A Black Gambler’s World of Liquor, Vice, and Presidential Politics: William Thomas Scott of Illinois, 1839–1917

Bruce L. Mouser, Henry Louis Gates

University of Wisconsin Pres, Oct 30, 2014 - Biography & Autobiography - 187 pages

William Thomas Scott (1839–1917) was an entrepreneur and political activist from East Saint Louis and Cairo, Illinois, who in 1904 briefly became the first African American nominated by a national party for president of the United States before his scandalous past forced him to step aside. A free man before the Civil War, Scott was a charismatic hustler who built his fortune through both vice trades and legal businesses including hotels, saloons, and real estate. Publisher and editor of the Cairo Gazette and an outspoken advocate for equal rights, he believed in political patronage and frequently rebelled against political bosses who failed to deliver, whether they were white, black, Republican, or Democrat.

Scott helped build the National Negro Liberty Party to forward economic, political, and legal rights for his race. But the hustling that had brought him business success proved his undoing as a national political figure. He was the NNLP's initial presidential nominee, only to be replaced by a better-educated and more socially acceptable candidate, George Edwin Taylor.

Contents

• Scotts Foundational Years: 3
• Chapter 1 A Gamblers World of Liquor Vice and Hometown Politics in the PostCivil War Era: 19
• Chapter 2 Covering His Past with Rebellion and Journalism the Early 1880s: 39
• Chapter 3 Reinvention as a Respectable Democrat 1884 to 1893: 59
• Chapter 4 Scotts Frenetic Decade 1893 to 1904: 78
• Chapter 5 The National Negro Liberty Party and the Debacle of the 1904 Election: 92
• Chapter 6 Hard Landing and Slow Recovery in Springfield: 104
• More Complicated Than That: 119
• Notes: 127
• Bibliography: 163
• Index: 179

About the author

Bruce L. Mouser is the author of For Labor, Race, and Liberty: George Edwin Taylor, His Historic Run for the White House, and the Making of Independent Black Politics. He is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was born on September 16, 1950, in Keyser, West Virginia. He received a degree in history from Yale University in 1973 and a Ph.D. from Clare College, which is part of the University of Cambridge in 1979. He is a leading scholar of African-American literature, history, and culture. He began working on the Black Periodical Literature Project, which uncovered lost literary works published in 1800s. He rediscovered what is believed to be the first novel published by an African-American in the United States. He republished the 1859 work by Harriet E. Wilson, entitled Our Nig, in 1983. He has written numerous books including Colored People: A Memoir, A Chronology of African-American History, The Future of the Race, Black Literature and Literary Theory, and The Signifying Monkey: Towards a Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism. In 1991, he became the head of the African-American studies department at Harvard University. He is now the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at the university. He wrote and produced several documentaries including Wonders of the African World, America Beyond the Color Line, and African American Lives. He has also hosted PBS programs such as Wonders of the African World, Black in Latin America, and Finding Your Roots.

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Black Gambler’s World of Liquor, Vice, and Presidential Politics: William Thomas Scott of Illinois, 1839–1917; A Black Gambler's World of Liquor, Vice, and Presidential Politics: William Thomas Scott of Illinois, 1839-1917, Henry Louis Gates (Jr.)
• Authors: Bruce L. Mouser, Henry Louis Gates
• Contributor: Henry Louis Gates
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres, 2014
• ISBN: 0299301842, 9780299301842
• Length: 187 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional / African American & Black; Biography & Autobiography / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional / General; Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Historical; Biography & Autobiography / Political; Games & Activities / Gambling / General; History / United States / 20th Century; History / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI); Political Science / American Government / State; Political Science / Political Process / Campaigns & Elections; Political Science / Political Process / General; Political Science / Political Process / Leadership; Social Science / Black Studies (Global); Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies