Staunch advocate for African-American rights Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, 1792-1868. His early draft of the 14th Amendment included the Equal Protection Clause, the Privileges and Immunities Clause, and the Due Process Clause. All Americans are in his debt.
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Legend.
I like OP’s framing. It illustrates the old saying that the fight for civil rights is a fight for everyone, not just a few.
A true Patriot. If you say you love your country, then you love everyone in that country
Modern day MAGA who constantly harken back to the Lincoln era should read some Thaddeus Stevens.
Stevens loathed President Andrew Johnson’s Southern-coddling Reconstruction policy. When a friend defended Johnson by pointing out that he was a self-made man, Stevens sneered: “I never thought of it that way, but it does relieve God Almighty of a heavy responsibility!”
We need to get some of that due process back in the system. A little bit too much mob justice going on today.
His common law wife may have been black.
This guy kind of looks like Tommy Lee jones
Was this Tommy Lee Jones’ character in the Lincoln movie?
That tie knot says he doesn’t give any fucks.
My man looks serious.
That’s Polk High legend Al Bundy. Scored four touchdowns in a single game.
Why is it that every other politician of this era looked like a freshly shaven Abe Lincoln? lol
AND, perhaps most importantly, whether through Stevens or others, the 14th Amendment effectively applied the existing Bill of Rights to the States. Previously, only the **Federal** government was prohibited from establishing religion, infringing free speech, forbidden from guns laws, unreasonable search and seizures, and on and on.
Can’t wait for Lin-Manuel Miranda musical starring Matthew McConaughey
Was he in the Speilburg movie Lincoln?
Gigachaddeus Stevens
He does look staunch.
That’s his senior yearbook picture
And he was demonized by the “Lost Cause” movement and unpopular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Just look at how “Birth of a Nation” portrays him which was the popular opinion at the time.
He looks like he can get things done
This guys face should be next to the word Staunch in the dictionary. He is the most staunch I’ve ever seen someone be
This dude clearly does not put up with Buffoonery
Old dudes were just built different back then. Mf looks like a king of kings, all he needs is a cigar. You can feel his presence through a still image of him.
On a random tangent though, it’s weird to think this guy existed so long ago. He couldn’t have known his face would be circulated to thousands of people through the air itself, hundreds of years later, on a thing called Reddit while people gave him praise for his ideologies.
RIP Thaddeus.
I know it does not need to be said, but just in case…
Thaddeus Stevens was secretly in a loving relationship with his widowed “house keeper” Lydia Hamilton Smith. Their love was illegal- she was black.
According to historians, they truly loved each-other and he dedicated much of his work to her, and to the people of the US. Specifically- the black people who were held down by the US.
I love that story- and the scene in Lincoln gives me goosebumps. “I wish you could have been there.. I wont give them gossip. You cant take your house keeper to the house…” Historically accurate? No. A powerful statement? Yes.
This guy has a College of Technology in Lancaster, PA. What a legend.
I went to an elementary school named after him!
Lancaster County proud!
Nice try…I think I know Abraham Lincoln without his top hat when I see him.
I love hearing about folks who figured things out early and did the right thing.
Thanks OP. I didn’t know about this guy.
He certainly looks very stern like, da fuck you lookin at
And his work, legacy, home and gravesite here in Lancaster PA are largely unknown even among Lancastrians. There should be tours busses lined up full of visitors to see Stevens-related sites around town.
Of course everyone went along with it look at this fuckin guy. I’m scared shitless just looking at this picture
Dude looks noble af. He almost looks *indignant with morality*.
I thank him across time and space.
This is why it’s dumb to say, “they were all racists back then!” There were a ton of abolitionists. Stop whitewashing history.
When I was growing up in the seventies and eighties we (brown and black people) used to ask each other if certain white people were “down” or not.
What we were asking is whether or not they understood this basic concept as expressed in this post.
Are they down? Meaning, do they know that our struggles are really everyone’s struggles?
This guy was definitely down.
Giga Thad
Who played him in Spielberg’s Lincoln? Tommy Lee Jones?
I would pay good money to see that man cross examine Trump and his team
Sadly, We The People rights are still being infringed upon regardless of it’s origin.
Radical Republican. The good kind.
I never really understood what AC/DC we’re singing about when they came out with Stiff Upper Lip. I think I get it now.
My father named me Stephen Thaddeus in honor of him