The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. Manuscript/Mixed Material. "Frederick Douglass (African American abolitionist and civil right 's leader), "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," January 1867". Is Ireland, in her present condition, fretful, discontented, compelled to support an establishment in which she does not believe, and which the vast majority of her people abhor, a source of power or of weakness to Great Britain? These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. 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. As a nation, we cannot afford to have amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense of wrong. 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? 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? Strong as we are, we need the energy that slumbers in the black man's arm to make us stronger. A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. 5 0 obj 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. Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. win the trust of an increasingly mistrustful electorate. 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? We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or its malign purposes. The ploughshare of rebellion has gone through the land beam-deep. They are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. What, then, is the work before Congress? For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. Civil rights, - Hardships, services, sufferings, and sacrifices are all waived. For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. It will tell how these poor people, whose rights we still despised, behaved to our wounded soldiers, when found cold, hungry, and bleeding on the deserted battle-field; how they assisted our escaping prisoners from Andersonville, Belle Isle, Castle Thunder, and elsewhere, sharing with them their wretched crusts, and otherwise affording them aid and comfort; how they promptly responded to the trumpet call for their services, fighting against a foe that denied them the rights of civilized warfare, and for a government which was without the courage to assert those rights and avenge their violation in their behalf; with what gallantry they flung themselves upon Rebel fortifications, meeting death as fearlessly as any other troops in the service. 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. It will tell how they forded and swam rivers, with what consummate address they evaded the sharp-eyed Rebel pickets, how they toiled in the darkness of night through the tangled marshes of briers and thorns, barefooted and weary, running the risk of losing their lives, to warn our generals of Rebel schemes to surprise and destroy our loyal army. Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided nation. The Black Scholar All this and more is true of these loyal negroes. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is in your hands. You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. Draz, Rosine Ame--Correspondence, - It is plain that, if the right belongs to any, it belongs to all. 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. The last and shrewdest turn of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity of getting into Congress immediately, and at any price. What does the following sentence from the essay An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage by Frederick Douglas depict Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country It will tell how they forded and swam rivers with what consummate address they evaded the sharp eyed Rebel pickets how they toiled in the darkness of Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898--Correspondence, - Disfranchise them, and the mark of Cain is set upon them less mercifully than upon the first murderer, for no man was to hurt him. The answer plainly is, they see in this policy the only hope of saving something of their old sectional peculiarities and power. Under the potent shield of State Rights, the game would be in their own hands. 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. Many daring exploits will be told to their credit. Women's rights, - It is nothing against this reasoning that all men who vote are not good men or good citizens. We want no longer any heavy-footed, melancholy service from the negro. Orators, - The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. The South does not now ask for slavery. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Massachusetts and South Carolina may draw tears from the eyes of our tender-hearted President by walking arm in arm into his Philadelphia Convention, but a citizen of Massachusetts is still an alien in the Palmetto State. We want the cheerful activity of the quickened manhood of these sable millions. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. All this and more is true of these loyal negroes. Credit Line: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress, More about Copyright and other Restrictions. Request Permissions. For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. It is no less a crime against the manhood of a man, to declare that he shall not share in the making and directing of the government under which he lives, than to say that he shall not acquire property and education. % But no such appeal shall be relied on here. Waiving humanity, national honor, the claims of gratitude, the precious satisfaction arising from deeds of charity and justice to the weak and defenceless,--the appeal for impartial suffrage addresses itself with great pertinency to the darkest, coldest, and flintiest side of the human heart, and would wring righteousness from the unfeeling calculations of human selfishness. It is a measure of relief,a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. Foreign countries abound with his agents. ----, "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," (January 1867). For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions . It is nothing against this reasoning that all men who vote are not good men or good citizens. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is in your hands." By Frederick Douglass AP January 1867 Issue Saved. The enfranchisement of an African American man is his manhood, and that the idea ofsome men getting rights and others don't is something that must be relinquished. Men are so constituted that they largely derive their ideas of their abilities and their possibilities from the settled judgements of their fellow-men, and especially from such as they read in the institutions under which they live. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. It is plain that, if the right belongs to any, it belongs to all. Sitemap. Douglass, Anna Murray, -1882, - 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. 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. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage by Frederick Douglass A very limited statement of the argu-ment for impartial suffrage, and for including the negro in the body politic, would require more space than can be reasonably asked here. Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by national dispositions and tendencies. It may be traced like a wounded man through a crowd, by the blood. Yet the negroes have marvelously survived all the exterminating forces of slavery, and have emerged at the end of two hundred and fifty years of bondage, not morose, misanthropic, and revengeful, but cheerful, hopeful, and forgiving. 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? 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. How do the following sentences from paragraph 7 fit into the logic of Douglass's appeal? Image 1 of Frederick Douglass Papers: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846-1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881-1887; "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," 1881. It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. Frederick Douglass Papers: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846-1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Union and liberty : powers of Congress in relation to the slaves, with a form of Celebration of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the colored people, in Frederick Douglass Papers: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846-1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881-1887; "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," 1881, - United States--Politics and government--19th century, - We asked the negroes to espouse our cause, to be our friends, to fight for us, and against their masters; and now, after they have done all that we asked them to do,helped us to conquer their masters, and thereby directed toward themselves the furious hate of the vanquished,it is proposed in some quarters to turn them over to the political control of the common enemy of the government and of the negro. But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the urgent necessities of the case. 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. For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. Anthony, Susan B. Was not the nation stronger when two hundred thousand sable soldiers were hurled against the Rebel fortifications, than it would have been without them? The new wine must be put into new bottles. What OConnell said of the history of Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negros. Exclude the negroes as a class from political rights,--teach 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. Is the present movement in England in favor of manhood suffragefor the purpose of bringing four millions of British subjects into full sympathy and co-operation with the British governmenta wise and humane movement, or otherwise? It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to the national sense of honor. Question 4 60 seconds Q. Carrie Chapman uses the words of which historical men to persuade to congress to allow women to vote? United States, series: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846-1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881-1887. Manuscripts, - Look across the sea. It is true that, notwithstanding their alleged ignorance, they were wiser than their masters, and knew enough to be loyal, while those masters only knew enough to be rebels and traitors. An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage NOT COMPLAINING OF THE PAST, SIMPLY ASKING FOR A BETTER FUTURE An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage Go here for more about Frederick Douglass. There is but one safe and constitutional way to banish that mischievous hope from the South, and that is by lifting the laborer beyond the unfriendly political designs of his former master. 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. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. They now stand before Congress and the country, not complaining of the past, but simply asking for a better future. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. Waiving humanity, national honor, the claims of gratitude, the precious satisfaction arising from deeds of charity and justice to the weak and defenceless,the appeal for impartial suffrage addresses itself with great pertinency to the darkest, coldest, and flintiest side of the human heart, and would wring righteousness from the unfeeling calculations of human selfishness. But no such appeal shall be relied on here. 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. The ploughshare of rebellion has gone through the land beam-deep. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. Douglass, Frederick. We have thus far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, victory without peace. The doctrine that some men have no rights that others are bound to respect, is a doctrine which we must banish as we have banished slavery, from which it emanated. It is a measure of relief, a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. They now stand before Congress and the country, not complaining of the past, but simply asking for a better future. His address, given in January 1867 in Washington, D.C., during the Congressional debate on black male voting in the territories, appears below. African Americans--Washington (D.C.), - Building on two centuries' experience, Taylor & Francis has grown rapidlyover the last two decades to become a leading international academic publisher.The Group publishes over 800 journals and over 1,800 new books each year, coveringa wide variety of subject areas and incorporating the journal imprints of Routledge,Carfax, Spon Press, Psychology Press, Martin Dunitz, and Taylor & Francis.Taylor & Francis is fully committed to the publication and dissemination of scholarly information of the highest quality, and today this remains the primary goal. The doctrine that some men have no rights that others are bound to respect, is a doctrine which we must banish as we have banished slavery, from which it emanated. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage Frederick Douglass. Citizenship Paper. Caption title. SURVEY. But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? These sable millions are too powerful to be allowed to remain either indifferent or discontented. The answers to these questions are too obvious to require statement. Freedom of speech and of the press it slowly but successfully banished from the South, dictated its own code of honor and manners to the nation, brandished the bludgeon and the bowie-knife over Congressional debate, sapped the foundations of loyalty, dried up the springs of patriotism, blotted out the testimonies of the fathers against oppression, padlocked the pulpit, expelled liberty from its literature, invented nonsensical theories about master-races and slave-races of men, and in due season produced a Rebellion fierce, foul, and bloody. Find an answer to your question Language Development: Convention and Style-from "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," Frederick Douglass I need this pl NarminZan20 NarminZan20 01/07/2021 Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Weve gathered dozens of the most important pieces from our archives on race and racism in America. Arming the negro was an urgent military necessity three years ago,--are we sure that another quite as pressing may not await us? All Rights Reserved. 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. It is enough that the possession and exercise of the elective franchise is in itself an appeal to the nobler elements of manhood, and imposes education as essential to the safety of society. It is impossible at this point in time to rid African Americans from the country.2. They who waged it had no objection to the government, while they could use it as a means of confirming their power over the laborer. Abolitionists, - 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. Yet the negroes have marvellously survived all the exterminating forces of slavery, and have emerged at the end of two hundred and fifty years of bondage, not morose, misanthropic, and revengeful, but cheerful, hopeful, and forgiving. Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? Freedom of speech and of the press it slowly but successfully banished from the South, dictated its own code of honor and manners to the nation, brandished the bludgeon and the bowie-knife over Congressional debate, sapped the foundations of loyalty, dried up the springs of patriotism, blotted out the testimonies of the fathers against oppression, padlocked the pulpit, expelled liberty from its literature, invented nonsensical theories about master-races and slave-races of men, and in due season produced a Rebellion fierce, foul, and bloody. The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. Foreign countries abound with his agents. Can that statesmanship be wise which would leave the negro good ground to hesitate, when the exigencies of the country required his prompt assistance? 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. Wagoner, Henry O.--Correspondence, - African American Pamphlet Collection (Library of Congress). Loyalty is hardly safe with traitors. 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? This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. Is the present movement in England in favor of manhood suffrage--for the purpose of bringing four millions of British subjects into full sympathy and co-operation with the British government--a wise and humane movement, or otherwise? We want the cheerful activity of the quickened manhood of these sable millions. The work of destruction has already been set in motion all over the South. Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by national dispositions and tendencies. JFIF H H Exif MM * b j( 1 r2 i Can that statesmanship be wise which would leave the negro good ground to hesitate, when the exigencies of the country required his prompt assistance? The new wine must be put into new bottles. Founded in 1969 and hailed by The New York Times as a journal in which the writings of many of todays finest black thinkers may be viewed, THE BLACK SCHOLAR has firmly established itself as the leading journal of black cultural and political thought in the United States and remains under the editorship of Robert Chrisman, Editor-In-Chief, Robert Allen, Senior Editor, and Maize Woodford, Executive Editor. The Rebel States have still an anti-national policy. African American newspapers--New York (State)--Rochester, - By the 1890s Douglass, aging and in ill health but still out on the lecture circuit . The text argues that the central problem of the parties today is how to. It must cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to rule the South. 1 0 obj Waiving humanity, national honor, the claims of gratitude, the precious satisfaction arising from deeds of charity and justice to the weak and defenseless, the appeal for impartial suffrage addresses itself with great pertinence to the darkest, coldest, and flintiest side of the human heart, and would wring righteousness from the unfeeling calculations of human selfishness. We have thus far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, victory without peace. An abolitionist, writer and orator Frederick Douglass was the most important black American leader of the nineteenth century. Hardships, services, sufferings, and sacrifices are all waived. What, then, is the work before Congress? A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. We want no longer any heavy- footed, melancholy service from the negro. It only asks for a large degraded caste, which shall have no political rights. Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the urgent necessities of the case. From "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" How does Douglass support his claim that African Americans have rendered a "score of past services" to the United States? beware what you do. Helen Douglass papers, - 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? Man is the only government-making animal in the world. Which of the following sentences from the essay "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" by Frederick Douglas indicates a claim by the writer? Massachusetts and South Carolina may draw tears from the eyes of our tender-hearted President by walking arm in arm into his Philadelphia Convention, but a citizen of Massachusetts is still an alien in the Palmetto State. King Cotton is deposed, but only deposed, and is ready to-day to reassert all his ancient pretensions upon the first favorable opportunity. Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. His right to a participation in the production and operation of government is in inference from his nature, as direct and self-evident as is his right to acquire property or education. Give the negro the elective franchise, and you at once destroy the purely sectional policy, and wheel the Southern States into line with national interests and national objects. The South fought for perfect and permanent control over the Southern laborer. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. Their history is parallel to that of the country; but while the history of the latter has been cheerful and bright with blessing, theirs has been heavy and dark with agonies and curses. Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. They who waged it had no objection to the government, while they could use it as a means of confirming their power over the laborer.
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