No Longer Pliant Tools: Urban Politics and Conflicts over African American Partisanship in 1880s Boston,Massachusetts

Abstract

During the 1880s, black Bostonians engaged deeply in urban electoral politics, and debates over partisanship became discussions over the place of African Americans in the United States body politic. They agreed that having a political party respond to one’s needs and interests was part of being a full and equal citizen, but divided over how best to achieve this vision. Loyal black Republicans hoped to motivate the party from within. So-called African American independents, however, broke away from Republicans and expected both major parties to earn their votes. They rejected the idea that they owed any party loyalty or unanimity based on past deeds. Focusing on the Massachusetts gubernatorial reelection campaign of Democrat Benjamin Butler in 1883, this article shows how, in their struggle for equality, black voters of either position saw urban electoral politics as an invaluable tool to achieve full citizenship protections and exercise black political power.