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John Roy Lynch (September 10, 1847 – November 2, 1939) was an American politician, writer, attorney and military officer. Born into slavery, he became free in 1863. In 1873 he was elected as the first African-American Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives. During Reconstruction after the American Civil War, he was among the first generation of African Americans elected to the U.S House of Representatives, serving 1874-1877 and again in the 1880s. Of mixed race, he was of majority European ancestry. After Democrats regained power in the state legislature and Reconstruction ended, in his 50s Lynch studied law; he was admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1896. As the state legislature had disfranchised blacks in 1890 under the new constitution, Lynch left the state and moved to Washington, DC to practice law. He served in the United States Army during the Spanish American War and for a decade in the early 1900s, achieving the rank of major. After retiring, Lynch moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he lived for more than two decades. He was active in law and real estate in Chicago after his military service. Beginning in 1877, Lynch published four books, analyzing the political situation during and after Reconstruction. He is best known for his book, ''The Facts of Reconstruction'' (1913). It is available for free online at the Gutenberg Project. In it, he argued against the prevailing view of the Dunning School, white historians who downplayed African-American contributions and the achievements of the Reconstruction era. He emphasized the significance of ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, which granted full citizenship without restriction of race or color, and suffrage to minority males. ==Early life and education== John R. Lynch was born into slavery in 1847 on Tacony Plantation near Vidalia, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. He was the third son of his mother Catherine White, who was enslaved. Born in Virginia, she was of mixed race, as were both of her parents, Robert and Elizabeth White. Under slavery law, the children of slave mothers were slaves, regardless of paternity. John's father Patrick Lynch was his white master; a young immigrant from Dublin, Ireland, the senior Lynch had lived in Zanesville, Ohio with his parents. He moved South with his older brother Edward and became manager at the Tacony Plantation. There Patrick fell in love with Catherine and they became a couple,〔(''Reminiscences of an Active Life: The Autobiography of John Roy Lynch'' ), editor, John Hope Franklin (Chicago, 1970/University of Mississippi Press, 2008), pp. 1-10〕 living together as man and wife. (They were prohibited from marrying by state law.) To protect his family, Patrick Lynch bought Catherine and their sons from the Tacony plantation owner. But a new owner bought the plantation and hired a different manager. Lynch could not afford to post the $1000 bond required for each person in his family in order to free them. (The state legislature was trying to reduce the number of free people of color, and increasing European immigration led it to restrict manumissions, ending them in 1852.〔(Lawrence J. Kotlikoff and Anton J. Rupert, "The Manumission of Slaves in New Orleans, 1827-1846" ), ''Southern Studies'', Summer 1980〕) In addition, he would have to submit a request for manumission to an Emancipation Court.〔 He planned to move with his family to New Orleans, where his brother Edward Lynch lived, and try to save money to secure their freedom. The city had a large population of free people of color, who had achieved education and economic status. Lynch died in 1849 of illness before carrying out his plan.〔 Patrick Lynch arranged for a friend, William G. Deal, to take title of Catherine, William and John before he died, with the understanding that this was purely a legality to protect the family, who continued to work at Tacony plantation. But after a time, Deal sold them to Alfred Vidal Davis, a planter in Natchez, Mississippi.〔 When she met Davis, Catherine was shocked to learn of the sale and told him her story. He offered to keep her and her two sons with her (one had died by this time), and to have her be connected to his household. He also allowed her to hire out and save some of the money she earned. He kept his word for much of the time, but Catherine and her two sons were legally held in slavery until 1863. (One son had died.) Because of an argument with Mrs. Davis, John Lynch was sent to field labor on the plantation. After the Union Army had reached Mississippi and President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he became free. Lynch was then 16 years old.〔 Lynch worked with elements of the Union Army while units were in the area. After the Civil War ended in 1865, a friend of his father's arranged for him to work for a photographer. Lynch proved himself, taking on responsibilities until he managed the entire operation and its finances. He built a successful business in Natchez. Wanting to continue his education, he attended a night school taught by Northerners. (By the end of 1866, many such teachers were driven out of the state by violent opposition of whites to the education of freedmen.〔Henry Lee Swint, ''The Northern Teacher in the South, 1862-1870'', (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1941/reprint Octagon Books, 1967), pp. 122-123〕) He also read widely in books and newspapers during lulls in his business day. As Lynch's business was near a white school, the young man often eavesdropped on lessons through the open windows.〔Lynch (1970/2008), ''Reminiscences,'' pp. 42-43〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John R. Lynch」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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