For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. 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. 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? Was not the nation stronger when two hundred thousand sable soldiers were hurled against the Rebel fortifications, than it would have been without them? What O'Connell said of the history of Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negro's. We want no longer any heavy- footed, melancholy service from the negro. 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. 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. The Rebel States have still an anti-national policy. Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. 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. "Frederick Douglass (African American abolitionist and civil right 's leader), "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," January 1867". 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. 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. Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided nation. Statesmen, beware what you do. Man is the only government-making animal in the world. 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. endobj It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. beware what you do. The first primary source on Frederick Douglass. It early mastered the Constitution, became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself above the law. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. Also, this shows us that American is formed from different race and also different culture that 's what make the US. Weve gathered dozens of the most important pieces from our archives on race and racism in America. Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? Antimetabole. 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. 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. The text argues that the central problem of the parties today is how to. 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. Review Us. 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. Look across the sea. 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. 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. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. Sprague, Rosetta Douglass--Correspondence, - The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. the members of congress. Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided nation. 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. 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 Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898--Correspondence, - Can that statesmanship be wise which would leave the negro good ground to hesitate, when the exigencies of the country required his prompt assistance? African Americans--Washington (D.C.), - 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. 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. Abolitionists, - 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. 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? The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. 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. 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. 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 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. The Black Scholar It is nothing against this reasoning that all men who vote are not good men or good citizens. the repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. Collapse All | Expand All An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage Frederick Douglass Atlantic Monthly January 1867 An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage Request Permissions. These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. 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. For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. 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. 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. Source: Source unknown. The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. answer choices Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln George Washington Woodrow Wilson Question 5 Hardships, services, sufferings, and sacrifices are all waived. 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. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. 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. 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. 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 a measure of relief,a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. 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. End of preview Upload your study docs or become a member. You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or its malign purposes. Caption title. It is a measure of relief,--a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. 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. Oak Ridge High School 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike Oak Ridge, TN 37830. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. 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. 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? , or . It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. Arming the negro was an urgent military necessity three years ago, are we sure that another quite as pressing may not await us? 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.
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