Francis Lewis Cardozo
Francis Lewis Cardozo was a prominent African American leader born on January 1, 1836, in Charleston, South Carolina, to a freeborn African American mother and a Jewish father. His early education took place in schools for free blacks, and he later pursued studies in Scotland at the University of Glasgow and seminaries in Edinburgh and London, ultimately becoming a Congregational minister. Cardozo played a significant role during the Reconstruction era, advocating for African American political rights and equality. He was a delegate at the Constitutional Convention of 1868 and became the first African American elected to a statewide office in South Carolina as secretary of state. Renowned for his integrity, he later served as state treasurer, where he managed the state budget effectively and opposed corruption.
Despite facing threats and political challenges, Cardozo remained committed to education and public service, helping to establish institutions for African American teachers and advocating for their rights. His life and work symbolize the struggle for justice and equality within a system marked by systemic injustice during Reconstruction. Cardozo's contributions to politics and education reflect his dedication to improving conditions for African Americans and ensuring their participation in the political process.
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Subject Terms
Francis Lewis Cardozo
Politician
- Born: January 1, 1836
- Birthplace: Charleston, South Carolina
- Died: July 22, 1903
- Place of death: Washington, D.C.
Best known for his contributions to politics and education during Reconstruction, Cardozo exemplified tenacity in fighting against the Black Codes, which were designed to exclude African Americans from the political process. A firm believer in education, Cardozo parlayed his political expertise into a role as an education administrator, effecting change by establishing institutions that empowered African Americans through education.
Early Life
Francis Lewis Cardozo (kahr-DOH-zoh) was born January 1, 1836, in Charleston, South Carolina, to Lydia Williams (a freeborn African American) and Isaac Nunez Cardozo (son of a prominent Jewish family). Francis Lewis Cardozo received his primary education in the schools for free blacks in Charleston; he also apprenticed as a carpenter and a shipbuilder. After graduating, Cardozo went abroad to Glasgow, Scotland, where he studied at the University of Glasgow until 1861, after which time he studied at seminaries in Edinburgh and London. Soon after his return to the United States, Cardozo was ordained as a Congregational minister, and he was invited to teach at the American Missionary Association in Charleston. His invitation came on the heels of the American Missionary Association’s dismissal of his younger brother, Thomas W. Cardozo, for alleged improprieties.
Life’s Work
In 1865, Francis Lewis Cardozo was a part of the delegation of free and newly freed African Americans who attended the convention held at Zion Church in Charleston to draft a petition to the federal government to grant African Americans political equality under the law. The main concerns of the time were suffrage, land ownership, and the right to a fair wage, all of which were being denied African Americans in South Carolina. The petition drafted during this meeting was submitted to the state senate in December, 1865.
Cardozo was a delegate at the Constitutional Convention of 1868 and chaired the education committee. He was elected secretary of state in South Carolina, the first African American elected to a statewide office. Cardozo served in this capacity until 1871, when he took a professorship at Howard University. He stayed at Howard for one year, choosing to return to South Carolina and the public arena. In 1872, Cardozo was elected state treasurer, an office he held for five years and which he left under threat of violence. While in office, he earned the admiration of both Republican and Democratic Parties because of his honesty and his deft management of the state budget. He was responsible for thwarting the efforts of corrupt political officials, such as Franklin J. Moses, Jr., who sought to misappropriate state funds to suit their own purposes.
Cardozo’s propensity for doing what was right set him at odds with those who were trying to defraud the government. Hence, in 1870, a group of Democrats set out to impeach Cardozo from his position of secretary of state. The general assembly, Republicans and Democrats alike, wrote letters on Cardozo’s behalf to derail this effort.
As a politician, Cardozo held offices not previously held by African Americans: in 1868, secretary of state of South Carolina; in 1872, state treasurer; committee chairman for the education committee during the Constitutional Convention; superintendent of the Avery Normal Institute, which he helped found for the training of African American teachers; and advisory board member for the Land Commission, a position he resigned from in protest of the corruption within the agency.
Cardozo is noted for his work in politics and education. In politics, he paved the way for many African Americans, and his efforts in public office addressed his concern for the overall progress of his people. He fought to level the playing field as much as possible for African Americans.
With respect to education, Cardozo was committed to lifelong learning, entering law school in 1874, after he had already served in several public offices. Whether his pursuit of higher learning was personally or socially motivated is arguable. However, his determination to push past the restrictions unfairly imposed on African Americans was evident. In 1876, the U.S. Supreme Court admitted him to the bar. In 1877, Cardozo stepped down from his position as state treasurer after he and other African American officials were sent threatening letters once white rule had been reestablished in South Carolina.
Significance
Cardozo’s life holds immeasurable significance to the African American community, representing just one of many untold stories of the systemic injustice that was pervasive during Reconstruction. Cardozo embodied the philosophy that a nation is only as free as its most bound citizen, and he sought to bring about justice for all men, regardless of color. He was a man of integrity not by force but by choice. This is evident in both his personal and his political decisions. That his is not a unique story exposes the underpinnings of a system that was at its core unjust. Cardozo targeted his efforts to ensuring that African Americans would be included equally in the political process of the United States.
Bibliography
Du Bois, W. E. B. Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880. Reprint. New York: Atheneum, 1992. Du Bois’s accounts covered multiple states and the condition of the African American community across the South.
Fitzgerald, Michael L. Splendid Failure: Postwar Reconstruction in the American South. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2007. The author gives a candidly human depiction of the political climate of the American South during Reconstruction. Both general and individual accounts give a broad perspective of the time.
Underwood, James Lowell, and W. Lewis Burke, Jr. At Freedom’s Door: African American Founding Fathers and Lawyers in Reconstruction South Carolina. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000. Informative text critical to the understanding of South Carolina politics and the role African Americans played during Reconstruction.
Williamson, Joel. After Slavery. Durham: University of North Carolina Press, 1965. A comprehensive look at postslavery South Carolina and the impact that Reconstruction had on African Americans in that region. Freedom and its varied meanings are explored, as are the particular issues of economic, political, and social equality.