Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1864-05-11
Negro Saffrage---DemOcratie Preeedenfs.

I Negro saffrase---Democratie Preeedents.
The Nashville. Times reviyes some facts IN
regard TO negro suffrage in Tennessee Up
to the year 1855 free negroes voted in that
state. A motion in the first constitutional
convention, to conine the right of suffrage to
free WHITE men" was voted down. The
Times says:
The politicians cougted the free negro vote.
Candidates for Congress electioneered with
negro voters as laboriously and jealousy as
they did in bar-rooms and doggeries with
white voters The aged and venerable Mayor
VIM. b. Lewis, of this city, General ackson $
! confidential friend and auditor in the Treas
ury Department during his administration a
| man of high social position, and slavehold-
| er informed US recently that the leaders OF
| the various political parties manifested quite
| as much solicitude to secure the votes of free
negroes as they did those of white men,
| The free negro vote once elected Hon. John
| Bell to the national House of Representatives
and no doubt the great Champion of South
ern Rights and the g Union, Constitution and
enforcement OF the laws, treated many sa-
bic friend to glass of pure . OLD Robertson"
Andrew jackson received thousands OF free
| negro votes. for they were very friendly to
the brave soldier on account of the high COM
/ piInent he paid 70 his eolored soldiers at Mo-
| bile for their braTery, IN 'ubllc order, In
which he said: u expected much of you. L
knew how well you loved your native coun-
| try. You have done more than expected
| In addition to the qualities before knew you
to possess found among y0ls noble e7tttaGSt-
asua, uhich leads to the performance Of greH
| Maqsn The negro is grateful being, and
he never deserted Old Hickory. Hon. Felix
Grundy, United States Senator, and member
| of the Cabinet, and Hon. Ephraim II. Foster,
| United States Senator, and one of the lead
| ing politicians of the State for many years,
| were both great tavorites at different periods
| with the free negro voters. Foster at one
tune was said to have dnbounded influence
with the negroes, and to carry their votes in
| his pocket. That gallant old soldier and
| upright man, Gen. VIM. b. Carroll, was also
| very popular with the free negroes, and court
ed their votes very successfully in his differ
| ent canvasses. At one hotly contested cleo
| ton, one of his friends led procession of
| sixty negroes TO the polls, who cast solid
vote for General Carroll. Not the slightest
opposition made TO the polling of this
! vote, and no one ever dared to molest ne
groes at the polls. A physician in Southern
Kentucky, gentleman of unimpeachable We
racity, told us several years ago, that he had
seen Hon. Gaze johnson, Postmaster General
s1tdet Va1l Buren,, IN has early political races
one on eaeh arm The instances which we have
enumerated are not exceptional cases they
were of yearly occurrence for more than thlr-
ty years, and doubtless our older citizens can
recall mutitudes of like cases.
The Times gives the names of number OF
| negroes at Nashville who were formerly yot-
| ers, ardent supporters of JACKSON, and
| straight out State Rights Democrats. Free
negroes were also required to do military du-
| ty the same whites, and trained IN the
| same company with white men.
! We do not reproduce these facts to urge
our State to follow the example of the dis
tinguished Democrats of Tennessee, but for
the benefit of our Democratic readers, that
they may know that no serious jeopardy to a
commonwealth attends upon such an extern
sion of the right of suffrage. For many years
/ large numbers of negroes voted in Tennessee.
| They were of sufficient consequence to have
| their votes eagerly sought after. No
class of men were more ardent in
cultivating their good opinion or more
fraternal in their relations with them than
Democratic politicians If there is any
peculiar odor exhaling from the free black
man, disagreeable to Democratic olfactories,
| il was not sufficient to repel the Democratic
! politician in search of votes. 1t is also inn
portant to observe that no negro was, during
that period, elected Governor of the State, or
sent to either House of Congress, though we
are warned at the North that such are the ne
| cessary. results of colored suffrage. Nor is it
recorded that the tendency TO misee genation
was any more marked in the State of Tennes-
see during the thirty years and more while
| negroes were permitted to vote than since
that right has been taken from them.