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Some unions had African American members long before this. Those labor organizations in almost exclusive black occupations--waiters in NYC hotels, for example--were all-black and had a history predating emancipation. On Oregon, remember the link between the slaveholders and the Manifest Destiny idea. When John C. Breckenridge and the "Southern Rights" faction of the Democratic party broke away in the 1860 elections, his vice presidential candidate was Joseph Lane of Oregon--a transplant from Evansville, Indiana. At the same time, the Rouge River War in Oregon gave rise to John Beeson, a white farmer from Illinois driven out by his neighbors for siding with the Indians. Beeson took some of the local Indians with him on regular tours across the U.S. from the late 1850s through the Civil War. He established interesting ties with future sections of the International and brought Indians into the White House and organized a mass rally at the height of the Civil War. I think that modern Oregonians have some sort of local history site up there to memorialize him and his Indian neighbors. ML _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com