Black Day of the Indiana General Assembly

The Black Day of the General Assembly was February 24, 1887, on which date the Indiana General Assembly

Indiana General Assembly

The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate...

dissolved into legislative violence

Legislative violence

Legislative violence broadly refers to any violent clashes between members of a legislature, often physically inside the legislature and triggered by divisive issues and tight votes...

. The event began as an attempt by Governor

Governor of Indiana

The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...

Isaac P. Gray

Isaac Pusey Gray was the 18th and 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1880 to 1881 and from 1885 to 1889. Originally a Republican, he oversaw the forceful passage of the post-American Civil War constitutional amendments whilst he was a member of the Indiana Senate...

to be elected to the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

and his own party’s attempt to thwart him. It escalated when the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

controlled Senate refused to seat the newly elected Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Indiana

The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana is a constitutional office in the US State of Indiana. Republican Becky Skillman, whose term expires in January 2013, is the incumbent...

, Robert S. Robertson, after being ordered to do so by the Indiana Supreme Court. When Robertson attempted to enter the chamber he was attacked, beginning a four hours of intermittent fighting that spread throughout the Indiana Statehouse. The fight ended after Republicans and Democrats began threatening to kill each other and the Governor ordered police to get the situation under control. Subsequently, the Republican controlled House of Representatives

Indiana House of Representatives

The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...

refused to communicate with the Democratic Senate, ending the legislative session and leading to calls for United States Senators to be elected by popular vote.

Background

Isaac P. Gray

, a former Republican, was elected as a Democratic Governor of Indiana in 1884 along with Democratic Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Indiana

The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana is a constitutional office in the US State of Indiana. Republican Becky Skillman, whose term expires in January 2013, is the incumbent...

Mahlon D. Manson. Gray desired to be elected by the Indiana General Assembly

Indiana General Assembly

to the United States Senate

United States Senate

, but leaders in his party did not want him to rise farther because of his actions while he was a Republican. To create an issue in an attempt to eliminate his candidacy, they convinced Manson to resign from office. In the debate for selecting a candidate, Democrats argued that without a sitting Lieutenant Governor, the Governor should not be sent to the Senate because there would be no one who could readily fill his position.

Still desiring to be elected, Gray met with the Indiana Attorney General and Secretary of State to determine legality of electing a Lieutenant Governor during a midterm election. They both agreed that it would be legal, so the Secretary of State set forth an announcement that an election for the office would take place in the 1886 mid-term election. Gray hoped that a Republican would be elected, hoping that Republicans would support his bid for the Senate knowing that a Republican would succeed him as governor. Democrats and Republicans each put forward a candidate, and Republican candidate Robert S. Robertson won the election.

Before the legislative session of 1887 began, Democrats had filed a court appeal to prevent Robertson from being seated, citing the election as unconstitutional. When the legislative session began in January, Republicans immediately began making a commotion during the opening prayer. Democrats ignored the Republican minority, and proceeded to elect their own Lieutenant Governor, Alonzo Green Smith. Republicans then likewise filed a court case to prevent Smith from being seated. The Marion County Court of Appeals then ordered that neither Robertson nor Smith should be seated until the Indiana Supreme Court could decide on the matter.

When the Supreme Court came to session and took the case, the justices decided in favor of Robertson. They stated that the constitution did not put in place any restriction on such an election, and that a candidate elected by popular vote could not be replaced merely by the vote of the Senate.

Black Day

On February 24, the Monday following the court ruling, Robertson arrived at the statehouse to take his seat presiding over the Senate. As he entered the Senate chamber, a group of Democratic Senators attacked him. He was beaten to the floor and the Senate president pro tempore ordered the doormen to throw him out of the chamber and bar the door. He was quickly thrown out and the door locked while the Republicans demanded he be allowed to enter. Once the door was the locked, the Republican Senators began attacking the Democratic Senators. The fight continued for several minutes until one Democratic Senator pulled a gun and fired it into the ceiling, threatening to start killing Republicans unless the fight ended. The shot ended the fight in the Senate, but startled those in the rest of the building, who began to inquire what was going on. Robertson, who was on the outside, informed them of his treatment, and Republicans shouted through the still locked door that there had been a fight.

Word quickly spread through the Republican-controlled Indiana House of Representatives

Indiana House of Representatives

where the fight began afresh, with Democrats and Republicans fist fighting. It soon spread through much of the building, but Republicans were far more numerous and soon gained the upper hand. A mob of at least six hundred Republicans swept the building and began dragging Democrats outside. They then proceeded to beat down the door of the Senate chamber, dragging the Democratic Senators outside, where some Republicans made threats to begin killing them.

Governor Gray had already sent for reinforcement police from the city and county, ordering them to protect the Democrats and bring the situation under control. After about four hours of fighting, the battle was over.

Aftermath

The following day, House members issued a resolution refusing to have further communications with the Senate, which they referred to as an unconstitutional body because of its refusal to seat Robertson. Robertson returned to his home and was never seated. The lack of communication effectively ended the legislative session, creating a deadlock.

Governor Gray abandoned his attempt to be elected senator and his promotion of a Republican replacement for himself was added to the list of issues his party held against him, and was brought up on two later occasions to prevent his being nominated as the Democrats' candidate for Vice President of the United States

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

. He came to be derisively referred to as “Sisyphus

Sisyphus

In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity...

of the Wabash.”

The event received major attention in newspapers across the state, many of which labeled it the “Black Day of the General Assembly.” The situation led to calls for a constitutional amendment to make United States senators elected by popular vote, and helped in its passage a few decades later.

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