Special Message of the President of the United States Communicated to the Senate . .
- SIGNED
- Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908. Good. 8 ” x 5¾”. Stitched self-wrappers. Pp. 30. Good due to stitching nearly perished; else very good plus with a touch of faint spotting.
This is the uncommon report to the War Department of the investigation into the Brownsville Affair, with evidence of its ensuing racial injustice at the hands of President Roosevelt.
In August 1906, one white man was killed and another wounded by rifle on the streets of Brownsville, Texas. The white community blamed the African American soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Brown, and planted spent shells to back up their claim. Investigators bought in, and President Roosevelt ordered 167 Black infantrymen dishonorably discharged.
In this message to the Senate of 1908, Roosevelt claims that the report “establishes clearly the fact that the colored soldiers did the shooting,” and faults the other Black troops for “refusing to tell the truth.” He proposes that “a law be passed allowing the Secretary of War . . . to reinstate any of these soldiers whom he . . . finds to have been innocent and whom he finds to have done all in his power to help bring to justice the guilty.”
Roosevelt's dismissal of the innocent soldiers has been called his worst mistake as president. He faced broad admonishment, but never reneged or apologized. It wasn't until 1970, when a work by journalist John Weaver was published that proved the white residents' deceit, that the army conducted a new investigation. The order was reversed in 1972.
An important original document of racial misdeeds in Texas. OCLC shows six holdings of the book in the United States and one in France.
This is the uncommon report to the War Department of the investigation into the Brownsville Affair, with evidence of its ensuing racial injustice at the hands of President Roosevelt.
In August 1906, one white man was killed and another wounded by rifle on the streets of Brownsville, Texas. The white community blamed the African American soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Brown, and planted spent shells to back up their claim. Investigators bought in, and President Roosevelt ordered 167 Black infantrymen dishonorably discharged.
In this message to the Senate of 1908, Roosevelt claims that the report “establishes clearly the fact that the colored soldiers did the shooting,” and faults the other Black troops for “refusing to tell the truth.” He proposes that “a law be passed allowing the Secretary of War . . . to reinstate any of these soldiers whom he . . . finds to have been innocent and whom he finds to have done all in his power to help bring to justice the guilty.”
Roosevelt's dismissal of the innocent soldiers has been called his worst mistake as president. He faced broad admonishment, but never reneged or apologized. It wasn't until 1970, when a work by journalist John Weaver was published that proved the white residents' deceit, that the army conducted a new investigation. The order was reversed in 1972.
An important original document of racial misdeeds in Texas. OCLC shows six holdings of the book in the United States and one in France.