Milestones: January 8, 2024

January 8, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN GAINED THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ON Jan. 8, 1867, persevering over the veto of its most powerful resident, President Andrew Johnson, who valued conciliatory relations with the former Confederacy. However, the Republican-controlled senate overrode Johnson by a vote of 29-10 three years, some before a constitutional amendment granted the right to vote to all men regardless of race. African American men in D.C. — with some exceptions, including those on welfare — gained the right to vote three years before the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed that right for all American men. Though he was powerless to stop Congress from granting rights to African Americans, he spent his presidency vetoing legislation from the “Radical Reconstructionists.”

In fact, Johnson’s opposition to the Republicans’ views on Reconstruction not only defined his presidency, but they also led to his impeachment; and he became the first U.S. President to be charged with violations against the nation.

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CRAZY HORSE’S LAST BATTLE — OGLALA LAKOTA WARRIOR CRAZY HORSE AND HIS MEN FOUGHT THEIR FINAL LOSING BATTLE AGAINST THE U.S. CAVALRY IN MONTANA, ON JAN. 8, 1877. The scenario was different six months earlier, though, during the Battle of the Little Bighorn, when Crazy Horse and his ally, Sitting Bull, led their combined forces of Sioux and Cheyenne in resistance to U.S. policies, to a surprise victory over Lieutenant Colonel George Custer (1839-76) and troops. However, white Americans, wanting revenge for Custer’s death, called for the U.S. Army to launch an attack during the winter of 1876-77 against the remaining Indigenous Nations of the Northern Plain. General Nelson Miles attacked. This time, the Sioux and Cheyenne were outnumbered, lacked sufficient ammunition and were forced to use outdated weapons that could not hold up to the army’s supply. Even though Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse refused to surrender, the army drove them from their tents during a harsh winter.

The Indigenous fighters had nothing left but bows and arrows as weapons, but they were able to hold off the U.S. soldiers long enough to let the women and children escape.

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NOT SUCH A WISE IDEA — WHEN IS LONG-TERM DEBT AN ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE? President Andrew Jackson learned this when he accomplished his goal of entirely paying off the United States’ national debt, on Jan. 8, 1835. This marked the only time in U.S. history that the national debt stood at zero, and it also caused one of the worst financial crises in American history. A longtime personal issue of Jackson’s, the national debt dated back to the American Revolution, and also dealt with the government’s takeover of the war debt from individual states as part of the unification of the colonies. Federalists, who advocated for a strong central government, were among those who believed that debt could be advantageous in building the economy. However, Jackson’s triumph damaged the national bank, led to reckless spending and caused downturns in foreign economies. It also led to the Great Panic of 1837, bank runs, and for the need to start borrowing money.

Today’s conservatives also debate over the debt ceiling, to the point of holding in suspense important legislation, and even the federal government’s ability to function. A shutdown was narrowly averted in the autumn of 2023, for example.

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CITIZEN KANE ANGERED HEARST — NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING TYCOON WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST ON Jan. 8, 1941 FORBADE ANY OF HIS PUBLICATIONS FROM RUNNING ADS FOR ORSON WELLES’ LATEST FILM, “CITIZEN KANE,” because the protagonist resembled him in an uncomplimentary way. Welles and his friend Herman Mankiewicz had actually created the character of Citizen Charles Foster Kane on Hearst, who was known to be autocratic in his business practices. The fact that Welles himself played the title role in a way that exposed Hearst’s excesses, and even his alcoholic wife, with real-life simulation, angered Hearst all the more. Hearst’s ally and movie producer Louis B. Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer even offered to pay RKO $842,000 in cash to pressure that studio’s president, George Schaefer, to destroy the negative and all prints of “Citizen Kane.” However, Schaefer refused and retaliated with a threat to sue the Fox, Paramount and Loews theater chains for conspiracy because they refused to distribute the film.

“Citizen Kane” did ultimately show in movie theaters and was nominated for nine Oscars, although won only a shared Best Screenplay award for Mankiewicz and Welles. Moreover, Welles and the film were booed at the 1942 Academy Awards ceremony.

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HOLDING HANDS— THE BEATLES’ HIT “I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND” ROSE TO #1 IN THE FAB FOUR’S NATIVE UNITED KINGDOM ON JAN. 8, 1964. The song appeared on the album “Meet the Beatles!” that was released in the United States in 1964. It became the Beatles’ first No. 1 in America, selling 10,000 copies an hour in New York City alone. However, back home in England, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” was released only as a single and was not on any studio albums produced there.

The Beatles made their U.S. debut in person on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964.

See previous milestones, here.