Happy Independence Day!

Today we celebrate 239 years since  the declaration of independence.

Happy birthday, America!

And thanks to the men and women of the US armed forces for keeping us safe.

The Fourth of July is a good time to reflect on the liberties we have won since 1776, and the role our Republican Party has played along the way.

 

Milestones in Liberty:

1854:  On March 20, the Republican party is born in Ripon, WI, amid the fight to abolish slavery in America.  Republicans take a strong stance against the institution of slavery and its extension into new territories.

1860: The first Republican President is elected.  Abraham Lincoln‘s election results in many of the slave-holding states seceding from the Union.  Lincoln raises an army to keep the Union together.

1863: On January 1st, Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the Confederacy.  The war will now be fought over the future of slavery.

1865-1868: Although the Great Emancipator, Lincoln, is gone, the spirit of freedom is alive in the Republican Congress, where the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution are adopted.  The 13th frees all slaves in the US.  The Fourteenth makes them citizens and gives them equal protection under the Constitution.

1870: The 15th Amendment is adopted by the Republican Congress, giving all former slaves the right to vote.  NOTE: The right to vote applies to men only.

1870: Joseph Rainey (R-SC) becomes the first black to be elected and seated as a member of the US House of Representatives.  Hiram Rhodes Revels (R-MS) is elected and seated in the US Senate and is the first black ever to be seated in the US Congress.

1918: Following World War I, the country elects a new Republican Congress that includes the first woman in congress, Jeannette Rankin, Republican of Montana.  One of her bills, establishing the 19th Amendment  to the Constitution, is enacted.  That Amendment is adopted by the requisite number of states and gives women voting equality with men.

1964: President Lyndon Johnson and the Democrat leadership ask Republican Senators to help pass the Civil Rights Act, since the Democrats cannot muster the necessary votes for passage.  Republicans support the Civil Rights Act by 80% or more, in both chambers.  This Act gives blacks freedom from discrimination in voting, education, employment and public accommodation.  It was the first time in history that a Senate majority stopped a filibuster on a civil rights bill, and Republicans provided the key votes.