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? Give the negro the elective franchise, and you give him at once a powerful motive for all noble exertion, and make him a man among men. Is not Austria wise in removing all ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? We want the cheerful activity of the quickened manhood of these sable millions. Question 4 60 seconds Q. Carrie Chapman uses the words of which historical men to persuade to congress to allow women to vote? "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage." Atlantic Monthly 19 (Jan. 1867): 112-117. National interest and national duty, if elsewhere separated, are firmly united here. From "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" - Brainly %PDF-1.4 The new wine must be put into new bottles. But no such appeal shall be relied on here. rhet terms Flashcards | Quizlet For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Douglass, Frederick. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. The South does not now ask for slavery. It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to the national sense of honor. 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. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. These sable millions are too powerful to be allowed to remain either indifferent or discontented. These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. All Rights Reserved. Wagoner, Henry O.--Correspondence, - 865-425-9601. Unit 3 Test: Selected and Short Response Flashcards | Quizlet 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? We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or its malign purposes. By the 1890s Douglass, aging and in ill health but still out on the lecture circuit . Man is the only government-making animal in the world. In a pair of Atlantic articles in 1866 and '67, Douglass addressed members of the 39th session of Congress, urging them to give black Americans the right to vote. Statesmen, beware what you do. History is said to repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may want him again. Source: Source unknown. 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. 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 Sprague, Rosetta Douglass--Correspondence, - This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site. 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. 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. 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 idea and objects can take full possession of the Southern mind. Once firmly seated in Congress, their alliance with Northern Democrats re-established, their States restored to their former position inside the Union, they can easily find means of keeping the Federal government entirely too busy with other important matters to pay much attention to the local affairs of the Southern States. History is said to repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may want him again. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Is not Austria wise in removing all ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? 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. Frederick Douglass Calls for Black Suffrage in 1866 - JSTOR 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. The South does not now ask for slavery. For in respect to this grand measure it is the good fortune of the negro that enlightened selfishness, not less than justice, fights on his side. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is in your hands. 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. But upon none of these things is reliance placed. It only asks for a large degraded caste, which shall have no political rights. Loyalty is hardly safe with traitors. 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. 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. Douglass, Frederick. Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874--Correspondence, - Do you find this information helpful? The fundamental and unanswerable argument in favor of the enfranchisement of the negro is found in the undisputed fact of his manhood. 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. 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. Antimetabole. Statesmen of America! PDF An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffr age - ortn.edu It is impossible at this point in time to rid African Americans from the country.2. An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage Frederick Douglass. The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. 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 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. It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. If these bless them, they are blest indeed; but if these blast them, they are blasted indeed. endobj Oak Ridge High School 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike Oak Ridge, TN 37830. 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. 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? % Loyalty is hardly safe with traitors. The Amistad Case (1841) The Weeping Time, March 3, 1859 Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage by Frederick Douglass (January 1867) These three primary source documents each deal with the decline of slavery in the United States. The new wine must be put into new bottles. There is that, all over the south, which frightens Yankee industry, capital, and skill from its borders. 3 0 obj Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. Give the negro the elective franchise, and you give him at once a powerful motive for all noble exertion, and make him a man among men. None of the choices The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. It is true that they fought side by side in the loyal cause with our gallant and patriotic white soldiers, and that, but for their help,divided as the loyal States were,the Rebels might have succeeded in breaking up the Union, thereby entailing border wars and troubles of unknown duration and incalculable calamity. 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. 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. The ploughshare of rebellion has gone through the land beam-deep. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. It may be traced like a wounded man through a crowd, by the blood. 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. What OConnell said of the history of Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negros. Assing, Ottilie--Correspondence, - "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) . by John W. Blassingame (transcription project) These sable millions are too powerful to be allowed to remain either indifferent or discontented. 112-117. Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by national dispositions and tendencies. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is in your hands." By Frederick Douglass AP January 1867 Issue Saved. Sitemap. 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 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. Webb family--Correspondence, - You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. The work of destruction has already been set in motion all over the South. Douglass, Joseph H. (Joseph Henry), 1871-1935, - The South fought for perfect and permanent control over the Southern laborer. 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. But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? They are able, vigilant, devoted. Wells-Barnett, Ida B., 1862-1931--Correspondence, - SURVEY. The Black Scholar beware what you do. 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. 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? It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. 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. Women's rights, - 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 is true that, in many of the rebellious States, they were almost the only reliable friends the nation had throughout the whole tremendous war. 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. They are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Hardships, services, sufferings, and sacrifices are all waived. 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.". Was not the nation stronger when two hundred thousand sable soldiers were hurled against the Rebel fortifications, than it would have been without them? Which of the following sentences from the essay "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" by Frederick Douglas indicates a claim by the writer? It is true that they came to the relief of the country at the hour of its extremest need. As a nation, we cannot afford to have amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense of wrong. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906--Correspondence, - 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.. Credit Line: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress, More about Copyright and other Restrictions. 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? It only asks for a large degraded caste, which shall have no political rights. Address to Congress on Women's Suffrage - Quizizz Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898--Correspondence, - Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? 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. 1881. A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. 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. United States--Politics and government--19th century, - . by noting that the economy has greatly benefited from African- Americans' labor . by citing the community improvements that have resulted from African-Americans' charitable activities But in a country like ours, where men of all nations, kindred, and tongues are freely enfranchised, and allowed to vote, to say to the negro, You shall not vote, is to deal his manhood a staggering blow, and to burn into his soul a bitter and goading sense of wrong, or else work in him a stupid indifference to all the elements of a manly character. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. It is true that they came to the relief of the country at the hour of its extremest need. An abolitionist, writer and orator Frederick Douglass was the most important black American leader of the nineteenth century. For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with something more familiar. 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. Four specific "thesis" ideas: 1. It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to the national sense of honor. Statesmen, beware what you do. But upon none of these things is reliance placed. Request Permissions. 1 0 obj You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. 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. As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. United States, series: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846-1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881-1887. From "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" - Brainly National interest and national duty, if elsewhere separated, are firmly united here. The answers to these questions are too obvious to require statement. In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. Go here for more about FrederickDouglass' Appeal toCongress for ImpartialSuffrage. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. It early mastered the Constitution, became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself above the law. The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. Is the existence of a rebellious element in our borderswhich New Orleans, Memphis, and Texas show to be only disarmed, but at heart as malignant as ever, only waiting for an opportunity to reassert itself with fire and sworda reason for leaving four millions of the nations truest friends with just cause of complaint against the Federal government? 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. But in a country like ours, where men of all nations, kindred, and tongues are freely enfranchised, and allowed to vote, to say to the negro, You shall not vote, is to deal his manhood a staggering blow, and to burn into his soul a bitter and goading sense of wrong, or else work in him a stupid indifference to all the elements of a manly character. But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the urgent necessities of the case. It was a war of the rich against the poor. 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.