John Sharp Williams (July 30, 1854September 27, 1932) was a prominent American politician in the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
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*Botswana Democratic Party
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from the 1890s through the 1920s, and served as the
Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1908.
Early life
Williams was born in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, but raised in
Yazoo County, Mississippi
Yazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,065. The county seat is Yazoo City. It is named for the Yazoo River, which forms its western border. Its name is said to come from a ...
, after he was orphaned during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. After graduating from the
Kentucky Military Institute The Kentucky Military Institute (KMI) was a military preparatory school in Lyndon, Kentucky, and Venice, Florida, in operation from 1845 to 1971.
Founding
One of the oldest traditional military prep schools in the United States, KMI was maintain ...
in 1870, he studied at the
University of the South
The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...
before transferring to the
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, where he was
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
but did not complete all his science courses for his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
.
[Mississippi History Now – The Political Career of John Sharp Williams (1854–1932)](_blank)
/ref> He spent two years in Europe at the University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
and what is now the University of Burgundy
The University of Burgundy (french: Université de Bourgogne, uB; formerly known as ''Université de Dijon'') is a public university located in Dijon, France.
The University of Burgundy is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the east ...
before returning to the University of Virginia to receive his law degree in 1876. After a brief return to Memphis (where he married Elizabeth Dial Webb in 1877), Williams returned to Yazoo County, where from 1878 to 1893 he ran the family plantation and kept a law practice.
Political career
Elected to the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
in 1893, Williams soon became a leader of the Democratic minority, renowned for his speaking skill and wit. Like most other Southern Democrats of the day, he was a proponent of coining silver and an opponent of high tariffs; unlike them, he refused to use racebaiting to build political popularity. In 1906, when Great Britain launched HMS ''Dreadnought'', Congressman Williams introduced a bill to change the name of USS ''Michigan'' to USS ''Skeered O' Nothin as a challenge to the prestigious English.
During his time as ranking Democrat in the Republican-controlled House, Williams was given the privilege of choosing the Democrats assigned to committees by the House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon
Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and many consid ...
(by the rules of the House, Cannon was entitled to make all appointments himself), giving him tremendous power within the minority party. In gratitude, Williams was known to omit Democrats whom Cannon found particularly objectionable from committee assignments. Recognizing his status vis-à-vis Cannon, Williams jokingly described his relative political impotence in the Cannon-dominated Committee on Rules, "I am invited to the seances but I am never consulted about the spiritualistic appearances."
By beating one of Mississippi's leading racebaiters, James K. Vardaman, Williams moved to the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in 1911 after an early election on 21 January 1908. He became one of Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
's strongest supporters, from Wilson's nomination for the Presidency in 1912 to the losing battle to ratify American participation in the League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
in 1920. During his time as a senator, he also served as a chairman of the Committee to Establish a University of the United States.
He made a notorious denunciation of the black race when he declared on December 20, 1898: "You could ship-wreck 10,000 illiterate white Americans on a desert island, and in three weeks they would have a fairly good government, conceived and administered upon fairly democratic lines. You could ship-wreck 10,000 negroes, every one of whom was a graduate of Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, and in less than three years, they would have retrograded governmentally; half of the men would have been killed, and the other half would have two wives apiece."[Logan, Rayford W. ''The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson'', Da Capo Press, 1965, p. 90. ]
After retiring from the Senate in 1923, Williams returned to his family plantation, where he spent the last decade of his life, dying in late 1932.
References
* https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-21382929-dt-content-rid-108032078_1/courses/CTY01_ART_10000_R_1159_1/Masur.pdf
External links
The John Sharp Williams Collection (MUM00480)
can be found at the University of Mississippi, Archive and Special Collections
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John Sharp
1854 births
1932 deaths
20th-century American politicians
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi
Democratic Party United States senators from Mississippi
Minority leaders of the United States House of Representatives
People from Yazoo County, Mississippi
Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
University of Virginia alumni
20th-century American lawyers
19th-century American lawyers
19th-century American politicians
Mississippi lawyers
Heidelberg University alumni
Sewanee: The University of the South alumni