Summary: Congressman Alonzo Jacob Ransier, Celebrated for His Honesty To learn more about Ransier and this image Click & Listen to -Notable Collector, Mark E. Mitchell on The Gist Of Freedom - www.blackHistoryBlog.com In 1866, Ransier attended South Carolina’s first Republican convention and traveled to Washington with a petition from a Charleston meeting of the Friends of Equal Rights, pushing for more consideration for the rights of Blacks. Two years later he was elected to the Constitutional Convention which established the state’s first racially integrated government. Ransier was actively committed to the cause of equality for the African American citizens of South Carolina and the nation. While in Congress he fought for a civil rights bill, supported strong tariff laws, opposed arbitrary salary increases for federal officials, advocated term limits for politicians and petitioned for funds to improve the maintenance of Charleston harbor. Ransier defended the record of Black soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War, recalling their support for President Grant in his 1872 reelection bid.
