Foreign countries abound with his agents. You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. Question 4 60 seconds Q. Carrie Chapman uses the words of which historical men to persuade to congress to allow women to vote? 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? mobilize voters with a declining sense of internal political efficacy. 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? Man is the only government-making animal in the world. Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. beware what you do. "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" Contributor Names Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 Created / Published January-April 1881 Subject Headings - Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 . Write an essay in which you argue which claims represent the strongest support for ensuring African Americans' right to vote. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with something more familiar. 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. 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. This ends the case. <> Douglass, F. (1881) 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. 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. 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. beware of what you do. 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. These sable millions are too powerful to be allowed to remain either indifferent or discontented. In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. 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. 1881. 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. It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. the repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. The ploughshare of rebellion has gone through the land beam-deep. Was not the nation stronger when two hundred thousand sable soldiers were hurled against the Rebel fortifications, than it would have been without them? All this and more is true of these loyal negroes. 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. They are able, vigilant, devoted. Statesmen of America! (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906--Correspondence, - 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. 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. 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. 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? The new wine must be put into new bottles. 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. By the 1890s Douglass, aging and in ill health but still out on the lecture circuit . It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. Manuscripts, - Masses of men can take care of themselves. 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. They are able, vigilant, devoted. 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? But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? It early mastered the Constitution, became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself above the law. History is said to repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may want him again. Masses of men can take care of themselves. . answer choices Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln George Washington Woodrow Wilson Question 5 Review Us. 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. Statesmen of America! It is true that they came to the relief of the country at the hour of its extremest need. 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. Statesmen, beware what you do. The Black Scholar 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. 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. The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. 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. The soil is in readiness, and the seedtime has come. 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. Is not Austria wise in removing all ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? The last and shrewdest turn of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity of getting into Congress immediately, and at any price. Library of Congress; Frederick Douglass Speeches, Debates, and Interviews Vol 1 (1841-1846) ed. Loyalty is hardly safe with traitors. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Look across the sea. Man is the only government-making animal in the world. It is true that they came to the relief of the country at the hour of its extremest need. 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 Your donation is fully tax-deductible. So Just, Speeches on Social Justice, available at: http://www.sojust.net/speeches/frederickdouglas_appeal.html. But upon none of these things is reliance placed. beware what you do. A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. National interest and national duty, if elsewhere separated, are firmly united here. endobj Here they are, four millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the urgent necessities of the case. The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. Douglass, Lewis, 1840-1908--Correspondence, - Wells-Barnett, Ida B., 1862-1931--Correspondence, - You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. 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. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. My Escape from Slavery. Is the existence of a rebellious element in our borders--which 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 sword--a reason for leaving four millions of the nation's truest friends with just cause of complaint against the Federal government? It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. 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. 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. It is a measure of relief,a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. 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. <> Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . 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. 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? 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. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site. 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. The South fought for perfect and permanent control over the Southern laborer. Anthony, Susan B. If these bless them, they are blest indeed; but if these blast them, they are blasted indeed. 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. From "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" Which best describes Douglass's main purpose? 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. 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. They are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. It is to save the people of the South from themselves, and the nation from detriment on their account. LC copy formerly part of YA Collection: YA 15708. The fundamental and unanswerable argument in favor of the enfranchisement of the negro is found in the undisputed fact of his manhood. 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? For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. Sitemap. 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. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. 'Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows 2010:08:10 15:03:38 & | &( . It early mastered the Constitution, became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself above the law. Strong as we are, we need the energy that slumbers in the black mans arm to make us stronger. Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. The answers to these questions are too obvious to require statement. For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. 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. 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. endobj The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. It was a war of the rich against the poor. Weve gathered dozens of the most important pieces from our archives on race and racism in America. JFIF H H Exif MM * b j( 1 r2 i Manuscript/Mixed Material. 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