Amos T. Akerman

In June 1869, Akerman argued in defense of Richard W. White, a mulatto who had won the state election for Superior Court county clerk.[6] White's opponent, William James Clement, represented by Solicitor General Alfred B. Smith of the Eastern Georgia Circuit court, said that White was ineligible to hold office since he was a black man.[6] A lower court had ruled that if Clement could prove that White was a black man, he could not hold office.[7] The case went to the Georgia's Supreme Court where Akerman defended White's election and said his color did not deny him the right to hold office.[7] Akerman argued that the former laws, based in the South's slave society, did not apply anymore. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 stated that Georgia had no current civilian government.[8] Akerman argued that since blacks had been granted the franchise throughout the United States, they had the right to hold public office.[8] He argued that blacks had participated in the Georgia's new constitutional government in 1868 without distinction of color.[8] He also noted that both President Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant had appointed black men to public office and that the current U.S. Constitution did not recognize or discriminate on the basis of a person's color.[8] The Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision, ruling that White had the right to hold public office regardless of his race.[7]

On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln signed into law the Pacific Railroad Act that in addition to promoting the transcontinental railroad allowed the Union Pacific Railroad to make subsidiary railroad branch lines, including one through Kansas.[11] One of these subsidiaries was financially unable to complete the railroad through Kansas, as a result, the Union Pacific applied for federal assistance in the form of land grants and bonds.[11] On June 1, 1871, Attorney General Akerman denied land grants and bonds to the Union Pacific and upheld previous rulings against federal assistance.[11] Company attorneys lobbied Akerman to change his mind, however, he refused to change his ruling. This upset Collis P. Huntington and Jay Gould, who were connected to the Union Pacific Railroad and demanded Akerman's removal from office.[12]

On September 7, 1871, Att. Gen. Akerman ruled on the newly formed Civil Service Commission passed by Congress on March 3, 1871, and signed into law by President Grant on March 4.[13] In the United States first ever Civil Service Reform legislation a commission was set up to establish rules, testing, and regulations, authorized by the President, for the best possible candidates to be appointed civil service positions.[13] The funding for the Commission only lasted for one year until June 30, 1872.[13] Akerman ruled that the commission, run by a chairman appointed by the President, was legal, since Congress and the President had every right in their constitutional power to put in the best candidates to serve in the United States Government.[13] Akerman believed this was the original intent of the framers of the U.S. Constitution.[13] Akerman, however, ruled that the Commission did not constitutionally have the power to forbid an appointment; only to aid the President and Congress to put in the best person qualified for the job.[13] Akerman also ruled that the competitive testing need not be overly restrictive as to take away the appointment powers given to the President and Congress under the U.S. Constitution.[13]

Ku Klux Klan members were prosecuted for violent attacks by U.S. Att. Gen. Amos T. Akerman. This shows three Mississippi Klan members arrested in September 1871.

Having lived in Georgia, Att. Gen. Akerman was well aware of the widespread violent tactics, known as "outrages" of the Ku Klux Klan, conducted primarily against African American voters, who had mostly registered as Republicans.[14] The Freedman's Bureau in the Deep South were sent hundreds of complaints by blacks who had been persecuted and attacked by whites. One United States attorney of later years characterized this Klan activity as "the worst outbreak of domestic violence in American history to date."[15][16] Upon his assumption to office, Akerman's primary duty was to stop the violence against blacks in the South and prosecute the perpetrators.[14] His appointment by Grant in November 1870 was well timed, as he gained the strong enforcement powers of the newly created U.S. Department of Justice and the assistance of the newly created office of the U.S. Solicitor General.[14] Having the Department of Justice and the first Solicitor General, Benjamin Bristow, Attorney General Akerman was ready to federally prosecute the Klan.[14][17] Akerman, expanding the powers of the Department of Justice, started an investigating division that looked into the organization of the Klan in the South.[1] Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act, and it was signed into law by President Grant on April 20, 1871.[14]

Akerman and Bristow acted quickly and efficiently.[17] After Grant had suspended habeas corpus in nine South Carolina counties on October 17, 1871, Akerman, who had traveled to the state, personally led U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Army into the countryside and made hundreds of arrests, while 2000 Klansmen fled the state.[14][17] With the assistance of Bristow, the Department of Justice indicted 3,000 Klansmen throughout the South, and gained convictions of 600.[17] Sixty-five of the Klansmen convicted were sentenced to federal prison for five years.[17] As a result of the government's enforcement of the law against the Klan, its incidents of violence declined markedly. In 1872, African Americans voted in high numbers, electing numerous Republicans to state and local offices.[17] White conservative Democrats continued to contest the elections, and there was violence related to a disputed gubernatorial election in Louisiana.

During December, while Akerman was busy prosecuting the Klan, he was unexpectedly asked to resign by President Grant.[12][18] Rumor was that Grant was pressured by Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano, who sympathized with railroad tycoons Collis P. Huntington and Jay Gould, and had demanded Akerman's resignation.[18] Akerman had ruled against the government's giving federal land grants and government bonds to the Union Pacific Railroad.[18] Akerman denied that Delano was the reason for his departure from office.[18]

William S. McFeely, author of a critical biography of Grant, wrote that Grant was uneasy concerning Akerman's prosecution zeal against the Klan and did not want to appear as a military dictator grinding the South into submission.[19] According to McFeely, with Akerman's resignation "went any hope that the Republican party would develop as a national party of true racial equality".[18] However, historian Eric Foner noted that Akerman's replacement, George H. Williams, continued to prosecute the Klan in the South.[12] After Akerman resigned, he did not have any hard feelings towards President Grant.[18] Akerman supported Grant's renomination in 1872 and believed that the president would continue to enforce anti-terrorist laws.[20]

An Akerman monument was placed at Akerman's gravesite in Cartersville's Oak Hill Cemetery.[21][22]

In Thought Clear And Strong,

In Purpose Pure And Elevated,

In Moral Courage Invincible,

He Lived Loyal To His Convictions

Avouring Them With Candor,

And Supporting Them With Firmness.

A Friend Of Humanity,

In His Zeal To Serve Others,

He Shrank From No Peril To Himself,

He Was Able, Faithful, True!

These are very intriguing words left by a loving family.

[21]

In 2019, a new historical marker recognizing Amos T. Akerman was dedicated in Cartersville, Georgia. The marker was erected by the Georgia Historical Society, in conjunction with the Waters Foundation, Inc., and the Bartow History Museum.

On March 28, 2019, the Georgia Historical Society erected a historical marker about Akerman[23] in Cartersville at the site of his former home.[24] The marker commemorated his career as both teacher and attorney, including his prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction.

Amos Tappan Akerman, born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, graduated from Dartmouth College and moved south. While Tutoring the children of U.S. Senator and former U.S. Attorney General John Macpherson Berrien in Savannah, Akerman studied law and became an attorney, first in Clarkesville and then Elberton. Akerman supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War but joined the Republican Party afterwards, staunchly defending African Americans’ political rights. President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Akerman federal district attorney for Georgia in 1869 and then U.S. Attorney General in 1870. Akerman began the newly created Justice Department’s first investigative unit, a precursor to the F.B.I.. He aggressively prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan for political terrorism and violence against African Americans before his forced resignation in 1871. Akerman, whose home was at this location, is buried in Cartersville’s Oak Hill Cemetery.

[23]