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Senator Benjamin Tillman

Benjamin Tillman was born on August 11, 1847 in Trenton South Carolina. Being born in South Carolina meant that he was exposed to slavery and the negative treatment of black slaves at an early age. This exposure is important because it would affect how he will look at the black race as a grown man.

Occupation: Mr.Tillman served as the 84th governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894. Than he would serve as an American Senator from 1895 until his death in 1918. He was an involved member of the Democratic party. As a governor he made himself a friend to the white farmers in the state. He took over control of the the South Carolina Farmers Alliance. The Alliance soon founded the Populist Party which had a goal of destroying any attraction of the black vote. Eliminating the black vote would secure white power in the Democratic Party. With this in mind Benjamin Tillman worked very hard to prevent black men from voting in South Carolina. He was able to work around the Jim Crow laws, which was the separate but equal rights to both blacks and whites. Tillman wanted to show that blacks must be controlled, if not than they must be killed. Tillman found President Roosevelt as a foe because he accepted the black race.

Position on Issue: "We have never believed him to be equal to the white man, and we will not submit to his gratifying his lust on our wives and daughters without lynching him. I would to God the last one of them was in Africa and that none of them had ever been brought to our shores. But I will not pursue the subject further." (Speech 1) This is a quote taken directly from Mr.Tillman. He made this strong point in front of the President of the United States along with Congress. He made points after points that justified why violence should continue against blacks in the South. It is obvious that Mr. Tillman is in love with and only the white race and not tolerant to any other race. He shows this by saying he wishes he had the power to send all blacks back to Africa. The whole point of imperiling the Philippines was to civilize their country. According to President Roosevelt. The United States wanted to imperil other countries to improve those countries government and living conditions. Tillman would strongly be against the imperiling of the Philippines for many reasons. He would not like the fact that America would be spending money just to help another country. Especially if that country contained people of a different race than the American White Man. American soldiers at that time were mostly of the white race. He would not definitely appreciate that America was sending soldiers overseas, risking their lives just to help a country. He would say that America was wasting our money, time, and military on a country that meant nothing at all.

List of reasons for interest in topic: Ben Tillman would be interested to get into the topic of the annexation of the Philippines for many reasons. For one he is proud of America and the white race. He would consider what is best for America, and the white race before annexation of the Philippines. From Tillman's viewpoint, there are more negatives than positives of imperiling the Philippines. One negative is the loss of money for a wasteful purpose. Another negative would be the lives of troops for a wasteful purpose. One positive Tillman could find is that the imperiling of the Philippines could teach the United States valuable lessons from a military stand point. The "wasteful purpose" could be looked as wasting American resources on the Philippines. Wasting resources on a country that is not likely to make any economic, governmental, and social progress. A country that is filled with people not of the white race. Tillman would be very interested in this topic to make sure the United States does not make a mistake. A mistake of spending troops and money on a country that may harm the United States in the future.

J.C. Garlington and Co. "About The Laurens Advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973 - Chronicling America (The Library of Congress)." //Historic American Newspapers - Chronicling America (The Library of Congress)//. J.C. Garlington and Co., 19 Aug. 1885. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. .

"Speech of Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, March 23, 1900," //Congressional Record, 56th Congress, 1st Session//, 3223–3224. Reprinted in Richard Purday, ed.,//Document Sets for the South in U. S. History// (Lexington, MA.: D.C. Heath and Company, 1991), 147.

Wikipedia. "Benjamin Tillman." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Wikimedia, 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. .