The Texas Freeman was a newspaper for African Americans established in 1893 in Houston, Texas. It was established by Charles N. Love along with his wife Lilla as well as Jack Tibbitto, and Emmett J. Scott who became its editor. It was the city's first African American newspaper. [1] On January 3, 1931, the paper merged with the Houston Informer to become the Houston Informer and Texas Freeman. [2] [3]
The paper criticized Jim Crow laws, sought equal pay for African American teachers, advocated for Houston's Carnegie Library for African Americans, pushed for the hiring of African American postal workers, and opposed segregation. [4] C.N. Love was a leading civil rights activist and advocate for the African American community. He was active in the Republican Party. During his career he was a member of the Republican Party's Black-and-tan faction, then the lily white faction, and sued to end the prohibition on African Americans voting in Democratic Party primaries as he sought for political representation and opportunities for African Americans.
In 1921, Love filed suit against Texas laws barring African Americans from voting. By the time it reached the Supreme Court it was determined to be moot [5] and a political rather than a legal issue (Love v. Griffith). [6]
The Republic of Texas was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840, and the United States of America, although Mexico considered it a rebellious province during its entire existence despite the Treaties of Velasco of May 1836. It was bordered by Mexico to the west and southwest, the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast, the two U.S. states of Louisiana and Arkansas to the east and northeast, and United States territories encompassing parts of the current U.S. states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico to the north and west. The Anglo residents of the area and of the republic became known as Texians.
The Whig Party was a conservative political party that existed in the United States during the middle 19th century. Alongside the slightly larger Democratic Party, it was one of the two major parties in the United States between the late 1830s and the early 1850s as part of the Second Party System. Four presidents were affiliated with the Whig Party for at least part of their terms. Other prominent members of the Whig Party include Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, William Seward, John J. Crittenden, and John Quincy Adams. The Whig base of support was centered among entrepreneurs, professionals, planters, social reformers, devout Protestants, particularly evangelicals, and the emerging urban middle class. It had much less backing from poor farmers and unskilled workers.
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Charles Norton Love was a pioneering newspaper publisher and civil rights activist in Houston, Texas. Love became a leading civil rights activist and advocate for the African American community. The Love's paper, the Texas Freeman criticized Jim Crow laws, sought equal pay for African American teachers, advocated for Houston's Carnegie Library for African Americans, pushed for the hiring of African American postal workers, and opposed segregation. He was active in the Republican Party and was a member of the Black-and-tan faction, then the lily white faction, and eventually sued to end the prohibition on African Americans voting in primaries held by the Democratic Party. He steadfastly sought out political representation and other opportunities for African Americans.
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