‘Our Government May at Some Time Be in the Hands of a Bad Man’
DECEMBER 17 IS THE 164TH ANNIVERSARY of one of Frederick Douglass’s most well-remembered speeches, which has earned the appellation “Danger to the Republic”. Many of the issues that concerned Douglass more than a century-and-a-half ago are headline news at this very moment.
On that day in 1866, 20 months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson’s becoming President, Douglass spoke passionately to a Brooklyn audience about how some aspects of Johnson’s tenure were evidence of flaws in the U.S. Constitution.
For example, Douglass argued strongly that no President should have the power to pardon criminals at his sole discretion. He declared, “there is a good reason why we should do away with the pardoning power in the hands of the President, that is that our government may at some time be in the hands of a bad man.” If a bad man were to become President, according to Douglass, he could encourage his supporters to attempt a coup and tell them ‘I am with you. If you succeed, all is well. If you fail, I will interpose the shield of my pardon, and you are safe. . . . Go on,” and attempt a coup; “I will stand by you.”
Another issue causing Douglass great concern was the President’s power to appoint so many government officials and to require them to resign whenever he wanted to. As he put it, “The Constitution . . . . declares that the President may appoint with . . . . the Senate’s advice and consent, but custom and a certain laxity of administration has almost obliterated this feature of the Constitution, and now the President appoints, he not only appoints by and with the consent, but he has the power of removal, and with this power he virtually makes the agency of the Senate of the United States of no effect in the matter of appointments.”
Douglass delivered the same speech on at least a dozen occasions in as many U.S. cities between December 1866 and April 1867. To see the entire address, which includes many other criticisms of President Johnson that are surprisingly relevant to the concerns of 2025, visit https://frederickdouglasspapersproject.com/s/digitaledition/item/18126
Cracking Down on Radicals
DECEMBER 18 IS THE 230TH ANNIVERSARY of a moment when the British government aimed a hard legislative blow at growing political unrest. On this day in 1795 Parliament passed two draconian laws, the Seditious Meetings Act and the Treason Act.
The Seditious Meetings Act outlawed public meetings of more than 50 people. The Treason Act made it a crime to intend to do harm to the King. The maximum penalty for violating either of the acts was death.
The new laws were passed in reaction to a wave of widespread anti-monarchist sentiment that was encouraged by the ongoing French Revolution and by England’s war against the radical French regime, which had driven food prices so high that many workers with jobs could not afford enough to eat.
Many of the organizations that were targets of the Seditious Meetings Act disbanded soon after it passed, so very few prosecutions took place. All three prosecutions for violating the Treason Act resulted in acquittal. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3739&context=clevstlrev
Emancipation, What Good Is It?
DECEMBER 19 IS THE 160TH ANNIVERSARY of the South Carolina legislature passing a law that, as the Equal Justice Initiative reports “forced recently emancipated Black citizens into subservient social relationships with white landowners, stating that ‘all persons of color who make contracts for service or labor, shall be known as servants, and those with whom they contract, shall be known as masters.’” For the complete account, visit https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/dec/19
Folk Music at the Library
DECEMBER 20 IS THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY of a folk music concert at the Library of Congress, a performance of the Golden Gate Quartet with Josh White on guitar. It was the Library’s first folk music concert, beginning a tradition that has become a regular feature of Library of Congress events. https://www.loc.gov/research-centers/american-folklife-center/about-this-research-center/
New Direction for Jazz
DECEMBER 21 IS THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY of Ornette Colman and seven other musicians laying the foundation for the Free Jazz movement when they created the tracks that were later released by Atlantic Records as “Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation.” The session personnel were alto saxophone – Ornette Coleman; bass – Charlie Haden and Scott LaFaro; bass clarinet – Eric Dolphy; drums – Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell; trumpet – Freddie Hubbard; pocket trumpet – Donald Cherry. You can listen to the album here: https://youtu.be/iPDzlSda8P8?si=LBpCzRLfL6fpVRDc
For more People's History, visithttps://www.facebook.com/jonathan.bennett.7771/
