suffrage on the ground that a black man is not
capable of exercising that right with judgment. But let me tell you that all men
may be led instinctively to do that which is right, or choose the wrong. Those
men who are led instinctively to support the liberty of the country in the time
of war by placing the ballot box in their hands, will also be led to support the
right in the time and hour of peace. Universal suffrage is the only reward that
can be given for the long years of slavery and disfranchisement of the now
colored citizens of the United States.
Universal suffrage is compatible with the genius of our Republic. This could
not be a republic in every sense of the word unless universal suffrage is
accorded to all men alike. The meaning of republicanism is that all men alike
have the right to enjoy the privilege of the ballot box.
… I do not, however, wish to be understood that I advocate or wish for social
equality. God forbid that. For some of my mean white drunken enemies may
sneak into my house and marry my daughter.
Founded in 1790, the Brown Fellowship
Society is the oldest all-male Funeral
Society in Charleston, South Carolina. It
also provides a major historical example
of how racism affected the African
American community itself, in that lighter
skinned African Americans in the Society
considered themselves superior to
darker skinned African Americans.
Although still considered inferior by the
white population, South Carolina's
mulattos, octoroons (a person with oneeighth black ancestry), and quadroons (a
person with one-quarter black ancestry),
were often given their freedom while
darker-skinned individuals remained in
slavery.
Robert Carlos De Large (1842–1874) was a
Republican member of the United States House of
Representatives from South Carolina. He was born in
Aiken, South Carolina on March 15, 1842. He
received such an education as was then attainable
and was graduated from Wood High School, after
which he became a farmer. He was a delegate to the
South Carolina constitutional convention in 1868,
and then a member of the South Carolina House of
Representatives from 1868 until 1870. In 1870 he
was elected State land commissioner, where he
served until his election to the House of
Representatives later that year. He was also one of
the commissioners of the State's sinking fund. De
Large served in the House of Representatives from
March 4, 1871 until January 24, 1873 when the seat
was declared vacant as the result of an election
challenge initiated by Christopher C. Bowen. After
leaving Congress he served as a local magistrate until
his death in Charleston on February 14, 1874. He is
buried in Brown Fellowship Graveyard.
Number of Black Elected Federal and State Legislators Who Served Terms During the
Reconstruction Period, by State: 1869 to 1901
“A Black legislature in the South during Reconstruction.” NYPL
Radical members of the first
legislature after the war.
South Carolina.
BLACKS IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA
LEGISLATURE DURING RECONSTRUCTION 2 3/8" x 4" card with photographs of 63
members of the Legislature of South
Carolina during the period of
Reconstruction --50 blacks and 13 whites.
Some of the more notable figures include
Joseph Hayne Rainey, the first black seated
in the U.S. House of Representatives
(1870), and William Whipper who helped
found the first African American law firm.
Benjamin A. Boseman, a “black
carpetbagger” from Troy, N.Y., served
as a surgeon to the 54th Massachusetts
Colored Infantry in the Civil War. He
has received his medical training at the
Medical School at Bowdoin College.
He went on to serve as a member of
the South Carolina House of
Representatives, and Postmaster of
the State. In his later years, he served
as one of the first two black trustees of
the University of South Carolina.
REPUBLICAN PARTY COURTS BLACK
VOTERS IN 1868 - In a question-andanswer format, this rare 4-page
campaign pamphlet urges freedmen to
vote for Gen. Grant for President. It
explains that the Republican Party
emancipated "the colored man" and is
"in favor of universal freedom." "Elect
them and your rights are ensured."
RECONSTRUCTION ERA (c. 1865-1877) - AFRICAN AMERICANS VOTE FOR THE FIRST
TIME! In March 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts that divided the
Southern states into five military districts, each with a commander tasked to oversee
new state constitutions that allowed for enfranchisement of all adult males. The above
sketch from Harper's Weekly shows the "REGISTRATION OF COLORED VOTERS" in
Richmond, Va.
Group portrait of African American legislators: Robert C. De Large (SC), Jefferson H. Long
(GA), H.R. Revels (MI), Benj. S. Turner (AL), Josiah T. Walls (FL), Joseph H. Rainy (SC), and R.
Brown Elliot (SC)
Full-length portrait of Oscar J.
Dunn, Lieut. Governor of
Louisiana, seated at desk, and
twenty-nine head-andshoulders portraits of African
American delegates to the
Louisiana Constitutional
Convention. 1868.
Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels alongside Frederick Douglass