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Thomas Swann (February 3, 1809 – July 24, 1883) was an American politician. Initially a Know-Nothing, and later a Democrat, he served as mayor of Baltimore (1856–1860), as the 33rd Governor of Maryland (1866–1869), and as U.S. Representative from Maryland's 3rd congressional district and then 4th congressional district (1869–1879). Thomas Swann took the oath of office on January 11, 1865, however he did not actually assume the governors office until January 10, 1866.〔“Thomas Swann, MSA SC 3520-1464.” Accessed March 1, 2015. http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/001400/001464/html/1464extbio.html.〕 Many believed once slavery was abolished in Maryland African Americans would begin a mass emigration to a new state. As white soldiers returned from southern battlefields they came home to find that not only were their slaves gone but soil exhaustion was causing tobacco crops to fail. With a growing number of disaffected white men, Thomas Swann embarked on a campaign of "Redemption" and "restoring to Maryland a white mans government."〔“Democratic Conservative Mass Meeting: Immense Gathering in Monument Square--The Ward Processions--A Brilliant Display--Organization of the Meeting--Remarks of Ex-Governor Pratt-Resolutions--Speeches of Governor Swann, Hon. Daniel Clark, Hon. Mr. Nelson and Other’s.” The Sun (1837-1988). September 11, 1867.〕 His strategy was built on the platform of entrenching white power and displacing independent African Americans. During this same time an oyster crisis in New England caused the oyster industry in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay to surge. Swann's problem was that the Bay oyster trade was heavily African American. His solution; use government policy to push African Americans in the bay and replace them with, "White Labor, at reasonable rates wherever needed"〔 Even more egregious he enacted a law that encouraged white fisherman to harass black fisherman when he signed into law the states first ever "Oyster Code." “And be it acted, that all owners and masters of canoes, boats, or vessels licensed under this article, being White Men, are hereby constituted officers of this state for the purpose of arresting and taking before any judge or Justice of the Peace, any persons who may be engaged in violating any provisions of this article. Furthermore, all such owners and masters are hereby vested with the power to summon pose comitatus to aid in such arrest.” 〔"The New Oyster License Law--the State Oyster Police Force." The Sun (1837-1989), Apr 10, 1868.〕〔“Archives of Maryland, Volume 0384, Page 0178 - Supplement to the Maryland Code, Containing the Acts of the General Assembly, Passed at the Sessions of 1861, 1861-62, 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1867.”〕 Even more egregious, any property seized during an "Oyster Code" violation was auctioned off, with one quarter of the proceeds going to the white man who initiated the arrest.〔 〔〔“Archives of Maryland, Volume 0384, Page 0175 - Supplement to the Maryland Code, Containing the Acts of the General Assembly, Passed at the Sessions of 1861, 1861-62, 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1867.”〕 The Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to Maryland although it was still a "slave state" because it was a non-Confederate state having officially remained in the Union and President Lincoln feared that ending slavery there at the height of the Civil War would cause it to leave the Union. So it required a state level referendum in Maryland to end slavery. When slavery was abolished in Maryland in 1864 with the adoption of the third Maryland Constitution of 1864, Lincoln's fears were not realized and the war finished out without Maryland ever defecting to the Confederate States Southern side, although many men from Southern Maryland counties and the "Eastern Shore" did fight on the side of the Confederacy. ==Early life and career== Swann was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and attended Columbian College (now George Washington University) in Washington, D.C., and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville.〔University of Virginia. ''A Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of Virginia. Fourth Session, 1827-1828''. Charlottesville, VA: Chronicle Steam Book Printing House, 1880, p. 9.〕 He studied law and was admitted to the Bar. A Democrat, he was appointed by 7th President Andrew Jackson as secretary of the United States Commission to Naples (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies - later Italy). 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「Thomas Swann」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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