How do the following sentences from paragraph 7 fit into the logic of Douglass's appeal? It is plain that, if the right belongs to any, it belongs to all. Three years later, the . Nor can we afford to endure the moral blight which the existence of a degraded and hated class must necessarily inflict upon any people among whom such a class may exist. The principle of slavery, which they tolerated under the erroneous impression that it would soon die out, became at last the dominant principle and power at the South. It is true that they came to the relief of the country at the hour of its extremest need. And does not the Emperor of Russia act wisely, as well as generously, when he not only breaks up the bondage of the serf, but extends him all the advantages of Russian citizenship? Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by national dispositions and tendencies. Richardson family--Correspondence, - Oak Ridge High School 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage Frederick Douglass. (1957) Roy Wilkins, The Clock Will Not Be Turned Back, African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. What is common to all works no special sense of degradation to any. Can that be sound statesmanship which leaves millions of men in gloomy discontent, and possibly in a state of alienation in the day of national trouble? For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. His right to a participation in the production and operation of government is an inference from his nature, as direct and self-evident as is his right to acquire property or education. These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. But this mark of inferiorityall the more palpable because of a difference of colornot only dooms the negro to be a vagabond, but makes him the prey of insult and outrage everywhere. Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. But of this let nothing be said in this place. In a word, it must enfranchise the negro, and by means of the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build up a national party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North and South, so that our country may have a common liberty and a common civilization. Does any sane man doubt for a moment that the men who followed Jefferson Davis through the late terrible Rebellion, often marching barefooted and hungry, naked and penniless, and who now only profess an enforced loyalty, would plunge this country into a foreign war to-day, if they could thereby gain their coveted independence, and their still more coveted mastery over the negroes? Casting aside all thought of justice and magnanimity, is it wise to impose upon the negro all the burdens involved in sustaining government against foes within and foes without, to make him equal sharer in all sacrifices for the public good, to tax him in peace and conscript him in war, and then coldly exclude him from the ballot-box? Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. The new wine must be put into new bottles. The last and shrewdest turn of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity of getting into Congress immediately, and at any price. The work of destruction has already been set in motion all over the South. The result is a war of races, and the annihilation of all proper human relations. What OConnell said of the history of Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negros. Look across the sea. A. to ask that African Americans be permitted to be members of Congress B. to warn that southern states are planning for a second rebellion C. to persuade Congress to extend voting rights to freed slaves Can that be sound statesmanship which leaves millions of men in gloomy discontent, and possibly in a state of alienation in the day of national trouble? A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. It must cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to rule the South. The Rebel States have still an anti-national policy. The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. Douglass, Joseph H. (Joseph Henry), 1871-1935, - Statesmen, beware what you do. Foreign countries abound with his agents. It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to the national sense of honor. Foreign countries abound with his agents. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mss1187900602/. These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. There is something immeasurably mean, to say nothing of the cruelty, in placing the loyal negroes of the South under the political power of their Rebel masters. Credit Line: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress, More about Copyright and other Restrictions. Women's rights, - Masses of men can take care of themselves. In a word, it must enfranchise the negro, and by means of the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build till a national party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North and South, so that our country may have a common liberty and a common civilization. 30 seconds. If the doctrine that taxation should go hand in hand with representation can be appealed to in behalf of recent traitors and rebels, may it not properly be asserted in behalf of a people who have ever been loyal and faithful to the government? It will swallow all the unconstitutional test oaths, repeal all the ordinances of Secession, repudiate the Rebel debt, promise to pay the debt incurred in conquering its people, pass all the constitutional amendments, if only it can have the negro left under its political control. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . Men are so constituted that they largely derive their ideas of their abilities and their possibilities from the settled judgments of their fellow-men, and especially from such as they read in the institutions under which they live. answer choices the president of the United States. The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. Weve gathered dozens of the most important pieces from our archives on race and racism in America. A very limited statement of the argument for impartial suffrage, and for including the negro in the body politic, would require more space than can be reasonably asked here. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is in your hands. They are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. A very limited statement of the argument for impartial suffrage, and for including the negro in the body politic, would require more space than can be reasonably asked here. Enfranchise them, and they become self-respecting and country-loving citizens. Strong as we are, we need the energy that slumbers in the black mans arm to make us stronger. The proposition is as modest as that made on the mountain: "All these things will I give unto thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.". A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. endobj We want no longer any heavy- footed, melancholy service from the negro. But this mark of inferiority--all the more palpable because of a difference of color--not only dooms the negro to be a vagabond, but makes him the prey of insult and outrage everywhere. It was a war of the rich against the poor. "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" in The Atlantic Monthly, 19 (January, 1867) Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln (1876) My Escape from Slavery (1881) . or will you profit by the blood-bought wisdom all round you, and forever expel every vestige of the old abomination from our national borders? Under the potent shield of State Rights, the game would be in their own hands. Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? Can that be sound statesmanship which leaves millions of men in gloomy discontent, and possibly in a state of alienation in the day of national trouble? To make peace with our enemies is all well enough; but to prefer our enemies and sacrifice our friends,to exalt our enemies and cast down our friends,to clothe our enemies, who sought the destruction of the government, with all political power, and leave our friends powerless in their hands,is an act which need not be characterized here. SURVEY. Peace to the country has literally meant war to the loyal men of the South, white and black; and negro suffrage is the measure to arrest and put an end to that dreadful strife. If black men have no rights in the eyes of white men, of course the whites can have none in the eyes of the blacks. His right to a participation in the production and operation of government is an inference from his nature, as direct and self-evident as is his right to acquire property or education. To appreciate the full force of this argument, it must be observed, that disfranchisement in a republican government based upon the idea of human equality and universal suffrage, is a very different thing from disfranchisement in governments based upon the idea of the divine right of kings, or the entire subjugation of the masses. His address, given in January 1867 in Washington, D.C., during the Congressional debate on black Read More(1867) Frederick Douglass, "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" 104 104. History is said to repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may want him again. % While nothing may be urged here as to the past services of the negro, it is quite within the line of this appeal to remind the nation of the possibility that a time may come when the services of the negro may be a second time required. If these bless them, they are blest indeed; but if these blast them, they are blasted indeed. They fought the government, not because they hated the government as such, but because they found it, as they thought, in the way between them and their one grand purpose of rendering permanent and indestructible their authority and power over the Southern laborer. Many daring exploits will be told to their credit. As a nation, we cannot afford to have amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense of wrong. Does any sane man doubt for a moment that the men who followed Jefferson Davis through the late terrible Rebellion, often marching barefooted and hungry, naked and penniless, and who now only profess an enforced loyalty, would plunge this country into a foreign war to-day, if they could thereby gain their coveted independence, and their still more coveted mastery over the negroes? The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. Helen Douglass papers, - The hope of gaining by politics what they lost by the sword, is the secret of all this Southern unrest; and that hope must be extinguished before national ideas and objects can take full possession of the Southern mind. 1881. The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874--Correspondence, - While nothing may be urged here as to the past services of the negro, it is quite within the line of this appeal to remind the nation of the possibility that a time may come when the services of the negro may be a second time required. 1 0 obj Slaves--Emancipation, - Exclude the negroes as a class from political rightsteach them that the high and manly privilege of suffrage is to be enjoyed by white citizens only, that they may bear the burdens of the state, but that they are to have no part in its direction or its honors, and you at once deprive them of one of the main incentives to manly character and patriotic devotion to the interests of the government; in a word, you stamp them as a degraded caste, you teach them to despise themselves, and all others to despise them. Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898--Correspondence, - They are able, vigilant, devoted. ----, "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," (January 1867). 3 !1AQa"q2B#$Rb34rC%Scs5&DTdEt6UeuF'Vfv7GWgw 5 !1AQaq"2B#R3$brCScs4%&5DTdEU6teuFVfv'7GWgw ? It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. It is to save the people of the South from themselves, and the nation from detriment on their account. Though the battle is for the present lost, the hope of gaining this object still exists, and pervades the whole South with a feverish excitement. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or its malign purposes. Something then, not by way of argument, (for that has been done by Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Wendell Phillips, Gerrit Smith, and other able men,) but rather of statement and appeal. In a word, it must enfranchise the negro, and by means of the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build up a national party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North and South, so that our country may have a common liberty and a common civilization. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906--Correspondence, - It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. King Cotton is deposed, but only deposed, and is ready to-day to reassert all his ancient pretensions upon the first favorable opportunity. All this and more is true of these loyal negroes. <> mobilize voters with a declining sense of internal political efficacy. win the trust of an increasingly mistrustful electorate. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Douglass, Anna Murray, -1882, - An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage by Frederick Douglass An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage was published in the Atlantic Monthly, Issue 19, January 1867, pp. By the 1890s Douglass, aging and in ill health but still out on the lecture circuit . Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. Assing, Ottilie--Correspondence, - Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. There is something immeasurably mean, to say nothing of the cruelty, in placing the loyal negroes of the South under the political power of their Rebel masters. Nor can we afford to endure the moral blight which the existence of a degraded and hated class must necessarily inflict upon any people among whom such a class may exist. Read the next essay; %PDF-1.4 But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? My Escape from Slavery. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is in your hands.. Page includes two illustrations showing African Americans celebrating the abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C. and portrait of Henry A. Smythe, newly appointed Collector of Customs of New York; also includes articles http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/ms000009.mss11879.00602, View Frederick Douglass Papers Finding Aid, Frederick Douglass Papers: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846 to 1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881 to 1887, Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress. It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. The American people can, perhaps, afford to brave the censure of surrounding nations for the manifest injustice and meanness of excluding its faithful black soldiers from the ballot-box, but it cannot afford to allow the moral and mental energies of rapidly increasing millions to be consigned to hopeless degradation. The American people can, perhaps, afford to brave the censure of surrounding nations for the manifest injustice and meanness of excluding its faithful black soldiers from the ballot-box, but it cannot afford to allow the moral and mental energies of rapidly increasing millions to be consigned to hopeless degradation. Douglass, Frederick. This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society.
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