University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 5-2011 "The Africans Have Taken Arkansas": Political Activities of African-American Members of the Arkansas Legislature, 1868-73 Christopher Warren Branam University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, Political History Commons, and the United States History Commons Citation Branam, C. W. (2011). "The Africans Have Taken Arkansas": Political Activities of African-American Members of the Arkansas Legislature, 1868-73. Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/90 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. “THE AFRICANS HAVE TAKEN ARKANSAS”: POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEMBERS OF THE ARKANSAS LEGISLATURE, 1868-73 “THE AFRICANS HAVE TAKEN ARKANSAS”: POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEMBERS OF THE ARKANSAS LEGISLATURE, 1868-73 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History By Christopher Warren Branam California State University, Fresno Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, 1994 May 2011 University of Arkansas ABSTRACT African-American lawmakers in the Arkansas General Assembly during Radical Reconstruction became politically active at a time when the legislature was addressing the most basic issues of public life, such as creating the infrastructure of public education and transportation in the state. They were actively engaged in the work of the legislature. Between 1868 and 1873, they introduced bills that eventually became laws.