The Shasta courier., 1864-10-01
Negro safrage IN Tennessee.

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The following article on g Negro Suffrage
in Tennessee" comes from, .BRowNLow'sl
Knoxville Whig:
The great outcry against negro suffrage in
Tepnessee, and the constantly expressed
dread of negro equality by those who are
sorter for and sorter not for" the Union
cause make it proper to state few facts in
the history Of our State, that will do for can !
did men to reflect upon when otherwise un-
employed. They will learn some facts from
our article that rebels and rebel sympathix-
| ers would never communicate, and facts,
stubborn and notorious, that many yof those
in sympathy with therebellion will resolutely
deny. saS g sHvo i sssssssss1 !.
| In the convention that formed the first
Constitution of Tennessee, the question arose
as to who should exercise the right of suf-
| frage in the State Slaves were held in Ten
nessee while she yet Territory. And
fact not now generally known is this-a4
majority of the delegates who framed the Con-
sttution were Shareholders. In fixing the
qualifications of voters, all I" free. citizens"s
were designated as proper persons to vote.
An amendment was offered to insert the
word 'white'' after the word free. This
brought up the question of the right of free
negroes to vote. The vote was taken upon
| the amendment which contemplated the ex-s
clusion OF the negroes from the polls, and the
amendment was lost by decided vote. The!
first constitution of the State, therefore, de-
clared free negroes to be citizens, and gave
them the right Of. voting, which they exercis-
ed for many years, and were electioneered
with by ourpoliticians for their votes John
Bell, in a closely contested race for Congress
=. L. NJ Il. L l. l-c-
Felix Grundy, owed his election to the votes
of free negroes, there being several hundred
in his district. at'f's
Andrew jackson was popular with the ne
groes on account of his bravery and his eulo-
gy upon negro soldiers at New Orleans and
when he defeated Col John Williams before
the Legislature at Murfreesboro, it. was BY
only seven votes, and these seven voteS were
gained for jackson before the people by the
negro voters of the counties sending them.
Gov. Carol was a very popular man with
the negroes. and could come more closely to
the thing of uniting their votes than anv man
in the State. AT one of his closely contest
ed elections, a friend of his led procession
OF sixty or seventy negroes to the polls at one
time, who all voted for the old war horse
Hon. Cave johnson, Postmaster-G General
under former Democratic Administrations.
has been seen, in his early political contest
in Tennessee, when he used to serve in Con.
gress, during the administration Of John Q
Adams, lead negroes to the polls, arm in arm
The young scoins of Tennessee aristocracy
and OF Southern chivalry now in the rebel
army must permit us to tell them, in frank
ness, that their fathers used to 90 to the polls
in this State, and even before they were born,
side by side with the black negroes and vote
for Governor, Congressman and other civil
officers.
g But we give another very remarkable
case, and we are indebted to the Nashville |
Times for the facts. 1t is case that occur
red in the election of delegates to the second |
Constitutional Convention of Tennessee, in |
the year 1884. Italso happened in the Coun-
ty of Wilson in Middle Tennessee. The
notorious Robert M. Burton, lawyer of
prominence. proud stakeholder, and an ar
istocrat related to the slaveocracy of that
county. The negroes became alarmed at the
proposition made by some of the candidates
to disfranchise them in the then approach
ing convention to revise the constitution.
Burton ran as the friend of the negroes, and
pledged himself to stand by them and advo-
cate their rights. He received something
less than four hundred negro votes, while |
his majority over his competitor was about
half that, showing that he was returned to
the convention by negro votes. To his dis.
grace, Burton betrayed the negroes. and |
voted to disfranchise them. For let it be |
remembered that negroes were never dis |
franchised in Tennessee until it was done by |
the Constitutional Convention of 1885.
The manner in which the State acted un-
der Governor Harris and his rebel Legisla- |
ture inclines US to wish it had been under |
control of sober. hard working set of free |
negroes. Nay, we have no hesitancy IN
avowing that We had sooner be governed by |
Union negroes than disloyal white men.