[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 28, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S11303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE FIRST KANSAS COLORED INFANTRY

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I take the Senate floor today to mark 
the anniversary of a noble and courageous effort made on behalf of our 
Nation by some of the brave residents, of our then very young State of 
Kansas.
  Mr. President, 135 years ago today in the year 1862, the first Kansas 
colored infantry were the first union black troops of the Civil War to 
engage in combat--October 28th and 29th at Island Mound, or Toothman's 
Mound, near the town of Butler in Bates County, MO, near my hometown.
  The intrepid first Kansas colored infantry's contribution at 
Toothman's Mound helped prompt President Abraham Lincoln to issue the 
Emancipation Proclamation barely 2 months later and inspired hundreds 
of thousands of other black soldiers to take up arms in the cause of 
Union and free soil--undoubtedly influencing the outcome of that war 
and perhaps proving decisive in preserving government of the people, by 
the people, and for the people in the world as we know it.
  Let me emphasize, the survival of our experiment in self-government 
was at stake, and these individuals paid the price to ensure that our 
Constitution would not perish from the Earth.
  One of the easy mistakes when reading history is to assume that the 
outcome of great struggles was inevitable. This is not so. History is 
contingent, dependent on the choices and actions of real people. Things 
might have been very different if a few brave people hadn't acted as 
they did.
  Without the sacrifice of our Founders we might never have known 
independence, certainly not in the form we now enjoy--and without the 
sacrifices of subsequent generations, most especially of people like 
those who served in the first Kansas colored infantry, our forebearers 
most precious gift--liberty under law--would be lost.
  Mr. President the example of service, dedication, and courage set by 
the first Kansas colored infantry at the very moment of our Nation's 
greatest need should be always with us as we carry on our work here in 
the crucible of liberty.
  Mr. President, those soldiers had reason to doubt America's promise 
of liberty and justice for all. But when freedom called they answered, 
and we are forever in their debt.
  In these often selfish and cynical times, we should pause and 
thankfully remember the first Kansas colored infantry. The blows they 
struck for freedom and Union, place us forever in their debt.

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