this quotation is from charles sumner, the massachusetts senator who worked closely with blacks to pass legislation from the district of columbia that represented the most racially progressive policies possible at that time. conversely, though, as congress' politics shifted and a new coalition gained the upper hand in washington, d.c., congress' prerogative in washington made the capitol an example of a different kind, a example of the enfranzment the climate was a broader climate in both the north and the south of distrust and fear of democratic self-government. whereas, in the north, movements to the dramatically limit the power of urban voters and primarily the voters who were most often maligned and attacked were voters of irish descent, movements to dramatically limit their power came in the end to very little. by contrast, by the south this impulse resulted in the 1890s in expansion of enfranchisement as we know. in 1868 george spencer, a white republican senator from alabama by birth a northerner, in other words, avenues carpetbagger, he argued that the permanent commission form

and the outlined incident in a letter to a military judge and forwarded it to senator charles sumner read on the floor of the senate. so what i'm describing here is a process of kind of a popular impulse among everyday soldiers followed by a more prominent man making a direct protest. and office because it is washington is being discussed in congress at the same time. so in the case of the streetcars, and in many other cases as well, black activism spurred a republican dominated congress to act. some congressmen including charles sumner were primed for action because of their own view that emancipation should not stop with near freedom, but surely to the implementation of were essentially abolitionists. this is a notion that freedom itself wouldn't be enough in the country that was going to emancipation, but the policies would need to be implemented to produce a more equal society attaches have a saying slavery couldn't exist anymore was only the beginning. so together, black activism and congressional activism made the capital an exemplar of racially progressive policy nationwide. f

people like charles sumner, people like emma willard, the great champion for higher education for women, or elizabeth blackwell, the first woman doctor in america. they were wonderful writers. they weren't writing to be published. they were writing letters. it was part of life, part of what you were expected to do. sumner's story is so arresting. >> massachusetts? >> massachusetts senator, senator charles sumner, one of the most important figures of 19th century america in that he was the most powerful voice for abolition in the senate. he was nearly beaten to death on the floor of the senate weather a heavy walking stick by a senator from south carolina who was phoneded by what he said. he went to harvard law school, practiced for three years and decided i don't know enough. my education is not sufficient. i want to know more. i want to learn more. i'm going to go to paris. so he borrowed $3,000 from friends, closed up his office, and he went over. attending lectures, and all classes. >> in french? >> in french. everything was in french. he organized taughtors, and in about a month he

this quotation is from charles sumner, the massachusetts senator, working closely with black activists to pass legislation for the district of columbia representing the most racially aggressive policies at that time. as congress' policies shifted and a new coalition gained the upper hand in washington, d.c., congress' prerogative in washington made the capitol an example of a different kind, an example of disfranchisement. the creation of the commission government was part of a broader climate in the north and the south of this trust and fear of democratic self-government whereas in the north, movements to dramatically limit the power of urban voters and primarily the voters who were most often aligned and attack were of irish dissent. in the end, this came to very little. this impulse resulted by the 1890s in extensive disenfranchisement as is well known. in 1878, george spencer, a white republican senator by alabama, by birth, a northerner, he argued that the current commission form of government in the capitol threatened, "the franchise of poor man throughout the united states whate