What were some of Senator Francis Newlands' societal perspectives and legislative accomplishments?
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Francis Newland was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives between 1893-1903 and also served as U.S. Senator from 1903-1917. During his tenure in the Congress Senator Newlands was responsible for the following legislative accomplishments:
1. He drafted the resolution to annex the territory of Hawaii
2. He was the primary representative to introduce the Newlands Reclamation Bill which became law in 1902. The Newlands Reclamation Act alloted federal funding for a series of irrigation projects throughout the western United States.
3. Selected by the Commerce Committee to be part of the subcommittee to investigate the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
The societal endeavors of Senator Newlands began before his Congressional career with the creation of the Chevy Chase Land company in the late 1800's. The purpose of the company was to create a suburb outside of Washington D.C. However, the development of the suburb was intended to reflect his racist point of view. The company prohibited certain groups of people based upon their race and religion from living in the community. Moreover, his racist agenda would dominate his 1912 presidential campaign. He ran on a platform that included immigration restrictions and to disenfranchise black men from economic opportunity.
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