Was Alexander Stephens the "Rip Van Winkle" of Reconstruction? Yes, according to one Southerner

Pat Young

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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James T Rapier spoke in Congress in support of the Civil Rights Bill. Rapier served in Congress representing an Alabama district from 1873 to 1875. On June 9, 1874 he gave his speech and he upbraided Alexander Stephens as the "Rip Van Winkle" of Congress. Stevens had been a staunch supporter of slavery and had served as the Vice President of the Confederacy. In 1873 he entered Congress representing district in Georgia. Rapier said that Stephens appeared to be a man who had fallen asleep before Emancipation who, like Rip, could not come to terms with the remarkable changes that had occurred. What do you think?

Rapier was born to free parents, was educated in Canada, and returned to Alabama after the war. Here is an excerpt from his speech:

Mr. Speaker, there is another member of this body who has opposed the passage of this bill very earnestly, whose position in the country and peculiar relations to the Government compel me to refer to him before I conclude. I allude to the gentleman from Georgia, [Mr. STEPHENS.] He returns to this House after
an absence of many years with the same old ideas respecting State-rights that he carried away with him. He has not advanced a step; but unfortunately for him the American people have, and no longer consider him a fit expounder of our organic law. Following to its legitimate conclusion the doctrine of State-rights, (which of itself is secession,) he deserted the flag of his country, followed his State out of the Union, and a long and bloody war followed. With its results most men are acquainted and recognize; but he, Bourbon-like, comes back saying the very same things he used to say, and swearing by the same gods he swore by in other days. He seems not to know that the ideas which he so ably advanced for so many years were by the war swept away, along with that system of slavery which he intended should be the chief corner-stone, precious and elect, of the transitory kingdom over which he was second ruler.

Reconstruction: Voices from America's First Great Struggle for Racial Equality (The Library of America) (Kindle Locations 8179-8181). Library of America. Kindle Edition.
 
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