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? Go here for more about FrederickDouglass' Appeal toCongress for ImpartialSuffrage. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. 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. United States, series: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846-1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881-1887. 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. They are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874--Correspondence, - Douglass, Anna Murray, -1882, - Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided nation. Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by national dispositions and tendencies. 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. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. 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? Oak Ridge High School 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike Oak Ridge, TN 37830. 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. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. From "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" Which best describes Douglass's main purpose? The answers to these questions are too obvious to require statement. We want the cheerful activity of the quickened manhood of these sable millions. 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? Credit Line: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress, More about Copyright and other Restrictions. The South fought for perfect and permanent control over the Southern laborer. 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. 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. 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? Douglass, Frederick. The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. the repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. endobj In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. The South fought for perfect and permanent control over the Southern laborer. It must cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to rule the South. Directions. It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. 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 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. 20072023 Blackpast.org. The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. It is a measure of relief,--a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. The answers to these questions are too obvious to require statement. Webb family--Correspondence, - In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. But upon none of these things is reliance placed. Look across the sea. 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. Douglass, Helen, 1838-1903. 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? 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. ' You have read "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" by Frederick Douglass and "Our God Is Marching On" by Martin Luther King, Jr., two speeches about voting rights for African Americans. 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. Frederick Douglass Papers: Speech, Article, and Book File, -1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881 to 1887; "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," 1881. 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. History is said to repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may want him again. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. Their history is parallel to that of the country; but while the history of the latter has been cheerful and bright with blessings, theirs has been heavy and dark with agonies and curses. Bassett, Ebenezer D., 1833-1908--Correspondence, - Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. Caption title. 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. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Statesmen of America! Question 4 60 seconds Q. Carrie Chapman uses the words of which historical men to persuade to congress to allow women to vote? It early mastered the Constitution, became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself above the law. (1867) Frederick Douglass, "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. % Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as 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. , or . Douglass, Lewis, 1840-1908--Correspondence, - https://www.loc.gov/item/mss1187900602/. For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. Helen Douglass papers, - As a nation, we cannot afford to have amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense of wrong. 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. Man . 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. What, then, is the work before Congress? How do the following sentences from paragraph 7 fit into the logic of Douglass's appeal? . 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. In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. 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. African American newspapers--New York (State)--Rochester, - The contents of The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress are in the public domain and are free to use and reuse. Sitemap. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. We have thus far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, victory without peace. Hardships, services, sufferings, and sacrifices are all waived. 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. 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. As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906--Correspondence, - Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? My Escape from Slavery. All this and more is true of these loyal negroes. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. 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. Page 1 of "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" 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. 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. 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. History is said to repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may want him again. Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? Which of the following sentences from the essay "An - Physics - Kunduz The Rebel States have still an anti-national policy. Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. Read the next essay; 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. King Cotton is deposed, but only deposed, and is ready to-day to reassert all his ancient pretensions upon the first favorable opportunity.
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