Part six: When the levee breaks

“They want me to work on the levee. I had to leave my home...”

Lonnie Johnson, Broken Levee Blues. 1928

The Blues as musical art form can tell stories from the historical record. This account chronicles political change brought on by natural disaster and sung about in the Blues.

In 1971, I heard Led Zeppelin perform “When the Levee Breaks”. The song was written by the husband and wife team of Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. It was inspired by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which changed voting patterns in America.

It would not have been the first time that a natural disaster had changed the political direction of a group or country. The Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 in Japan led to a military takeover of Japanese government. That new government attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 made Herbert Hoover president and turned black Republicans into Democrats.

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president and the issuer of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which declared slaves to be free. The Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 entirely abolished slavery. At that time the Republican Party was the party of Federalism and proactive government, and Democratic Party of the time supported States Rights, laissez faire attitudes towards business practices, and hands-off government. Lincoln established the Republican Party as the party favored by African Americans. This status would last for 64 years .

The political about-face that began in 1927 had three major players: Robert Moton, Herbert Hoover and the Mississippi River.

Then, Moton was considered the most powerful black person in America. He was a man of conservative views and methods who believed the way to increase the status of American blacks was through honorable behavior – not radical action.

In 1921, Herbert Hoover was appointed U.S. Secretary of Commerce. His management of refugee crises during World War I had earned him great fame in America as a humanitarian. He was elected president in 1928.

The flood itself was the biggest player. In 1926 excessive rainfall in the central basin of the Mississippi was swelling the river. By Christmas of 1926, tributaries of the Mississippi were full. In the summer of 1927, the river broke 145 levees, flooded 27,000 square miles, destroyed 130,000 homes, drove over 700,000 people from their homes and killed 246. It was 60 miles wide in some places.

Relief activity was managed and controlled by Hoover —154 refugee camps were built and maintained by the Red Cross in 10 states. Most refugees were tenant farmers and about three quarters were black. Black laborers were conscripted at gunpoint from those camps to work on flood control. Most conscripts were not paid. Black and white news outlets began to make allegations of mistreatment of black laborers. At least one black man was killed when he refused conscription. As the National Guard was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the disaster, the conscriptions were justified in terms of public and national defense.

Hoover feared scandal, which could harm his presidential ambitions. He enlisted Robert Moton and formed the Colored Advisory Commission which was headed by Moton and staffed by blacks. The Commission found deplorable conditions and abuse. The Red Cross, National Guard and other groups participating in the relief effort were seen as offenders. Hoover requested that the Commission’s report not be made public. In exchange, he hinted that there would be reparations should he be elected president and implied that he would enable black participation in his government. Neither happened.

Eventually the findings were made public. Moton switched to the Democratic party by 1932. He influenced other Blacks to do likewise. Dozens of Blues songs were written about the Flood. Overtly political statements in such songs were avoided. Black musicians feared lynching for writing or singing songs unfavorable to a white person.

By the 1930’s the Republican Party had become the party of hands-off, laissez faire, and states rights. The Democratic Party, with the exception of the southern wing, had become the party of pro-active government and Federalism. Blacks in great numbers and great percentages turned from the party of Lincoln to the party of Franklin Roosevelt.

Like the Kantō earthquake the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 had a sweeping effect. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of our country.

No pun intended, but 1927 was a watershed for the Republican Party. Other watersheds have occurred and will again.

This is one of the most well documented issues available by Internet research. There is a vast wealth of information on the flood. Cross-checking of various sources did not reveal many contradictions.

Tim Johnson is a computer programmer who lives in Palmer and is owner of AKWebsoft. Read more at TJ49.com.