Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-04-06
FIRST SPEECH BY A COLORED MAN
IN CONGRESS-.
SPEECH OF

SPE L CII OF
Hon. Hiram r. ReUeIS, Of Mississippi,
in the United States Senate, We'd
neSddy, March 16, 1870, on the GeOr-
gid Reconstruction Bill.
Mr.. Reyels. Mr.. President, rise
at this particular juncture in the dis
cussion of the Georgia bill, with feel
( ings which perhaps never before en-
/ tered into the experience OF any men,
! Der of this body. l rise, too, with
misgivings as to the propfety of lift
] ing my voice at tins early period after
my admission into the Senate. Per-
haps it were wiser for me, so inexpe-
rienced in the details of Senatorial
/ duties, TO have remained a passive
] listner in the progress of this debate (;
Z but when remember that my tenn
is short, and that the issues with
which this bill is fraught are momen-
tous in their present and future intiu-
ence upon the well-being of my race,
( | would seem Indifferent TO the i'm
portanee of the hour and recreant to
the high trust imposed upon me If |
hesitated to lend my voice on behalf
of the loyal people of the south. l
therefore waive all thoughts as to the
propriety of taking a part in this dis
cussion. When questions arise which
bear upon the safety and protection of
the loyal white and cOlOred population
of those States lately in rebellion, l
cannot allow any thought as TO mere
propriety to enter into my considera-
ton of duty. The responsibilities of
being the exception of such a con-
II hn hnnnr n vol
resent, are fully appreciated by me. l
bear about me daily the keenest sense
of their weight, and that feeling
prompts me now to lift my voice for
the first time in this Council Cham
Der of the Nation and, sir, l stand
to-day on this floor to appeal for pro-
lection from the strong arm of the
Government for her loyal children,
irrespective of color and race, who are
citizens of the Southern States, and
particularly of the State of Georgia.
/ am well aware, sir, that the idea
is abroad that an antagOnism exists
between the whites and blacks; that
that race which the nation raised from
the degradation of slavery, and en-
dowed with the full and unqualified
rights and privileges of citizenship,
are intent upon power, at whatever
price it can be gained. 1t has been
the well-considered purpose and aim
of class not confined to the South
to spread this charge over the land.
and their efforts are as vigorous to-
day to educate the people of this ma
ton into that belief as they were at
the close of the war. 1t was not un-
common to find this same class even
during the rebellion, prOgnOsticating
a servile war. 1t NAV have been that
1.-THE wish was father to the thought"
And, sir, as the recognized represen- |
tative IF my downtro lden people, / I
deny the charge and hurl it back into 4
the teeth of those who make it, and /
1 believe, have not true and cOnsci-
entious desire to further the interests /
of the whole South. Certainly no one /
any personal knowledge of .
the colored population of my own or
other States, need be reminded of the I
noble conduct of that people under the
most trying circumstances of the late
war, when they were beyond the pro-
lection of the Federal forces. While
the Confederate army pressed into its
ranks every white male capable of
bearing arms, the mothers, wives,
daughters and sisters of the Southern
soldiers were left defenseless and in
he power of the blacks, upon whom
he chains of slavery were still rivited;
and to bind those chains still closer
was the real issue for which so much
ife and property was sacrificed.
And now, sir, 1 ask how did that
ace act? Did they in those days of
confederate weakness and impotence
.vince the malignity of which we
lear so much? Granting, for the
AXE OF argument, that they were ig-
lorant and besotted, which l do not \
believe, yet with all their supposed (
ignorance and creGulity they in their
way understood as fully Us you or | {
he awful import of the contest. They /
knew if the gallant corps of national 4,
ol iiers were beaten back and their i
lag trailed in the dust that il was the
lresage of still heavier BONDAGE {
They longed, too, as their fathers did
Defore them, for the advent of that
poch over which was shed the hal
owed light of inspiration ITSELF
They desired, too, with their fathers, {
o welcome the feet of the stranger /
hOdNwith the peaceful preparation of {
'oOd news. Weary years of bondage 8
lad told their tale of sorrow to the j
ourt of Heaven. In the councils of S
be great Father of all they knew the c
of their case, albeit de- c
aged for years, in which patient suf- c
ering had nearly exhausted itself I
Tould in the end bring TO them the i
oon for which they sighed-God's L
lost blessed gift to His creatures-the 5
lestimaDle boon of liberty. They s
'aited, and they waited patiently. L
n the absence of their masters thev o
rejected the virtue and chastity of I
efenseless women. Think, sir. for n C
what the condition of this c
md would be to-day if the slave
opulatiOn had risen in servile insur- n
ection against those who month bv 7
lOnth were fighting to perpetuate 4
lat institution which brought them A
Il the evils of which they complain- I
/. Where would have been the 50 Il
Irity for property, female chastity n
nd childhood's innocence? The r.
lOody counterpart of such story of |;
'uelty and wrong would have been I
aralleled only in those chapters of n
ewish history as recorded by lose II
hus, or in the still later atrocities of n
lat reign of terror which sent the q
nfOrtunate Louis XVI and Marie a
ntOinette to the scaffold. Nay, the r
eeds in that drama of cOld-biooled h
ltchery would have out Heroded the 6
Iost diabolical acts of Herod himself. il
Mr.. President, maintain that the ST
lst record of my race is true index W
the feelings which to-day animate Fl
lem. They bear toward their former d.
asters no revengeful thoughts, no al
afradS No aDinoSitiac Tha,, -, ! :,