"LET THE NAMES OF THESE MALICIOUS SLANDERERS OF THESE BRAVE SOLDIERS REST IN ETERNAL SILENCE": FIRST EDITION OF W.H. SCOTT'S AN APPEAL TO THE NEGROES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1907

SCOTT, William Henry. An Appeal to the Negroes of the United States. Boston, Massachusetts: W. Grandison, 1907. Octavo, staple-bound as issued, original printed paper self-wrappers; pp. 16. $950.

First edition of this pamphlet condemning Theodore Roosevelt for his handling of the Brownsville Affair of 1906, in which Roosevelt dishonorably discharged 167 members of an all-Black Army battalion following the murder of a white bartender in Texas, despite forensic evidence proving their innocence.

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt summarily discharged 167 members of an all-Black U.S. Army battalion after they were accused of murdering a white bartender in Brownsville Texas. Although forensic evidence clearly exonerated them, Roosevelt proceeded with the planned dishonorable discharges. This shameful incident sparked incredible controversy. In this pamphlet, a Boston Baptist minister and member of the Boston Suffrage League, the Reverend William Henry Scott, accuses Roosevelt of racism and declares his actions unworthy of all but the most authoritarian governments. Scott demands justice for the Black soldiers, citing the outcomes of similar incidents like the Dreyfus Affair. Lastly, Scott ends on a call for his fellow African Americans to support either Ohio senator Joseph Benson Foraker or Bishop Turner of the A.M.E. Church for the presidential nomination, due to their unwavering support for the maligned and mistreated soldiers.

About-fine condition.