You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. 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 Man is the only government-making animal in the world. 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. Was not the nation stronger when two hundred thousand sable soldiers were hurled against the Rebel fortifications, than it would have been without them? An abolitionist, writer and orator Frederick Douglass was the most important black American leader of the nineteenth century. 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 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. Orators, - 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. Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. Douglass, Frederick. 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. Abolitionists, - Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? 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. JFIF H H Exif MM * b j( 1 r2 i The soil is in readiness, and the seed-time has come. Do you find this information helpful? The Black Scholar To appreciate the full force of this argument, it must be observed, that disfranchisement in a republican government based upon the idea of human equality and universal suffrage, is a very different thing from disfranchisement in governments based upon the idea of the divine right of kings, or the entire subjugation of the masses. 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. 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. 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? , or . The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. 1881. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. The first primary source on Frederick Douglass. Antimetabole. A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. Foreign countries abound with his agents. 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. 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. 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. 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. But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? the repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. <> stream answer choices Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln George Washington Woodrow Wilson Question 5 The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. Directions. 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. What OConnell said of the history of Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negros. 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. If black men have no rights in the eyes of white men, of course the white can have none in the eyes of the blacks. Is not Austria wise in removing all ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? 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. There is that, all over the South, which frightens Yankee industry, capital, and skill from its borders. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or its malign purposes. We want no longer any heavy- footed, melancholy service from the negro. 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? 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. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray its allies. Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided nation. Man is the only government-making animal in the world. It is supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. What is common to all works no special sense of degradation to any. The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the ground. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. It was a war of the rich against the poor. 20072023 Blackpast.org. King Cotton is deposed, but only deposed, and is ready to-day to reassert all his ancient pretensions upon the first favorable opportunity. 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. Four specific "thesis" ideas: 1. 865-425-9601. These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. 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? Sitemap. Masses of men can take care of themselves. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. Statesmen of America! 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 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. 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. Something, too, might be said of national gratitude. 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 Many daring exploits will be told to their credit. But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? The new wine must be put into new bottles. Yet, as Douglass explains, citizenship has no meaning without the right to vote. % King Cotton is deposed, but only deposed, and is ready to-day to reassert all his ancient pretensions upon the first favorable opportunity. 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. Wells-Barnett, Ida B., 1862-1931--Correspondence, - But upon none of these things is reliance placed. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. My Escape from Slavery. Manuscripts, - 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? As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. 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? We have thus far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, victory without peace. Is not Austria wise in removing all ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. It is a measure of relief,a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. We have thus far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, victory without peace. endobj It is a measure of relief,--a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. Griffiths, Julia, -1895--Correspondence, - 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? 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. 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. To appreciate the full force of this argument, it must be observed, that disfranchisement in a republican government based upon the idea of human equality and universal suffrage, is a very different thing from disfranchisement in governments based upon the idea of the divine right of kings, or the entire subjugation of the masses. We asked the negroes to espouse our cause, to be our friends, to fight for us, and against their masters; and now, after they have done all that we asked them to do,--helped us to conquer their masters, and thereby directed toward themselves the furious hate of the vanquished,--it is proposed in some quarters to turn them over to the political control of the common enemy of the government and of the negro. 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. 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? It is nothing against this reasoning that all men who vote are not good men or good citizens. 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.". 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 text argues that the central problem of the parties today is how to. The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. 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. 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. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. 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. 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. Slaves--Emancipation, - Strong as we are, we need the energy that slumbers in the black mans arm to make us stronger. 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 supported by reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. 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 battlefield; 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. Anaphora. This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored people. It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to the national sense of honor. The new wine must be put into new bottles. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. Write an essay in which you argue which claims represent the strongest support for ensuring African Americans' right to vote. 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. The soil is in readiness, and the seed-time has come. Statesmen, beware what you do. 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. It must cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to rule the South. 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. 30 seconds. The fundamental and unanswerable argument in favor of the enfranchisement of the negro is found in the undisputed fact of his manhood. SURVEY. He is a man, and by every fact and argument by which any man can sustain his right to vote, the negro can sustain his right equally. The fundamental and unanswerable argument in favor of the enfranchisement of the negro is found in the undisputed fact of his manhood. As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. 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 must cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to rule the South. 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. Under the potent shield of State Rights, the game would be in their own hands. 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. They now stand before Congress and the country, not complaining of the past, but simply asking for a better future. It only asks for a large degraded caste, which shall have no political rights. 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? "Frederick Douglass (African American abolitionist and civil right 's leader), "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage," January 1867". The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources. Statesmen, beware what you do. 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. 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? beware of what you do. 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. Enfranchise them, and they become self-respecting and country-loving citizens. It is no less a crime against the manhood of a man, to declare that he shall not share in the making and directing of the government under which he lives, than to say that he shall not acquire property and education.

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