Monday, November 16, 2009
Democratic Party
Research Day in the library. Post information about the Democratic Party of 1900s America. At the end of the hour, make sure to post summarized information about what you found, and include links in case your classmates would like more information. Don't forget to cite your sources -- MLA format!
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"Republicanism means negro equality while the Democratic party means that the white man is supreme. That is why we Southerners are all Democrats." - Sen. Ben Tillman, 1906
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1900
This is a map of how Americans voted during the 1900 election. Notice how most of the Northern states voted Republican while most of the Southern states voted as Democrats. Today, the opposite is usually true. This information indicates the reversal of party platforms between then and now.
In the 1900 Democratic Party Platform, the Democrats chose not to address the issue of race at all, leaving things such as lynching and racism out of their speech. In 1904, racism is briefly mentioned, but only to say that the Republicans were stirring up trouble by discussing race. The Democrats thought that because the Republicans had touched on the issue of race in their speeches, they were "selfish, and [had a] narrow spirit". They refrained from discussing it because of their "sober common sense".
Citations:
Loyd, Jeffery. “Hillary: Undecided on Platform Apology for Slavery?” Wrong On Race. 20 January 2008. Web. 16 November 2009.
Woolley, John T. and Gerhard Peters. “Democratic Party Platform of 1904.” The American Presidency Project. Web. 16 November 2009.
The Democratic party was transformed through its belief in slavery. The Republican party was actually created to confront the drifting from the core values of equality in the Declaration of Independence. The founders tolerated slavery out of necessity, but the Democrats began to think of slavery as good. This can be seen through Thomas Jefferson's approach to slavery that was evolved into John C. Calhoun's approach. Thomas Jefferson believed that slavery was bad for the slave owner and the slave. Calhoun twisted this by saying slavery was good for the slave owner and good for the slave.
Through Calhoun's arguments that slavery was not a "necessary evil", but a "positive good", he transforms the Democratic Party into a party of slavery.
After the civil war, the Democrats used the Klu Klux Klan as one of its weapons against the proposition of African-American equality. They triumphed and built Jim Crow in place.
Presidents in the around the 1900s or so like President Wilson still kept their Segregation Policy. He even says that "if the colored people had made the mistake in voting for him, they ought to correct it" ("President"). He was also the president that segregated the government.
From these paragraphs, one can see the immense suprise of Obama's presidency because of the Democrat's rich history of racism against people of his race. This shows the immense growth of the Democratic Party that has taken place. Although, Afro-Americans of the Republican party that were outraged with Obama's presidency took out their anger by putting up these bilboards around Denver:
http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2008/07/black-republicans-release-anti-000826.php
These show how the Africans of the Republican party still remember the hatrid of the Democratic party to their race.
Owens, Mackubin T. "The Democratic Party's Legacy of Racism." Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs. Ashland University, Dec. 2002. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/02/racism.html.
"President Resents Negro Criticism." New York Times [Washington D.C.] 13 Nov. 1914, Special sec.: 1-1. New York Times. Web. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9C01E0DC1738E633A25750C1A9679D946596D6CF.
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