Question:
Why Thaddeus Stevens is a real American hero
Answer:
He defended and supported Indians, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Jews, Chinese,
and women. However, the defense of runaway or fugitive slaves gradually began to
consume he greatest amount of his time, until the abolition of slavery became his
primary political and personal focus. He was actively involved in the Underground
Railroad, assisting runaway slaves to get to Canada, as many as 16 a week
http://www.stevenstech.org/about/history.htm#politics
Thaddeus Stevens' Legacy
Thaddeus Stevens was born in Danville, Vermont on April 4, 1792. He was the second
of four boys whose parents were Sarah and Joshua Stevens. Thaddeus' older brother
Joshua was born with two clubfeet that made it very difficult for him to walk. In
the late 1700's any physical deformity was seen as a sign from God that the family
had committed some serious secret sin. Such a deformity was called the "Mark of
the Devil" and as a consequence the family was ridiculed and shunned. When
Thaddeus was also born with a clubfoot it made things even worse for the family.
Joshua Stevens was an alcoholic and abusive man with a special talent for staying
poor. The family lived in abject poverty on a small farm. By the time Thaddeus was
12 his father had abandoned the family and was killed in the War of 1812.
Sarah Stevens was a kind woman with great energy, a strong will, and was deeply
religious. She held the family together by working day and night everyday. In
addition to doing the farm work, she did cleaning and other domestic work for
people in the area. Thaddeus loved his mother and was totally devoted to her
throughout his life. Sarah realized that the only hope for her eldest two sons was
education. She scraped enough money together to enroll them in the nearby one-room
Peacham School. Thaddeus was frail, poor, limped severely, and was not
particularly attractive. Consequently he was teased and taunted mercilessly by
other children throughout his childhood. He became very shy and extremely
sensitive. Thaddeus excelled in school. It became obvious that he had great
intelligence and a special aptitude for debating. Upon completion of his education
at Peacham, Thaddeus was accepted at Dartmouth College. He was the poorest student
at the College, never having enough money for books let alone money to go out and
socialize with his rich classmates. As a result he was an outcast, just as he had
been throughout his childhood. Even though he was more qualified than most of his
peers, he was not nominated for Phi Beta Kappa, an honors fraternity. This insult
left him very hurt and bitter. top of page
Thaddeus Stevens graduated from Dartmouth and accepted a teaching position at a
one-room school in York, Pennsylvania. He studied law in the evenings and passed
the Bar Exam in a year. He set-up practice in Gettysburg and later moved to
Lancaster. He became an instant success. In his first year he successfully argued
nine out of ten cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, an unprecedented
feat. Word of his ability and success spread throughout the region and he was
inundated with clients. After five years he owned a house and lot, several other
properties, and was able to purchase his mother a 250-acre farm with 14 cows. He
said that buying her the farm was the "greatest satisfaction of his life". During
the next 21 years he would become very wealthy and known as an excellent attorney,
renegade politician, and philanthropist.
In 1833, Thaddeus Stevens was elected to the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives. He did not run as a Democrat, the party that dominated
Pennsylvania politics, but rather as an Anti-Mason. This was a political party
that opposed Free Masons or Masonry. Free Masons were an organization that
included many of the most influential and prestigious men of the time, including
George Washington. Anti-Masons opposed it because of its secrecy, oaths, and
religious pageantry. Stevens objected to Masonry because of his personal hatred of
exclusionary clubs and societies and because some chapters' charters excluded
"cripples". During his time in the General Assembly, the accomplishment Thaddeus
Stevens was most proud of was his effort to institute free public education. In
1830's America, there were practically no free public schools. Those that existed
were found in New England and in large cities. Only affluent families could afford
to send their children to school. In a few places a poor child could attend school
if their parents would publicly admit poverty, however, this was very rare. When a
Free School Bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives,
Stevens became an ardent supporter. He collaborated with Governor Wolfe to get the
bill passed, even though Wolfe was a Mason. However, when the legislators returned
to their districts there was an uproar. People believed it was too expensive and
some opposed the bill because they had their own religious schools. Over 32,000
individuals signed a petition to repeal the new legislation. The General Assembly
was recalled and went into session to reconsider. The Senate quickly passed a
repeal bill. The bill then went to the House. Stevens took the floor to defend the
original bill. There was standing room only as most of the Senate filled the
gallery. Stevens began his speech by using statistics to show how a state system
of free schools was more efficient and ultimately less costly then the existing
system. He said the repeal act should be called:
"An act for branding and marking the poor, so that they may be known from the rich
and the proud." He went on, "I know how large a portion of the community can
scarcely feel any sympathy with, or understand the necessities of the poor; the
rich appreciate the exquisite feelings which they enjoy, when they see their
children receiving the boon of education, and rising in intellectual superiority
above the clogs which hereditary poverty had cast upon themĀ..
When I reflect how apt hereditary wealth, hereditary influence, and perhaps as a
consequence, hereditary pride, are to close the avenues and steel the heart
against the wants and rights of the poor, I am induced to thank my Creator for
having, from early life, bestowed upon me the blessing of poverty."
He urged the legislators to ignore the misguided petitions and to lead their
people as philosophers, with courage and benevolence.
After he finished he limped back to his seat to the cheers of the entire assembly.
The House suspended the rules and amended the Repeal Bill into an act that
actually strengthened the original Free School Act and passed it. The Senate
immediately followed suit. The result was to give Pennsylvania a statewide free
public school system an entire generation before New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the entire South. This is why Stevens is referred
to as the savior of free public education in Pennsylvania, and why the State
created Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology as a tribute to Thaddeus Stevens.
This is another example of Stevens drawing from his own background and experience
and attacking privilege based on anything other than merit. Also, it reflects his
fundamental belief that education is the great equalizer. He later said that if
you make education inexpensive and honorable, a person with intelligence, no
matter how poor, would utilize it to improve their self. top of page
An important part of Thaddeus Stevens' legacy is his philanthropy. Throughout his
life he could never recall the poverty and discrimination of his childhood without
great pain. Its effect was to sensitize him to the oppression and human suffering
in the world. He simply could not bear to hear or see suffering if his money or
legal aid could relieve it. He gave of them both almost without limit. He did this
irrespective of race, religion, national origin, or political affiliation. Even
his harshest critics said he was charitable, kind, and lavish with his money in
the relief of poverty. He had standing orders with his physician and cobbler to
treat all deformed and disabled children at his expense. It is impossible to
estimate how much money he gave to the poor and needy or the value of the legal
services he provided for free. One indicator was that at the time of his death, he
had over $100,000 in notes from individuals he had loaned money to and never been
repaid. In his will he left $50,000 to establish a school for the relief and
refuge of homeless, indigent orphans. This original bequest has evolved into
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. His will stated:
"They shall be carefully educated in the various branches of English education and
all industrial trades and pursuits. No preference shall be shown on account of
race or color in their admission or treatment. Neither poor Germans, Irish or
Mahometan, nor any others on account their race or religion of their parents,
shall be excluded. They shall be fed at the same table."
He defended and supported Indians, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Jews, Chinese,
and women. However, the defense of runaway or fugitive slaves gradually began to
consume he greatest amount of his time, until the abolition of slavery became his
primary political and personal focus. He was actively involved in the Underground
Railroad, assisting runaway slaves to get to Canada, as many as 16 a week.
Thaddeus Stevens was elected to the United States House of Representatives from
1849-1853 and from 1859 until his death in 1868. This was the period leading up to
and including the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. During this time
Stevens became the most powerful congressman in Washington. He chaired the House
Ways and Means Committee and later the Appropriations Committee. He was
responsible for funding the war effort and later Reconstruction. His goals during
this period were: (1) the abolition of slavery; (2) full legal rights irrespective
of race; (3) voting rights irrespective of race; (4) and he wanted the result of
Reconstruction to be the empowerment of African Americans by redistributing power
and wealth in the South.
Stevens' legislative legacy is the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the
Constitution, which serve as the basis for all Civil Rights legislation.
Stevens drafted his own version of the 13th Amendment, but when it failed to gain
support, he shepherded a more popular version through Congress. It ended slavery
in all states, whereas the Emancipation Proclamation only abolished slavery in the
Confederacy.
Stevens also guided the 14th Amendment through Congress. This amendment
established a national citizenry with all citizens given equality before the law,
which no state could alter. He was disappointed because the amendment still made
references to males only, allowed states to restrict voting rights based on race,
and allowed confederates to vote.
Stevens' disappointment in the shortcomings of the 14th Amendment, paled in
comparison to his outrage over the failure of Reconstruction at the end of the
Civil War. He wanted the wealthy white political power structure of the South to
be dismantled and redistributed. He proposed every black free man should receive
40 acres and a mule and that Confederates should not be allowed to vote
immediately. Unfortunately, any chance of Stevens' vision becoming a reality was
lost when Lincoln was assassinated and Andrew Johnson, the Vice President, became
President.
Johnson's views about the nature of Reconstruction are reflected in this quote
from his annual address to Congress in1867.
Blacks possess less "capacity for government than any other race of people. No
independent government of any form has ever been successful in their hands. On the
contrary, wherever they have been left to their own devices, they have shown a
constant tendency to relapse into barbarism."
