Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1865-06-23
Free Nsgroes Voting in Slave

Free Negroes Voting in Slave
u States. a ..
va cali attentica to the following Ills,
toridN facfA citedih an able art1cle IN the
Bos0A Daily Adpsriiser. lfcolcftd mer
wcne safe rccipients Of the rights q sun
rage in the old days Of slavery. in a slave
holding community, why should they moi
have the same right now!
Although the proposition that freedmen
/ should not bc-e1c1udcAs from the elective
franchise by reason of color strikes many
of our people rs such . novelty, IT Is no
new thing int ho South for free blacks h
vote. In that period of Southern history,
when slavery was still regarded as an evil
to be thrown off as early as possible-a
period our Southern faiends have mol
/ cared t. refer to much Of j1ate Years, bat
(which history does not forget-more than
one Southern State refused to exclude
black men from the franchise. And now
it is urged upon the people Of the South
that they should admit the freedmen to
this right Of citizenship upon the same
terms as the whites, the proposition Is only
an invitation to follow u precedent set III
the golden aye OF Southern statcsmanshlp,
when justice had not yet been divorced
from policy. ...s
Maryland adopted constitution In ll16
which declared the general principle that
every man having property IN, a common
''intcrest with, and an attachment to the
community, ought TO have the right OF
suffrage" In accordance with this prln-
ciple it gave the right to''all freemcn above
twenty -one Years of agcfand having n
certain freehold or a certain amount oil
property. by amendments passed in 1901
aud 1860 the right was restricted to every
free white citizen in elections in the cities
Of Baltimore and Annapolis The terms
Of this restriction would carry the strong
est implication that Free blacks voted else
where in the State, even If the general
provision above recited had no existence.
1t is within the recollection Of men now
living that complaints We're made that
the free negroes in fact controlled the cleo
tors ut Baltimore, and to this fact us well
as to the increasing intolerance of slavery
we may ascribe the repeal Of the liberal
original provisions Of the State constitu-
ton.
North Carolina, in a constitution which
was also framed in l776, under the fresh
inspiration Of the Declaration Of 1ndepen-
dcncc declared that 'all persons possessed
.of a freehold in any town Of this State.
''having right to representation, and also
'.all free men who have been inhabitants
.'of any such town twelve months next be-
fore and at the day Of election, and shall
shave paid public taxes, shall be entitled
al. l,,a s,fs
cited opinion in the case of the State Us.
Mauuei(2 Dey. & Bat. 20). declares with
respect to this early provision that'.it is a
..matter of universal notoriety that under
cit free persons without regard to color,
claimed and exercised the franchise, until
lit was taken from free men Of color, II few
years since by our amended constitution"
The change made by the amended con-
stitution Of 1885, however, was not made
without strenuous resistance. The right Of
colored men to vote was abrogated by a
vote Of IS to 81, and the strong minority
urged their views OH the broadcast ground
Of the natural title Of all men to equal
rights.
Tennessee appears to have taken her
doctrine from her parent State. North
Carolina, and the idea Of free blacks voting
was SO familiar. that the late Mr.. Justice
Catrcn, when Chief Justice of Tennessee,
held that the manumission Of slaves by
will was imperfect, until the State assent
cd to the act which was to give the COM
munity new membcr. 1T is adopting
into the body polite new member he
said i'll the ease Of Fishers negroes VS..
Dobbs(6 Ycrg l99),-'a vastly import
..ant measure in every community and es-
"pecially in onrs. where the majority Of
the free men over twcn.y-One years Of
'.agc, govern the balance Of the people, to-
''gether with themselves; where the nc
.grocs vote at the polls is Of as high value
las that Of any man.
Our readers will find these facts and
many others to the same purpose collect
cd with great industry i'll an able opinion
given in ls57(4l Maine, 52I, by MIR.
Justice Appleton Of Maine. now Chief JUS
ticc of that St.te, upon the question pro-
posed by the Legislature Of Maine, wheth-
or the free colored men were voters udner
the constitution Of that State. Many
points bearing upon this inquiry may also
he found in the dissenting opinion of Mr..
Justice Curtis in the case Of bred Scott
The whole of the historical evidence we
may add goes to show that in general the
Southern people in the ca-ly days Of the
republic looked less to color than to real
qualification as IL test for the extension OF
the franchise, and that when free blacks
were excluded, it was less by reason OF
color than by reason Of unfitness. How
thoroughly all this is now reversed, We
hardly need say.