During the period between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, Congress debated voting rights for African Americans at length. Representative Philip Johnson’s January 18, 1866, speech on suffrage in the District of Columbia is but one example. Other Members contributing to the day’s debate, some well-known for their stances on voting rights, including Thaddeus Stevens and John Chanler, signed up to order transcriptions of the speeches. Sending copies of remarks to constituents was common during the period, particularly on such intriguing and contentious topics. Speech orders like this one were often a source of supplemental income for Pages in the 19th century, who would be paid by the copy for providing Members with speeches.
