Richard Parks Bland Quotes
Now, mark it. This may be strong language, but heed it. The people mean it, and, my friends of the Eastern Democracy, we bid farewell when you do that thing.
United States, Congress, House. Speech of Richard Parks Bland. Congressional Record, 53rd Congress, 1st session, vol. 25, pt. 1, Government Printing Office, 11 Aug. 1893, p. 248.
See Edmund Burke a similar phrase 12 years earlier.
“Sectionalism” really referred to the North / South animosity which carried over from the Civil War. The South would hardly ever elect a Republican as it was the Republican Lincoln Government that ended slavery and put down their rebellion in the Civil War. There was a language difference that was much greater than modern times and the South was way behind most of the rest of the country in terms of education and standard of living. Every time the Federal Government would try and enforce the Constitution with respect to race, the sectional friction would break out again. The sectional issues carried into the 21st century but had gotten much better.
By secret societies, de Tocqueville meant societies or organizations where the membership was secret. He was not referring to organizations like the Masons which had secret oaths and rituals. Secret societies had historically been destabilizing forces in societies. At the time this was written, there were no secret societies in America, but in 1855 a major one developed—The American Party whose members were better known as “Know Nothings” as when they would be asked anything about the party and its organization of beliefs, they would claim that the knew nothing. They were virulently anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic. Subsequently, there have been secret organizations in American politics from time to time, but they have generally been few compared to other countries, and their influence was not long lasting. Most recently, quirks in legal decisions and their interaction with the Constitution have produced non profit organizations which are financed and influenced by unknown people. The major officials of the organizations are known but the members and contributors are secret. These organizations then operate campaigns, most often to attack and damage the reputation of politicians running for political office—most frequently, the Presidency.
Technically the correct title is Chief Justice of the United States. He was one of the longest-serving Chief Justices and in his tenure the court did change from a liberal court to a conservative one.
As a result was in 1799 he was indicted, convicted, and fined $480 and sentenced to 18 months in jail. In 1801, newly elected President Thomas Jefferson pardoned Brown along with all violators of the act.
The "It" referred to the fact that when he won the Gambian Presidential election, his predecessor refused to step down and had enough control of the military to prevent anyone else in the Gambia to force hium out. However a few neighboring Afriucan States sen troops into the Gambia. The Army did not want a way and so they stopped supporting the ex-president and he left the country in disgrace.
Richard Parks Bland was an American politician, lawyer, and educator from Missouri. A Democrat, Bland served in the United States House of Representatives from 1873 to 1895 and from 1897 to 1899, representing at various times the Missouri 5th, 8th and 11th congressional districts. Nicknamed "Silver Dick" for his efforts to promote bimetallism, Bland is best known for the Bland–Allison Act.
