In less than 9 months in 1889 into 1890, Congress admitted six new states to the Union.

The politics of that outburst of statehood aren't just interesting history. It suggests a way forward for Democrats grappling with the current obstacles to retaking the Senate. THREAD 1/n

Briefly, federal efforts at Reconstruction (which had succeeded to varying degrees across ex-Confederate states during military occupation) ended with the political compromise over the disputed 1876 Tilden-Hayes presidential election (see Foner 1988 Holt 2008) 2/18

In exchange for Republican Hayes getting the presidency, he and congressional Republicans agreed to roll back measures actively protecting the rights of freed African-Americans in the south. 3/18

Over the next several presidential and midterm elections, Republicans grew resentful that (pro-slavery, anti-Reconstruction) Democrats in the south "weighted" their votes with blacks who were terrorized, intimidated, and legally barred from voting 4/18

In other words, southern states had x Electoral Votes, but that number was based on total population. Much of that population - black males, in addition to all women - couldn't vote. 5/18

In essence the sentiment among (northern, liberal) Republicans was that a southern white man's vote had double the weight of non-southerners. 6/18

Today, some people on the left have begun making the same argument regarding the Senate as the population imbalance between large and small states grows. 7/18 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/28/by-2040-two-thirds-of-americans-will-be-represented-by-30-percent-of-the-senate/?utm_term=.56a136ad45d8

Reapportioning the Senate is a non-starter. It requires a constitutional amendment that hasn't a chance in hell of passing. Why would smaller states ratify it? 8/18

Instead, look at what the northern Republicans did in the 1880s. Recognizing the former Confederacy with its solid Democratic hold on power was exercising an effective veto on congressional politics, they seized an opportunity to level the playing field 9/18

The vast west was finally reachable by railroad and was being populated with white settlers (who, of course, displaced native inhabitants. This was by design.) Many were given free or nearly free Homestead land. 10/18

Business interests, as well as the Army and the federal government overall, saw advantages to granting statehood to western territories. Supported by the Eastern establishment, Republicans granted statehood to: 11/18

ND, SD, MT, WA, ID, and WY. All between 11-2-1889 and 7-10-1890. This added 12 members to the Senate, all in the heavily Republican-leaning west. This altered the balance of Senate power, and was crucial in helping pass some of the Progressive Era reforms shortly after. 12/18

Incidentally, Utah followed in 1896. It missed the initial party because the territory and LDS had not yet eliminated polygamy. Once the territorial legislature (and LDS) came out against it, UT achieved statehood. 13/18

So who cares, right?

Well, the Senate problem isn't going away. Some states are growing rapidly in population and becoming effectively mega-states. 22% - !!!! - of all Americans right now live in TX or CA. One in five! 14/18

States that lose population to the coasts and big cities will (probably, but not certainly) become harder for Democrats to win. Reapportioning the Senate is not happening. Instead... 15/18

A left/liberal agenda moving forward has to push DC and Puerto Rico statehood. Will it happen quickly? No! Will it have enormous support at first? No! But it must become part of the agenda now to succeed in the long term. 16/18

There is historical precedent. Once we get past the idea that it "seems crazy" there's 0 reason not to pursue it. @ryanlcooper and others have written about this already 17/18 https://theweek.com/articles/772497/straightforward-path-democratic-dominance

DC and PR have larger populations than some states. For future statehood, the conversation has to start now. If we can have a 100-member Senate we can have a 104-member Senate. (FIN)