The Unknown Tale of a Forgotten Man: Schuyler Colfax and the Ending of Slavery in the U.S.

By Marianne Clay

Today, few have even heard of Schuyler Colfax, even though he served as both Vice President of the United States and Speaker of the U.S. House. But there’s more, much more to this man’s story than his elected offices.

An ardent abolitionist and a founding member of the anti-slavery Republican Party, he preceded his term as vice president under Ulysses Grant by winning election to Congress from his district in Indiana.  He served in the House from 1855 to 1869, and during the last six years of his time in Congress, he led the chamber as Speaker of the House. Colfax had been a newspaper editor for years and, despite a formal education ending at age ten, he continually wrote articles both before and while serving in the House, using his journalistic connections and his public-speaking abilities to build support to end slavery.  In the months leading up to the 1860 presidential election, Colfax delivered even more anti-slavery speeches and wrote even more pro-abolition newspaper articles. His work helped to bring all the Republican anti-slavery factions together to win the presidency for the most well-known anti-slavery Republican of all, Abraham Lincoln. Then while the Civil War raged and emotions skyrocketed, Colfax presided as Speaker of the House over the most intense and bitter debate of his time – slavery. Colfax skillfully pushed for the passage of a constitutional amendment to end slavery – the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Yet, all his work to successfully end slavery is as forgotten as he is.

Back in 1864, the Democrats held the greater power in the House, and the Democrats favored states’ rights on the slavery issue even if that meant the continuation of slavery. When the House first voted on the amendment to end slavery on June 15, 1864, only 93 voted in favor – 89 Republicans and 4 Democrats, short of the two-thirds majority required for the amendment’s passage. But Speaker Colfax, President Lincoln, and other Republican leaders pressed on. At the Republican Convention that summer, President Lincoln insisted on slavery’s “utter and complete extirpation,” describing a federal amendment as “a fitting, and necessary conclusion” to the Civil War.

When a second vote on the amendment was taken on January 31,1865 seven months after the first try, Speaker Colfax and the Republicans in the House hardly knew if the chances of passing the amendment to end slavery had improved.  Rumors were flying about Confederates leaders approaching Washington, D.C.  to talk peace, and some worried more Democrats might vote no for the amendment for fear of derailing a plan to end the Civil War. But the pressure to end slavery intensified, so on the last day of January in 1865, the vote was taken. By tradition, the Speaker only votes to break a tie. Speaker Colfax voted aye to emphasize his support. The House grew silent as Colfax rose to give the result, “On the passage of the joint resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States, the ayes have 119, the noes 56.” His voice, witnesses said, trembled with emotion. All 86 Republicans voted yes joined by 16 Democrats, while 50 Democrats voted no. Based on the descriptions of the day, the House erupted as Congressmen cheered and wept. Visitors in the gallery celebrated too, the men waving their hats and the women their handkerchiefs. Outside the Capitol, a 100-gun salute alerted city residents to the news.

Although it wasn’t legally necessary, Lincoln affixed his signature to a copy of the amendment (today six copies are known to exist) the following day as did Colfax and others. For the rest of his life, Colfax considered that day, February 1, 1865, the happiest day of his life.  Fourteen years before, Colfax had said, “Wherever, within my sphere, be it narrow or wide, oppression treads its iron heel on human rights, I will raise my voice in earnest protest.” And so he had. That evening, a brass band led a joyful crowd to the White House, where supporters gathered by torchlight under the portico. The crowd cheered when Lincoln appeared in an upper window and leaned outside the window frame. Lincoln told the crowd slavery caused the Civil War and must be erased so that it could never rip apart the country again. “This amendment is a king’s cure for all the evils,” he said. “It winds the whole thing up.” Before he withdrew from the window, Lincoln congratulated the country “upon this great moral victory.”

Despite the immediate celebration, the amendment could not become law until approved by three-fourths of the state. That approval came ten months later when Georgia approved the measure on December 6, 1865. At last, the first constitutional amendment in 60 years made clear slavery shall not exist in the United States of America.

After such a triumph, you might assume all would go well for Colfax. On April 14, 1865, Colfax called at the White House to talk over Reconstruction and other matters with Lincoln before Colfax left on a long tour of the western states and territories. With the war won, Colfax and Lincoln apparently enjoyed a relaxed conversation about seeing the West. Lincoln invited Colfax to join his party at Ford’s Theatre that night, but Colfax declined as he had to pack for his trip.  Only hours later, Lincoln was fatally shot. Later that evening, after Colfax got the news, he and others spent the night with the dying Lincoln. 

Three years later, Ulysses Grant chose Colfax to be his vice president for the 1868 election, and the pair easily won over the Democratic nominees, Horatio Seymour and Francis P. Blair, Jr.  At that time, vice presidents didn’t have much of a part to play, so Vice President Colfax continued to give lectures and write for the press. In 1870 Colfax did not think Grant would seek another term as president, so Colfax worked to get support for his own run for president. To his surprise, Grant announced he would run again. Reversing himself, Colfax tried to win the vice-presidential nomination for a second term, but Grant wasn’t impressed and chose Henry Wilson for his vice president in his second term. Despite the scandals surrounding Grant’s first term, Grant and Wilson enjoyed an easy win.

Since he was still only in his 40s, Colfax might have continued his political career, except more trouble arrived. He, along with others including Vice President nominee Henry Wilson were linked to one of the worst political scandals of 19th-century America. In September 1872, as the presidential campaign was getting underway, the New York Sun broke the four-year-old story about how a finance company created to underwrite construction of the transcontinental Union Pacific Railroad, had raised money and federal support. The railroad depended on federal subsidies, so the finance company, the Crédit Mobilier, recruited Massachusetts Representative Oakes Ames to distribute stock among the key members of Congress. Some members bought shares at a discount price; others paid by using the stock’s generous dividends to belatedly pay for the shares. According to the newspaper reports, Congressman Oakes Ames’ list included Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson, and Representatives James Garfield and James G. Blaine. Though Colfax made a public statement explaining he never owned a dollar of stock he had not paid for, his reputation suffered.

After leaving office in March 1873, Colfax traveled full time giving lectures often delivering his most popular one on the man he had known well, Lincoln. Colfax delivered his Lincoln lecture hundreds of times to positive reviews. With his reputation mostly restored, the people in his home district encouraged him to run again, but he had enough of the political fray.  In April 1882, after repeated pressure to run for his old U.S. House seat in the upcoming election, Colfax announced in a letter to The South Bend Tribune he appreciated their support, but no way. He felt satisfied by the 20 years of service during the “stormiest years of our nation’s history.” He also said his “only ambition now is to go in and out among my townsmen as a private citizen during what years of life may remain for me to enjoy on this earth.”

Almost three years later, on the morning of January 13, 1885, he arrived in Mankato, Minnesota on a train from Milwaukee. Mankato was just a stop for 61-year-old Colfax; he was trying to get to Iowa for a speaking engagement, and to get there, he needed to get to the Omaha Line Depot about three-quarters of a mile away. Despite a reported temperature of 30 degrees below zero, Colfax walked through the icy weather from one lonely and bleak station to the other. Upon arriving at the Omaha Line Depot, Colfax entered the waiting room, looked at a map on the wall, sat down, and died, most likely his heart was stricken by walking so far in the extreme cold. No one knew who he was until an envelope with his name was found in his pocket.

Throughout his life, Colfax persevered through successes and tragedies. He father died of TB before he was born, his sister a few months later. To make ends meet, his mother ran a rooming house. Despite a brief education, he became a newspaper editor and newspaper owner.  A passionate abolitionist and a founder of the anti-slavery Republican Party, he became a Congressman who rose to be the Speaker of the House and pushed through the 13th Amendment. His first wife died young and childless. Seven years after her death, he became Vice President and two weeks later, he remarried. In 1870, the couple welcomed a son. Two years later, a scandal nearly destroyed him.  He rebuilt his reputation, only to die alone and unknown in a desolate train station. His passion for freedom and human rights helped to bring the end of slavery, even if few know this anti-slavery Republican’s name.

Marianne Clay is a Research Associate with The Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy.

Nothing contained here should be considered as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any legislation.

The views expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Susquehanna Valley Center.