Lodge Bill

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The Lodge Bill of 1890, also referred to as the Federal Elections Bill or by critics as the Lodge Force Bill, was a proposed bill to ensure the security of elections for U.S. Representatives.

It was drafted and proposed by Representative

The bill was created primarily to enforce the ability of blacks, predominantly

After passing the

The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution states: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”^[5] Its purpose was to acknowledge African American men’s voting rights.^[6] After the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, African Americans were subjected to voting restrictions in certain states. Disenfranchisement of African Americans came in various forms, such as poll taxes, literacy tests, white primaries, and grandfather clauses.

Support

Julius Caesar Chappelle (1852–1904) was among the earliest black Republican legislators in the northern United States, representing Boston and serving from 1883–1886. In 1890, Chappelle gave a political speech for the right of blacks to vote at an "enthusiastic" meeting at Boston's Faneuil Hall to support the federal elections bill. He was featured in a front page article in The New York Age newspaper covering his support of the Lodge bill.^[7]

Aftermath

The Republican Party's commitment to African-American rights had already been declining since Reconstruction ended in 1877, and the 1890 Lodge Bill proved to be the last relic of the Republican commitment to civil rights.

The Lodge Bill was a precursor of the various Civil Rights legislation that followed. The bill's failure led to an increase in voter suppression until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Voting Rights Act outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests.^[11] It stated that "jurisdictions covered by these special provisions could not implement any change affecting voting until the Attorney General or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia determined that the change did not have a discriminatory purpose and would not have a discriminatory effect. In addition, the Attorney General could designate a county covered by these special provisions for the appointment of a federal examiner to review the qualifications of persons who wanted to register to vote. Further, in those counties where a federal examiner was serving, the Attorney General could request that federal observers monitor activities within the county's polling place.^[12]

See also

• Henry Cabot Lodge
• Giles v. Harris, 189 U.S. 475 (1903)
• Benjamin Harrison
• Voter suppression
• Levi P. Morton
• Thomas Brackett Reed
• 1892 United States presidential election

References