The Independent Party was a political party formed in Florida in the wake of schisms between African Americans and northerners who came south after the American Civil War and became involved in Florida politics during the Reconstruction era. It also sought to appeal to disaffected Democrats. [1] [2]
The party held a convention in June 1884 in Live Oak, Florida [3] Frank W. Pope, a former Democrat, was nominated as their gubernatorial candidate in that year's election. [4]
Pope faced the threat of lynching in Madison County where allegations of election fraud and murderous violence were documented in 1882. [5] Democrats won the election in 1884 and imposed restrictions on who could register thereafter, blocking most African Americans from voting and solidifying their party's control. [3]
Allen Granberry Thurman, sometimes erroneously spelled Allan Granberry Thurman, was an American politician who served as a United States representative, Ohio Supreme Court justice, and United States senator. A Democrat, he unsuccessfully ran for vice president of the United States in 1888 as the running mate of President Grover Cleveland.
Samuel Jones Tilden was an American politician who served as the 25th governor of New York and was the Democratic nominee in the disputed 1876 United States presidential election.
William Edward Miller was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from New York as a Republican. During the 1964 presidential election, he was the Republican nominee for vice president, the first Catholic nominated for the office by the Republican Party.
From the first United States Congress in 1789 through the 116th Congress in 2020, 162 African Americans served in Congress. Meanwhile, the total number of all individuals who have served in Congress over that period is 12,348. Between 1789 and 2020, 152 have served in the House of Representatives, nine have served in the Senate, and one has served in both chambers. Voting members have totaled 156, while six others have served as delegates. Party membership has been 131 Democrats and 31 Republicans. While 13 members founded the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 during the 92nd Congress, in the 116th Congress (2019-2020), 56 served, with 54 Democrats and two Republicans.
In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. As the civil rights movement and dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the 1950s and 1960s visibly deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States, Republican politicians such as presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater developed strategies that successfully contributed to the political realignment of many white, conservative voters in the South who had traditionally supported the Democratic Party so consistently that the voting pattern was named the Solid South. The strategy also helped to push the Republican Party much more to the right. By winning all of the South, a presidential candidate could obtain the presidency with minimal support elsewhere.
David Conner Treen Sr. was an American politician and attorney from Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party, Treen served as U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1973 to 1980 and the 51st governor of Louisiana from 1980 to 1984. Treen was the first Republican elected to either office since Reconstruction.
The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During this period, the Democratic Party controlled southern state legislatures and most local, state and federal officeholders in the South were Democrats. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, Southern Democrats disenfranchised nearly all blacks in all the former Confederate states. This resulted in a one-party system, in which a candidate's victory in Democratic primary elections was tantamount to election to the office itself. White primaries were another means that the Democrats used to consolidate their political power, excluding blacks from voting.
John Roy Lynch was an American writer, attorney, military officer, author, and Republican politician who served as Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives and represented Mississippi in the United States House of Representatives.
James Aloysius O'Gorman was an American attorney, judge, and politician from New York. A Democrat, he is most notable for his service as a United States Senator from March 31, 1911, to March 3, 1917.
The Florida Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Florida, headquartered in Tallahassee. Former commissioner of agriculture Nikki Fried is the current chair.
Joseph Maull Carey was an American lawyer, rancher, judge, and politician, who was active in Wyoming local, state, and federal politics.
Jeremiah Haralson was a politician from Alabama who served as a state legislator and was among the first ten African-American United States Congressmen. Born into slavery in Columbus, Georgia, Haralson became self-educated while enslaved in Selma, Alabama. He was a leader among freedmen after the American Civil War.
James Ronald Chalmers was an American politician and senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry and cavalry in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Florida. It is currently the state's dominant party, controlling 20 out of 28 of Florida's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the governorship and all other statewide offices, and has supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.
John Wallace was a teacher, lawyer, political leader and judge in Florida. Wallace served in the Union Army after being freed by federal soldiers during the American Civil War. He served in the Florida Legislature during the Reconstruction era. He also became a lawyer and argued cases before the Florida Supreme Court. He putatively wrote "Carpet-Bag Rule in Florida: The Inside Workings of Civil Government in Florida After the Close of the Civil War". At the time of his death, he had held public office longer than any other African-American elected official.
The 1860 United States House of Representatives election in Florida was held on Monday, October 1, 1860 to elect the single United States Representative from the state of Florida, one from the state's single at-large congressional district, to represent Florida in the 37th Congress. The election coincided with the gubernatorial election and various state and local elections.
The 1974 United States Senate election in Florida was held on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Senator Edward Gurney, a Republican, declined to seek a second term after being indicted for taking bribes in return for his influence with the Federal Housing Administration. The primary for the Republican nomination pitted Eckerd drug store owner Jack Eckerd against Florida Public Service Commissioner Paula Hawkins. Eckerd won handily, receiving approximately 67.5% of the vote. The Democratic primary, however, was a crowded field with eleven candidates vying for the nomination. Because no candidate received a majority of the votes, U.S. Representative Bill Gunter and Secretary of State of Florida Richard Stone advanced to a run-off election. Stone won by a small margin of 1.68%.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 5, 1968. Florida voters chose fourteen electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Benjamin F. Livingston was a politician, grocer, and brick mason in the United States. An African American, he was born into slavery. After emancipation, he was appointed a County Commissioner for Jackson County, Florida, serving from 1868 until 1870. He served from 1871 until 1875 in the Florida House of Representatives representing Jackson County, Florida during the Reconstruction era. While there he voted for a civil rights bill in 1873.
George Washington Witherspoon was a shoemaker, A.M.E. minister, and state legislator in Florida.