governor of jamaica, edward eyre. he's associated with the complete opposite faction of edward and gordon. they were good friends and they were also business partners that formed a life insurance company based out of kingston. anderson, we believe, introduced menard to gordon. menard becomes involved in jamaican politics as an advocate on the right of the free black population in jamaica. and above all of that, he starts a literary and debate society with the explicit purpose of increasing participation in politics and spreading literacy to the black population of the colony. this occurs in early 1865. he establishes himself so quickly, there's actually a newspaper report after his arrival that says, mr. menard is a great asset to this island. we are lucky to have him here. to bring his knowledge, his

expertise, his drive to educate. and this society that he sets up. so this establishes him very early on in jamaican politics. he's actually appointed to a committee that sends a draft of letters for reform in colonial political system to governor eyre in 1865. this is brought to the governor, actually sent back to england, this petition, and it was attached to some philanthropic reports that were coming out of england. and it was brought before the colonial office and ostensibly the queen for response. but governor eyre takes a very dismissive attitude toward the recommendations for reform. and this causes the two factions to really come to a head in 1865, late 1865, just after the civil war has ended, and just after what we thought of as a major advance for freedom in the world has been attained.

it starts in the parish immediately adjacent to menard's home. this is st. thomas in the east, a parish on the eastern shore of jamaica, in a small colonial town of morton bay. on a routine court case, there is an african-american defendant who is being charged with a fine for alleged trespass on an abandoned plantation. that had essentially been allowed to become overgrown, and this particular defendant in the case had crossed onto the land, and we think that he may have attempted to cultivate some food. but regardless of the case, what it was essentially the land-owning class was attempting to clamp down on black attempts to establish property rights within the colony. and this individual was brought before the court, prosecuted, threatened with a fine. and after he's convicted, he's brought outside of the courtroom and he's met by paul bogel, who is an affiliate of menard's, an

ally through the liberal faction within the colonial legislature, and bogel, with a group of men, basically liberates this prisoner of his captivity after the court ruling. governor eyre does not take kindly to this. and cracks down with an iron fist upon the settlers of morant bay, the black population of mo rant bay, sends in the army, and declares martial law. over the next several days of rioting, there's a contemporary engraving of what happened in the town of morant bay. over 400 black residents of jamaica are strung up on the streets, shot down, essentially murdered, brutalized. in the course of this event, with martial law declared, governor eyre's troops also sweep through the parishes of

the east and round up anyone who was deemed a political agitator. this includes menard, it includes another of his associates, samuel clark, also in a remarkable display of arrogance, it also includes george william gordon, the member of the colonial assembly, who is residing in kingston at the time. had absolutely no knowledge or participation in any of the events in the area so-called under rebellion. governor eyre had him arrested in kingston, loaded on horseback, transported into the rebellion zone where he fell under martial law, taken onboard a military ship where his lawyer, william anderson, attempts to visit him and is refused by the military authorities. menard is aware of these events from the shore. he knows gordon has been taken captivity.

he probably knows through anderson what was going on. but after anderson is refused the writ of habeas corpus, the military authorities come in and they execute gordon for treason on a very trumped-up charge of inciting a revolt. menard himself is taken to a prison camp that was established around the morant bay area with samuel clark, and probably escapes the noose himself for the sole reason that he was an american citizen. the united states consulate at kingston noticed that an american was among the accused, and began putting pressure on the british government to release him. this was achieved on the same day that samuel clark, his associate, is also brought up and executed. in a similar manner as gordon. the u.s. consul whisks menard to kingston and places him on the next ship bound for new orleans. under u.s. government purchase, they bought him the ticket. menard's wife and young child

were left behind in kingston. he didn't even have time to say good-bye to her, which comes up later in his career. he does reunite with the family and they are able to make it out of jamaica and to new orleans. when he leaves jamaica, is brought to new orleans, his stock rises instantly in the british empire as an eyewitness to the events that just happened. this is an excerpt from a letter that he wrote to mills, the classical liberal, sometimes member of the parliament. mill finds out about what happened to gordon, what happened to clark, the brutal suppression occurs and begins to petition within the british government to bring up governor eyre on charges of murder and violation of due process of law. well, menard becomes an instant correspondent with mill and writes him a firsthand that he presents as evidence in the court.

unfortunately, governor eyre escaped any repercussion with there was a the law for the charges. there was a vibrant debate that occurred in the british parliament at the time that separated the two factions of english politics, the liberal faction and the kind of colonialist faction. some of the leading figures of british politics at the time were involved. mill, who was a correspondent with menard, also formed a committee with herbert spencer, the social scientist. charles darwin joined this committee. and john wright, anti-slavery

parliament arian. and they used the evidence provided by menard. on the other side, and this is what my friend steve davies says, distinguishes the good guys from the villains of victorian politics. the other side was a committee formed by thomas carlisle, the scottish historian. he brought to his side charles dickens. the famous novelist. and several of the more imperialist minded members of parliament to defend eyre from prosecution. mill succeeds using this evidence in bringing governor eyre up on charges, but the jury influenced by carlisle's counteractivism refuses to indict. but meanwhile, menard himself has seen his stock rise as a waiting light of the cause of freedom, almost worldwide. he is quoted in the british anti-slavery society's newspapers. he has arrived back in new orleans as well, and he begins to notice very quickly that the johnson administration's commitment to civil rights in the united states is very lacking. this particular quote, he compares actually governor eyre to president johnson. he said the only difference is the former follows events while the latter with ignorance

mingled with ambition, and egotism never before excelled by any one man makes or contemporarily controls them. in new orleans, john willis menard, really with a fire in his chest, to fight this injustice, enters politics and decides that after all, maybe we should continue to stake out our claim in the united states for a fair and equal-minded future where we have access to the political system, where a black man and a white man can run for congress on equal terms. he obtains this ownership of a newspaper in new orleans in 1866 and uses this as a springboard that gets him elected to the united states house of representatives. two years later, on a special election. i'll conclude here with a picture of menard's arrival in the united states house of representatives in 1869.

it was an international media event of an african-american arriving on the floor of the house. this was taken out of frank leslie's newspaper. weekly harper also covered it and london "times" covered it. his international stock contributed to the media event around this. the last and final remarkable thing about menard's life is, when he arrived in congress in 1869, he was only 30 years old. he accomplished this entire career of being a leader within the united states abolition movement, one of the instigators, participant, a captive and victim of the morant bay rebellion, and the first african-american elected to congress by the age of 30. with that, i'll turn it over to matthew who will speak about his congressional career. [ applause ] >> mr. davis, if you would stay

just for one moment. so i am not matt. i am rod ross. and i want to thank both clayton mckendra, a board member here, as well as congressman for coming. arkansas's loss has been illinois's gain for both of them. i'm especially pleased that the congressman was able to come. b.j. durham is a close friend of mine. her book, a little slave boy with a desire to learn and to be free, truly is a remarkable, inspirational children's work. she republished her work with a may 24th, 2011, quote from the congressman, attesting to its inspirational character. so i'll let you leave, and all is well. [ applause ]

in 2004, the congressman was emcee for an event that the illinois state society basically put on with his office that honored three co-editors of a university of tampa press republication of a 19th century volume of poetry by john willis menard growing up in illinois. i pronounce it menard. it's menard. and i've chosen to read as a kind of segway a love poem that menard wrote to his wife, elizabeth, when he was in exile from her in the united states. to emt of jamaica. away from thy green island home, i sent my missives to come where

the hue of the rose never dies. if thy soft gentle spirit now for form that is now far away, i will send you these few simple lines to beguile the long, weary day. thy friendship, though young, i will keep, and its ties i will improve like wandering vines they will creep upon the power of love. thy memory like a bright sunny beam lingers near me by day and by night. like the fairy, like the swift fairy pinion and gleam of a heavenly vision of light. fare thee well in thy sweet island home to the one who is far from me now, again to the bosom thy shall come for kisses so sweet for thy brow. [ applause ] >> good afternoon. i'm matt wasniewski from the

house history office. i'm sure i can get these slides here. there we go. i want to thank don and rod and the capitol historical society and the illinois state society of washington, d.c., for organizing this event to commemorate black history month. and rod has asked me to offer something of an afterword to tell you a little bit about menard's unique place in house history in the late 1860s, and also put him in context of that generation of african-american pioneers who served in the house shortly after menard's contested election. 143 years ago, this february 27th, john willis menard broke one of congressional history's long-running color barriers. like so many later moments in which other congressional pioneers eclipsed racial

barriers, that moment was both triumphal and also circumscribed. he served in the house of representatives to make his case unsuccessfully in the end, to be seated in the house. "the new york tribune" reported the galleries were crowded and the house gave him its undivided attention. he being the first negro in the history of the country to whom the privilege was granted of addressing the house of representatives. now, we might be content to relegate menard to a curious historical footnote. after all, there were other earlier curious footnotes in terms of house history. in february of 1865, house chaplain william channing invited the black creature, henry highland garnett, to

commemorate the house's approval of the 13th amendment banning slavery to deliver a sermon in the house chamber. and that was a unique moment in its own right because african-americans had been banned from the house chamber, as far as we know, going back to the 1820s. but garnett wasn't speaking in the house while it was in legislative session, and he certainly wasn't making his case to be seated as a representative. and indeed, menard's brief speech -- and this is an image made from a matthew brady photograph. this is menard on the floor. his brief 15-minute speech on february 27th, 1869, delivered from a desk on the republican side of the chamber, potently symbolized the age. in one stroke it evoked the victory of african-american civil rights and enfranchisement after the civil war, while also suggesting some of the

continuities which would animate the careers of the 20 black men who would shortly follow him onto the house floor as full-fledged representatives between 1870 and 1901. evoking their victories, their struggles, eventually their decline and their complete exclusion from congress. first i want to provide some background on menard's contested election. contested elections are always untidy affairs. 19th century contested elections set the gold standard for that. during the reconstruction era in the occupied south, we all know african-americans first exercised the vote, catapulting hundreds of southern black men into state and local public office. and menard was nominated by louisiana republicans on october 4th of 1868 to run in a special election to succeed the late representative james mann in a district which encompassed greater new orleans.

this was for the final few months of the 40th congress, which was set to expire in march of 1869. and in a circular explaining his candidacy, menard made it clear that he intended to test the sincerity of his party's frequent professions about enfranchising african-americans. he wrote, the ballot means equal representation as well as equal rights, and if men are still to be debarred from the halls of congress, or even the white house, on account of the color of their faces, then reconstruction and republicanism are lamentable failures. the reward of the long oppressed race will not be adequate and the great cause of equal rights will not be accomplished until the colored man is seen in every department of this government. now, menard appeared to have won the november 3rd, 1868, special election with a 64% of the vote.

and it would have made him the first african-american to serve in congress. but his opponent, a white man by the name of caleb hunt, challenged menard's right to be seated. and as the house elections committee would soon uncover, more than 80% of the votes that were first cast for hunt were thrown out by the local canvassing board swinging the election to menard. meanwhile, thousands of african-american men appeared to have been denied the ballot by violence, intimidation, and outright fraud. and to complicate matters, the late representative mann's original opponent, republican simon jones, challenged the validity of mann's original election to the house in april of 1868. arguing in essence that he, jones -- are you taking notes -- was the rightful winner and there was no vacancy.

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were invited to present their cases on the floor. hup hur huhunt declined huo tpthe floor to speak on be his constituents. r hp he said, i would f recolle recollerecollecp reo r hp he said, i would f recolle recollerecollecp r imposed of me if i. i do not expect or ask that thethere should recolle recollerecollecp r imposed of me if i. i do not expect or ask that thethere shoul be any favors sn me on account of my race or former condition of that race. menamenarp menamenard prots on those grounds. but after a long afternoon of debate, the majority of the full house agreed with the mitt eon elections which reported that and the house then moved very quickly to deny hunt the seat and then moved to menard whom it rejected 130 to 57 and the vast majority of those votes for menard were radical republicans who had been supportive of him. and the seat remained vacate for

the final week of the congress. but the story didn't end there. representative henry dawes of massachusetts took to the house floor and he came to admonish colleagues who were seeking to reduce the payment that had been promised menard for traveling to washington, for living in d.c. for two months while he made his case before the committee on elections. mr. jones, he had contested mann's election, was paid the full freight t $2500. but in menard's case, the committee on accounts proposed to lowering that amount to $1500. to be fair, the chairman of this three-person panel, and it was a rather backwards panel, had decided he could get some attention and save the house a little bit of cash. and he also recommended that caleb hunt only be paid $1500 in this case. but dawes objected to this

because he smelled that there was more than just pea kunry motivation at work here for the reduction. and the reaction to him in the chamber was telling. i appeal to the house that they will not be carried away by their project dises to colors and race, dawes said. i appeal to them not to treat him by one rule and the white man by another. i ask the gentleman who passed the constitutional amendment to see that this is not done. mr. speaker, it is unconstitutional to treat him differently. and the congressional globe, which often has wonderful little asides in it from this time period, reported that it was laughter that greeted each refrain of this appeal to menard's 14th amendment rights and the guarantees of the 15th amendment, which the house and the senate had approved and sent to the stats for ratification just days before menard's

speech. looking back on the contested election episode. the baltimore sun declared, the fact -- was one so novel that the greatest attention was paid by republicans and democrats. menard failed, however, to make an impression. and it is safe to say that no other colored man will again have so good an opportunity to make an impression, for no one will be again listened to with such care. and as we know, that verdict was premature. within a year, capitol hill marked the appointment of high rim rebts of mississippi. the press debd revels the 15th amendment in flesh and flood. and later joseph rainy of south carolina won a special election to the u.s. house of representatives becoming the first african-american to serve in our institution.

the arrival of revels and rainy ranks among the great paradoxes in american history. just a decade earlier, these african-american' congregsnal seats were hold by slave holders. menards background and experiences forshadowed those who would shortly follow him into congress. he was young. the he was just 30 years old when he made that speech on the house floor. like a lot of the men who would follow him in the 1870s and 1880s. he was born into a mixed-race family. he was exceedingly well-et educated. and like all those who would follow him in the next decade, he was from a reconstructed republican government in the south. and as did menard, african-americans elected after him found allies among

republicans on capitol hill. menard's contested election too was a preview of what awaited other black politicians. such cases sky rocketed in the late 19th century, particularly in the south. and black representatives were profoundly affected by these contested elections. three of them, joseph rainy, wall is of florida and richard kain of south carolina all lost contested elections. five other african-american members of congress spent valuable time and resources to defend their contested seats. missing opportunities to introduce legislation or to speak on the house floor. in one example, defeated for re-election in 187 1894 in, gorge murray of south carolina, spent the entire third session of the 53rd congress in late 1894 and early 1895, preparing

evidence to overturn the results of that election and regain his seat in the next kopg. compiling tt foot-thick stack of paperwork to give to the committee left him no time to legislate. and so overwhelmed was that committee on elections during this era, at one point the house had three committees on elections, so overwhelmed was that committee that the, with the staggering workload, that it often would deliberate cases until late into a congress leaving contestants in limbo. murray eventually won his seat in the following congress, but he wasn't reseated until june of 1896, a year and a half into a two-year congress. reconstruction has often been called the second american revolution, and in recent decades because of the growing literature, we've come to appreciate just how profound and also how incomplete that

levelulation was. menard's legacy, of course, was that he was at the very van guard of a group of african-americans who came into congress. but his experience in being excluded from the seat also intimates what would occur to african-american congressmen at the end of the century. after formal reconstruction ended in the south in 1877, and what occurred was a process that we're familiar with, that took place over several decades in which legal and extra legal methods of disen-france chiesment, collectively known as gym crow, cyst mat clig and route leslie excluded african-americans from government. but like menard's note worthy part in all this. the groundwork for bigger changes and participation that awaited social and political

movements in the 20th century. and with that thank you and i'll turn it back to don. [ applause ] >> thank you matt and fill. if you have time for questions, if you have questions, please direct it to one of our speakers. are there questions? comments? okay. well, it is 1:00, so i thank you all for your attend answer and look forward to seeing you again in our next program. thank you. [ applause ] throughout the weekend here on american history tv, watch personal interviews about historic events on oral