The Tillman Act, passed in 1907, banned corporate contributions in federal political races. The Act is named for Senator Benjamin Ryan “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman (1847-1918) (D- SC), one of the most despicable men ever to serve in the U.S. Senate and a man who, it can fairly be said, did more to put in place the Jim Crow system in the South than any other single person. As a young man coming of age in the post-War South, Tillman was a leader of the “Red Shirts,” a terrorist paramilitary group organized to attack and intimidate Republicans and blacks. In 1876, the Red Shirts’ campaign of murder, violence, and fraud led to the defeat of South Carolina’s integrated reconstruction Republican government. Arguing that, “The negro must remain subordinated or be exterminated,” Tillman openly called for the murder of blacks in order to, ”keep the white race at the top of the heap.” Tillman was elected South Carolina Governor in 1890, and created South Carolina’s first literacy test for voters, as well as promoting various property and educational requirements for voting. While in office, he once pledged to personally “lead a mob in lynching a negro.” After all, “the negro,” he claimed, was “a fiend in human form.” For his services, South Carolina sent him to the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1895 until his death in 1918.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 00:50:57 +0000
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