James T. Rapier
Encyclopedia
James Thomas Rapier was a United States Representative from 1873 until 1875. He was one of Alabama
's three black congressmen during Reconstruction.
He was born a free African American
in Florence, Alabama
to John H. Rapier, a prosperous local barber. James T. Rapier grew up in Nashville, Tennessee
where he was reared by his grandmother, a slave clothes cleaner. In 1856 he traveled to Canada. There he first settled in Buxton, Ontario, a utopian community set up by slaves who had fled to Canada via the underground railroad. His uncle had property there, and Rapier attended the Buxton Mission School. He then attended college at Montreal College, studied law, and was admitted to the bar
.
He returned to Tennessee
in 1865, where he was a cotton planter and an advocate for black voting rights. In 1866 he moved to Alabama
, where he continued to plant cotton and was a delegate to the 1867 state constitutional convention.
He ran for Alabama Secretary of State and lost in 1870. He was elected to the Forty-third United States Congress. While in Congress, he proposed the creation of a land bureau to give Western lands to freedmen. He also proposed $5 million for Southern schools.
He lost his re-election campaign in 1874, and became a collector for the Internal Revenue Service
. He campaigned against the conservative Democratic Party's Redeemer
government in Alabama. He died in Montgomery, Alabama
on May 31, 1883.
In his presidential address in 1979 to the American Historical Association
historian John Hope Franklin
pointed to ways in which one of the most prominent of the twentieth century Dunning School
historians, Walter L. Fleming, wrote about Rapier. Franklin observed that Fleming's viewpoint, which was hostile to civil rights
and voting rights for African Americans paved the way for the introduction of factual error into the histories he wrote. Franklin cited by example Fleming's references to Rapier's life in the history Fleming wrote of Alabama.
Franklin said:
Franklin explained:
Franklin asserted: "In 1905 Fleming made Rapier a Canadian because it suited his purposes to have a bold, aggressive, 'impertinent' Negro in Alabama Reconstruction come from some non-Southern, contaminating environment like Canada. But it did not suit his purposes to call Yancey, who was a graduate of Williams College, a 'Massachusetts Man.' Fleming described Yancey (a white Confederate) as, simply, the 'leader of the States Rights men.'" [Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, p. 12.] For a detailed account and comparison of Yancey and other white Southerners who went North to secure an education, see Franklin's book, A Southern Odyssey: Travelers in the Antebellum North (Baton Rouge, 1976), pp. 45–80.
Franklin is critical of Fleming for falsely stating that Rapier, and others, were "carpetbaggers."
Franklin said, "...Fleming, should have been able to see that some of the people that Fleming called carpetbaggers had lived in Alabama for years and were, therefore, entitled to at least as much presumption of assimilation in moving from some other state to Alabama decades before the war as the Irish were in moving from their native land to some community in the United States. ...Whether they had lived in Alabama for decades before the Civil War or had settled there after the war, these "carpetbaggers" were apparently not to be regarded as models for Northern investors or settlers in the early years of the twentieth century. Twentieth-century investors from the North were welcome provided they accepted the established arrangements in race relations and the like. Fleming served his Alabama friends well by ridiculing carpetbaggers, even if in the process he had to distort and misrepresent."http://www.historians.org/info/AHA_History/jhfranklin.htm
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
's three black congressmen during Reconstruction.
He was born a free African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
in Florence, Alabama
Florence, Alabama
Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
to John H. Rapier, a prosperous local barber. James T. Rapier grew up in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
where he was reared by his grandmother, a slave clothes cleaner. In 1856 he traveled to Canada. There he first settled in Buxton, Ontario, a utopian community set up by slaves who had fled to Canada via the underground railroad. His uncle had property there, and Rapier attended the Buxton Mission School. He then attended college at Montreal College, studied law, and was admitted to the bar
Admission to the bar in the United States
In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
.
He returned to Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
in 1865, where he was a cotton planter and an advocate for black voting rights. In 1866 he moved to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, where he continued to plant cotton and was a delegate to the 1867 state constitutional convention.
He ran for Alabama Secretary of State and lost in 1870. He was elected to the Forty-third United States Congress. While in Congress, he proposed the creation of a land bureau to give Western lands to freedmen. He also proposed $5 million for Southern schools.
He lost his re-election campaign in 1874, and became a collector for the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
. He campaigned against the conservative Democratic Party's Redeemer
Redeemers
In United States history, "Redeemers" and "Redemption" were terms used by white Southerners to describe a political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era which followed the American Civil War...
government in Alabama. He died in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
on May 31, 1883.
In his presidential address in 1979 to the American Historical Association
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
historian John Hope Franklin
John Hope Franklin
John Hope Franklin was a United States historian and past president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association. Franklin is best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947, and...
pointed to ways in which one of the most prominent of the twentieth century Dunning School
Dunning School
The Dunning School refers to a group of historians who shared a historiographical school of thought regarding the Reconstruction period of American history .-About:...
historians, Walter L. Fleming, wrote about Rapier. Franklin observed that Fleming's viewpoint, which was hostile to civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and voting rights for African Americans paved the way for the introduction of factual error into the histories he wrote. Franklin cited by example Fleming's references to Rapier's life in the history Fleming wrote of Alabama.
Franklin said:
- Writing in 1905 Walter L. Fleming referred to James T. Rapier, a Negro member of the Alabama constitutional convention of 1867, as "Rapier of Canada." He then quoted Rapier as saying that the manner in which "colored gentlemen and ladies were treated in America was beyond his comprehension."[Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama] In a footnote to his address, Franklin added: "Fleming knew better, for in another place—deep in a footnote (p. 519)—he asserted that Rapier was from Lauderdale, "educated in Canada"."
Franklin explained:
- Born in Alabama in 1837, Rapier, like many of his white contemporaries, went North for an education. The difference was that instead of stopping in the northern part of the United States, as, for example, (the pro-slavery advocate) William L. Yancey did, Rapier went on to Canada. Rapier's contemporaries did not regard him as a Canadian; and, if some were not precisely clear about where he was born (as was the Alabama State Journal, which referred to his birthplace as MontgomeryMontgomery, AlabamaMontgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
rather than Florence), they did not misplace him altogether. [Loren Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction (Chicago, 1978), xvii, 15.]
Franklin asserted: "In 1905 Fleming made Rapier a Canadian because it suited his purposes to have a bold, aggressive, 'impertinent' Negro in Alabama Reconstruction come from some non-Southern, contaminating environment like Canada. But it did not suit his purposes to call Yancey, who was a graduate of Williams College, a 'Massachusetts Man.' Fleming described Yancey (a white Confederate) as, simply, the 'leader of the States Rights men.'" [Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, p. 12.] For a detailed account and comparison of Yancey and other white Southerners who went North to secure an education, see Franklin's book, A Southern Odyssey: Travelers in the Antebellum North (Baton Rouge, 1976), pp. 45–80.
Franklin is critical of Fleming for falsely stating that Rapier, and others, were "carpetbaggers."
Franklin said, "...Fleming, should have been able to see that some of the people that Fleming called carpetbaggers had lived in Alabama for years and were, therefore, entitled to at least as much presumption of assimilation in moving from some other state to Alabama decades before the war as the Irish were in moving from their native land to some community in the United States. ...Whether they had lived in Alabama for decades before the Civil War or had settled there after the war, these "carpetbaggers" were apparently not to be regarded as models for Northern investors or settlers in the early years of the twentieth century. Twentieth-century investors from the North were welcome provided they accepted the established arrangements in race relations and the like. Fleming served his Alabama friends well by ridiculing carpetbaggers, even if in the process he had to distort and misrepresent."http://www.historians.org/info/AHA_History/jhfranklin.htm
External links
- Congressional biography
- Biography and picture
- June 9, 1874 Speech on the Civil Rights Bill
- February 4, 1875 Speech on the Civil Rights Bill
- In his presidential address to the American Historical Association, John Hope Franklin discusses the ways in which Walter F. Fleming falsely represented the life of James T. Rapier
- James Rapier's Sketch & Gravesite