The Oregon state legislature passed a resolution calling for its senators to resign because they “misrepresented” the state by supporting the Reconstruction Acts and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson. The resolution was read in Congress, provoking an uproar.
NY Times Dec. 9, 1868
Oregon went through a political revolution in 1868.
Oregon had strong Republican majorities during the Civil War, but that that shifted post-war. In 1862 there were only three Democrats in the State Legislature, in 1864 there were seven, in 1866 there were 28. In 1868 the Democrats took control of the legislature. The State Senate had 13 Dems and 9 Republicans. The State House of Representatives had 30 Dems and 17 Republicans. The trend towards the Democrats would only strengthen over coming elections. [Source of statistics: The Oregon Legislature of 1868 and the Fourteenth Amendment by Robert W. Johannsen Oregon Historical Quarterly Vol. 51, No. 1 (Mar., 1950), pp. 3-12]
Some Republicans blamed the shifting vote on the arrival of Confederate veterans in the state. The Confederate “carpetbaggers” were said to include many former members of Sterling Price’s command.
In reality, there were plenty of non-Confederate Oregonians opposed to the inclusion of non-whites as citizens. While the African American population was small, only 346 in 1870, there were large numbers of Native Americans and Chinese immigrants in the state. [Oregon’s Civil War: The Troubled Legacy of Emancipation in the Pacific Northwest by Stacey Smith 2014 Oregon Historical Society OHQ Vol. 115 pp. 154-173.]
The 1868 legislature rescinded the state’s ratification of the 14th Amendment. Beriah Brown, one of the Democratic Party leaders in Oregon, said that the legislature’s resolution rescinding the 14th Amendment “will at least put Oregon right upon the record, as favoring a white man’s government.” [Portland Oregon Herald Sept. 29, 1868] So while rescission might have little practical effect, it would at least place the state on the side of the white over the black.
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