- 7. Mai 2023
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- Category: Allgemein
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. H H JFIF H H Adobe_CM Adobe d So Just, Speeches on Social Justice, available at: http://www.sojust.net/speeches/frederickdouglas_appeal.html. Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. Sprague, Rosetta Douglass--Correspondence, - Foreign countries abound with his agents. As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. 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? They are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. The spectacle of these dusky millions thus imploring, not demanding, is touching; and if American statesmen could be moved by a simple appeal to the nobler elements of human nature, if they had not fallen, seemingly, into the incurable habit of weighing and measuring every proposition of reform by some standard of profit and loss, doing wrong from choice, and right only from necessity or some urgent demand of human selfishness, it would be enough to plead for the negroes on the score of past services and sufferings. 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 is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. mobilize voters with a declining sense of internal political efficacy. The ploughshare of rebellion has gone through the land beam-deep. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or its malign purposes. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" Contributor Names Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 Created / Published January-April 1881 Subject Headings - Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 . 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? You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. Can that statesmanship be wise which would leave the negro good ground to hesitate, when the exigencies of the country required his prompt assistance? In its pages African American studies intellectuals, community activists, and national and international political leaders come to grips with basic issues confronting black America and Africa. All this and more is true of these loyal negroes. It is nothing against this reasoning that all men who vote are not good men or good citizens. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879--Correspondence, - 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? A small donation would help us keep this available to all. 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. It was a war of the rich against the poor. United States, series: Speech, Article, and Book File, 1846-1894; Speeches, Articles, and Other Writings Attributed to Frederick or Helen Pitts Douglass, 1881-1887. 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. 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. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or its malign purposes. Webb family--Correspondence, - 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. 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. 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. An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage "Statesmen, beware what you do. These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. Statesmen, beware what you do. It is plain that, if the right belongs to any, it belongs to all. Is not Austria wise in removing all ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? They now stand before Congress and the country, not complaining of the past, but simply asking for a better future. All Rights Reserved. Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. , or . It is plain that, if the right belongs to any, it belongs to all. Look across the sea. The last and shrewdest turn of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity of getting into Congress immediately, and at any price. As a nation, we cannot afford to have amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense of wrong. The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the urgent necessities of the case. o " A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. Masses of men can take care of themselves. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is in your hands. Frederick Douglass: An Appeal To Congress For Impartial Suffrage 753 Words | 4 Pages. The last and shrewdest turn of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity of getting into Congress immediately, and at any price. The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. beware what you do. 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. Find the collection. 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. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. The first primary source on Frederick Douglass. https://www.loc.gov/item/mss1187900602/. The spectacle of these dusky millions thus imploring, not demanding, is touching; and if American statesmen could be moved by a simple appeal to the nobler elements of human nature, if they had not fallen, seemingly, into the incurable habit of weighing and measuring every proposition of reform by some standard of profit and loss, doing wrong from choice, and right only from necessity or some urgent demand of human selfishness, it would be enough to plead for the negroes on the score of past services and sufferings. It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to the national sense of honor. 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. These sable millions are too powerful to be allowed to remain either indifferent or discontented. This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. 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. If these bless them, they are blest indeed; but if these blast them, they are blasted indeed. It is true that they came to the relief of the country at the hour of its extremest need. The soil is in readiness, and the seed-time has come. Do you find this information helpful? These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by national dispositions and tendencies. 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? 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 cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to rule the South. An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage Frederick Douglass. Many daring exploits will be told to their credit. 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. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. The young men of the South burn with the desire to regain what they call the lost cause; the women are noisily malignant towards the Federal government. Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. It early mastered the Constitution, became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself above the law.
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