95. Petition of Black Residents of Nashville (1865)

Time line:

(1865)

{Paragraph: 1, Page: 1}

1)Lincoln omitted Tennessee from the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 at the request of military governor Andrew Johnson (though many slaves in the state acquired their freedom by serving in

the Union army).

2)A state conference was organized in January 1865 to complete the task of abolition.

3)A group of Nashville free blacks petitioned the delegates, requesting rapid action to eliminate slavery and give black men the ability to vote (which free blacks had in the state until 1835).

4)The declaration stressed their devotion to the Union, their natural right to liberty, and their readiness to shoulder the burdens.

5)In terms of citizenship the manuscript provides a fascinating glimpse into black consciousness at the outset of Reconstruction.

{Page: 2}

To the Union Convention of Tennessee Assembled in the Capitol at Nashville, January 9th, 1865:

(Most Important Points / Summary)

1) Line 1- 14:

To begin with, we would say that words cannot express how deeply grateful we are to the Federal Government for the good work of freedom that it is gradually carrying forward, as well as for the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in some rebellious states, as well as many slaves in Tennessee.

2) Line 15 - 21:

Your petitioners would want you to finish the job started by the nation as a whole and remove the final remnant of slavery through the clear wording of your original legislation. Unless slavery is specifically abolished by the Constitution, many masters in Tennessee whose slaves have deserted them will make every attempt to bring them back into bondage following the restructuring of the State government.

3) Line 22 - 31:

We believe that freedom is an inherent right of all men, which they have no more right to trade or barter away than they do to sell their honor, wives, or children. We claim to be men of the big human family, derived from one great God, the common Father of all, who gave the valuable privilege of freedom on all races and tribes. We have long been unjustly robbed of this privilege, for no fault of our own, and the collective voice of the wise and virtuous of all countries has remonstrated against our enslavement as one of the worst crimes in history.

{Page: 3}

1) Line 32 - 39:

We assert our inherent right to freedom and request that, in harmony and cooperation with the population at large, you dismantle the system of slavery, which is not only harmful to us, but also the cause of all the evil that now afflicts the State. For slavery has corrupted practically everyone around it, so much so that it has inspired nearly all slave states to revolt against the Federal Government in order to establish a pirate government under which slavery might be committed.

2) Line 40 - 48:

In the conflict between nation and slavery, our unfortunate people have instinctively sided with the former. We have little money to contribute to the national cause since a cruel fate has compelled us to live in poverty, but we do commit our dreams, our toils, our whole heart, our sacred honor, and our life to its victory. We shall labor, pray, live, and, if necessary, die for the Union as joyfully as any white patriot has ever died for his nation. The color of our skin does not diminish our love for God or for the nation of our origin in the least.

3) Line 49 - 59:

We are happy to inform your honorable body that, to the best of our knowledge, no black traitor has appeared since the start of this terrible revolt... We are committed to the ideals of justice, love for all men, and equal rights that underpin our government and make it the hope of the world. We understand the responsibilities of citizenship and are prepared to face them.

We understand the obligations of a good citizen and are willing to do them happily. We would want to be placed in a position where we may discharge them more effectively. We do not seek citizenship in order to avoid the duties that come with it.

{From page 3 to 4}

4) Line 60 - 68:

Nearly 200,000 of our brothers and sisters are currently serving in the ranks of the Union army.

Thousands have already died in war or by terrible martyrdom for the sake of the Union, and we are ready and eager to make greater sacrifices. But is there a greater kind of citizen than a soldier?

or who has more faith placed in his hands? If we are required to fight rebel troops in the field, why should we be denied the right to vote against rebel people at the ballot box? The latter is just as important in saving the government as the former...

{Page: 4}

1) Line 69 - 74:

This is not a democratic government if a large number of law-abiding, hardworking, and

useful citizens born and raised on the soil are treated as aliens and enemies, as an inferior degraded class with no voice in the government they support, protect, and defend with all their heart, soul, mind, and body, both in peace and war.

Questions:

1. Why do the petitioners place so much emphasis on their loyalty to the Union cause during the war?

Answer: The emancipation Proclamation originated from the North (Union Government) This amendment freed slaves in the south.

Explanation: The petitioners emphasized slave allegiance because they wanted to

demonstrate that they would carry out the various obligations of "free men," which is why they

were so forceful in that argument. Because they wanted to make it clear that advantages

came with obligations and duties. Because they were afraid they would not utilize them and that it would be impossible to fulfill citizens' obligations and responsibilities.

2. What understanding of American history and the nation’s future do the petitioners convey?

Answer: They felt that American history was about the battle for equal liberties for everyone,

& that the abolition of slavery would eventually grant black individuals equality.

Explanation: The petitioners claim that their love for God and their birthplace is unaffected

by their skin tone. They discuss the equal rights that our country is founded on, which was the motivation for the Civil Rights Movement.

96. Petition of Committee on Behalf of the Freedmen to Andrew Johnson (1865)

1) Line 1 - 7:

In compliance with Special Field Order 15, around 40,000 %%liberated individuals had been put on "Sherman land" in South Carolina and Georgia by **June 1865. **%%However, President Andrew Johnson, who had replaced Lincoln, ordered that practically all land in government control be restored to its previous owners that summer. O. O. Howard, the chief of the Freedmen's Bureau, visited the Sea Islands in October to advise blacks of the new policy.

{Page: 5}

1) Line 8 - 15:

Howard was met with skepticism and outrage. A group was formed to draft petitions to Howard &

President Johnson. Their petition to the president stated that the government had pushed them to occupy the land and that they were willing to buy it if given the chance. Johnson turned down the

former slaves' request. And, because no land distribution occurred in the South, the great majority of rural liberated people remained destitute and without property during Reconstruction.

(Edisto Island S.C. Oct 28th, 1865)

1) Line 1 - 5:

To the President of the United States of America. The freedmen of Edisto Island, South Carolina,

have discovered Major General O O Howard, commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, to you. With tremendous sadness and heavy hearts, we consider the idea of the government returning these

lands to their previous owners.

2) Line 6 - 18:

We are well aware of the many perplexing and trying questions that burden Your mind, and we pray to God (the preserver of all & who has made us a free people through our Late & Beloved President (Lincoln) proclamation & the war) that he may guide you in making your decisions, & give you that wisdom that Cometh from above to settle these great & important questions for the best interests of the country and the colored race: Here is where secession was conceived and fostered.

We have labored virtually our whole lives as slaves and have been treated like stupid driven cattle. This is our home, and we have made these lands what they are. We were the only honest and loyal

individuals discovered in ownership of these lands we have always been prepared to strike for

liberty & humanity, and to fight if necessary to maintain this wonderful union.

3) Line 19 - 30:

Shouldn't we, as freedmen who have always been loyal to our Union, have the same privileges as others? Have we violated any laws in the United States? Have we relinquished our property rights in land? — If not, when? Aren't our rights as a free people and good citizens of these United States to be considered before the rights of those who were discovered in rebellion against this good (& just government & now being conquered) come (as they seem) with penitent hearts & beg forgiveness for past offences and also ask if their lands can't be restored to them and are these rebellious spirits to be reinstated in their possessions & we who have been abused & oppressed for many long be permitted to purchase land yet be subject to the will of these huge landowners?

4) Line 31 - 41:

God forbid, l and monopoly is harmful to the growth of freedom, and if the government does not offer some provision for freedmen to secure a homestead, we have not improved our situation. Government has urged us to take up these properties in tiny chunks, and we have received certifications for the same—we have thus far taken sixteen thousand (16000) acres of land here on this Island. We are prepared to pay for this land when the government requests it. And now, after everything that has happened, will the righteous and just government take away all of our rights and subject us to the whim of those who have robbed and abused us for many years, God forbid!

5) Line 42 - 49:

We, the freedmen of this island and the state of South Carolina, therefore beseech you as

President of the United States to make arrangements for every colored man to acquire land.

And claim it as his own. We would like to have a home, even if it is only a few acres. Our future is

bleak unless we make some preparations. Yes, our condition is perilous. As a real friend of the downtrodden and mistreated race, we look to you in this trying hour. For safety and equal rights.

6) Line 50 - 55:

Offers the opportunity to own a homestead—a homestead in the heart of South Carolina.

We hope that God would lead your heart in making such provisions for us as freedmen as will tend to knit these states together stronger than ever before Our humble prayer is that God will bless you in the administration of your duties as President of

these United States.

In behalf of the Freedmen

Henry Bram

Committee Ishmael Moultrie.

yates. Sampson

Questions:

1. How important is it for the petitioners to obtain land on Edisto Island, as opposed to elsewhere in the country?

Answer: The petitioner wants to own the land they once worked on.

Explanation: Given that the petitioners were former slaves on South Carolina's Edisto Island who

are now free men. Because of their relationship with the lands. It is critical for the petitioners to gain land on Edisto Island rather than land elsewhere in the country since the petitioners labored on

those areas while they were slaves. However, they now want to own the lands on which they previously labored.

2. What do they think is the relationship between owning land and freedom?

Answer: We are free to do what we want with our land, or at least we should be. Being able to afford land is a right afforded to us, our rights are what makes us free.

{Page: 7}

97. The Mississippi Black Code (1865)

1) Line 1 - 7:

During 1865, Andrew Johnson implemented his own reconstruction plan, creating processes for the formation of new governments in the South, chosen solely by white citizens. The Black Codes, which aimed to control the lives of emancipated slaves, were among the first laws issued by the new governments. These laws allowed the newly liberated people some rights, including as legalized marriage, property ownership, and limited access to the courts.

2) Line 8 - 16:

However, they forbade them the ability to testify in court in instances involving only white people,

to serve on juries or in state militias, or to vote. In response to planters' requests that liberated people work on the plantations, the Black Codes stated that individuals who did not sign yearly labor contracts might be jailed and rented out to white proprietors. The Black Codes outlined how the white South would limit black freedom if the federal government gave it carte blanche. However, they violated free labor principles so thoroughly that they undermined Johnson's Reconstruction agenda among northern Republicans.

Vagrant Law:

{Page 7 to Page 8}

1) Line 1 - 13:

Sec. 2.... All freedmen, free blacks, and mulattoes over the age of eighteen discovered in this State on the second Monday in January, 1866, or thereafter. With no lawful employment or business,

or found unlawfully assembling themselves together, either in the day or night time, and all white persons so assembling themselves with freedmen, free negroes, or mulattoes, on terms of equality, or living in adultery or fornication with a freed woman, free black, or mulatto, shall be deemed

vagrants, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in an amount not surpassing fifty dollars in

the case of a freedman, freeing , or mulatto, and two hundred dollars in the case of a white man, and imprisoned at the discretion of the court, the free negro not exceeding ten days, and the white man not exceeding six months.

2) Line 14 - 21:

Sec. 7.... If any freedman, free negro, or mulatto fails or refuses to pay any tax levied pursuant to the provisions of the sixth section of this act, it shall be prima facie evidence of vagrancy, and it shall be the duty of the sheriff to arrest such freedman, free black, or mulatto, or such person refusing or neglecting to pay such tax, and proceed immediately to hire such delinquent tax- payer to any one who will pay the said tax, with accruing costs, giving preference to the employer, if there be one.

Civil Rights of Freedmen

1) Line 1 - 8:

Sec. 1. That all freedmen, free blacks, and mulattoes may sue and be sued, implead and be implead, in all the courts of law and equity of this State, and may acquire personal property, and choses in action, by descent or purchase, and may dispose of the same in the same manner and to the

same extent that white people may: Except in incorporated cities or towns, the provisions of this section shall not be construed to authorize any freedman, free black, or mulatto to rent or lease any

lands or tenements. . . .

2) Line 9 - 12:

Sec. 2.... All freedmen, free blacks, and mulattoes may intermarry in the same way and under the same conditions as are allowed by law for white people: The clerk of probate, however, should retain separate records of the same.

{Page: 9}

1) Line 1 - 13:

Sec. 3.... All freedmen, free blacks, or mulattoes who now and have previously lived and cohabited together as husband and wife shall be taken and held in law as legally married, and the issue shall be taken and held in law as legally married. shall be accepted and deemed to be legal for all purposes; It would be illegal for any freedman, free negro, or mulatto to marry. with any white person; nor should any white person intermarry with any white person any freedman, free black, or mulatto; and anybody who shall so act If they intermarry, they will be charged with a felony, and if they are found guilty, they will face prison time. Those found guilty shall be imprisoned in the State Penitentiary for life; and will be considered freedmen, free blacks, and mulattoes pure black blood, as well as those descended from them a black person up to the third generation, albeit  one ancestor in each generation may have been white.

2) Line 14 - 21:

Sec. 4.... In addition to circumstances where freedmen, free blacks, and mulattoes are presently by law competent witnesses, freedmen, free blacks, or mulattoes shall be competent in civil actions, when a party is a freedman, free blacks, or mulattoes. or parties to the litigation, either plaintiffs or defendants; particularly in instances involving freedmen, free blacks, and mulattoes. or are either a plaintiff or a plaintiffs, a defendant or a defendants, and a defendant or a defendants The opposing party or parties, plaintiff or plaintiffs, defendant or defendants, is or are white people.

3) Line 22 - 28:

They must also be competent witnesses in all criminal proceedings when the alleged offense was perpetrated by a white person against or against a black person. against a freedman, free black, or mulatto's person or property: Provided, however, that in all situations, said witnesses shall be cross-examined in public. However, they may be examined before taking the stand in court. the grand jury, and will be subject to the norms and tests in all circumstances in terms of skill and trustworthiness under common law.

4) Line 29 - 34:

Sec. 5.... Every freedman, free black, and mulatto shall have a lawful residence or employment on the second Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and yearly thereafter, and shall have written evidence thereof. Sec. 6.... All work contracts formed with freedmen, free blacks, or both and mulattoes for more than one month must be in writing.

{Page: 10}

1) Line 1 - 7:

In duplicate, certified to and read to such freedman, free black, or mulatto by a beat, city, or county official, or two impartial white people of the county in which the job is to be done, each side must have one, and these contracts must be taken and held. As whole contracts, and if the employee leaves the employment of the employer before the end of his term of employment, without valid reason Because of this, he will forfeit his pay for the whole year up until the moment he quits.

2) Line 8 - 20:

Sec. 7.... Every civil official shall, and every person may, arrest and return to his or her legitimate employer any freedman, free black, or mulatto who has quit his or her employer's employment. without good reason before the end of his or her term of employment reason... Provided, however, that said arrested party, after being restored, may file an appeal with a judge of the peace or a member of the board of County police, who will trial the alleged employer after receiving notification. Whether the alleged appellant is legitimately hired by the alleged and has excellent reason to leave said job; any party shall have the opportunity to file an appeal with the county court, at which time the accused deserter the suspected deserter shall be remanded to the alleged employer or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the law, and the judgment of the county court shall be final.

Certain Offenses of Freedmen

1) Line 1 - 8:

Sec. 1.... That no freedman, free black, or mulatto, who is not in the military service of the United States government and is not allowed to do so by his or her county's board of police, should maintain or carry any rearms of any kind, or ammunition, dirk, or bowie knife, and If found guilty in a county court, the defendant will be sentenced to fine, not to exceed ten dollars, and pay the costs of such proceedings, and any such guns or ammunition shall be forfeited to the government. informer. . . .

{Page 10 to 11}

2) Line 9 - 19:

Riots, routs, affrays, trespasses, malicious mischief, cruel treatment of animals, seditious speeches, insulting gestures, language, or acts, or assaults on any person, disturbance of the peace, exercising the function of a minister of the Gospel without a license from some regularly organized church, vending spirituous or intoxicating liquors, or committing any other offence for which the penalty is not expressly authorized for by law, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than ten dollars and not more than twenty dollars in county court more than one hundred dollars, and may be imprisoned at the discretion of the court the court, not to exceed thirty days.

{Page: 11}

3) Line 20 - 32:

Sec. 3.... If any white person sells, lends, or gives any firearm, dirk or bowie knife, ammunition, or spirituous or intoxicating liquors to any freedman, free negro, or mulatto, such person or people may, upon conviction in the county court, be punished. He or she shall be fined not more than fifty dollars, and may be imprisoned for a period not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court. a period of thirty days... Sec. 5.... If any freedman, free black, or mulatto is convicted of any crime, of the offenses prohibited by this act, shall fail or refuse to appear for a period of five days following conviction, to pay the fine and costs imposed, the sheriff shall lease out such individual

{Page: 12}

98. A Sharecropping Contract (1866)

1) Line 1 - 7:

Despite popular demand for land, few freed slaves were able to get their own farms in the post-Civil War South. Most became sharecroppers, laboring on white-owned property for a cut of the crop. the conclusion of the growing season Sharecropping was a sort of middle ground. between blacks' yearning for independence from white domination and landowners' desire for control demand for a well-trained workforce Shelby County, Tennessee, was the originator of this contract, which was indicative of thousands. The workmen sign their names with an X, due of their illiteracy.

2) Line 8 - 13:

It was typical of early postwar contracts in that it granted the planter the authority to oversee his employees' labor. Later sharecropping arrangements gave former slaves more freedom. Families would rent land pieces, operate it under their own control, and split the harvest. At the end of the year, you will be the owner. However, as cotton prices decreased following the Civil War, Workers found it impossible to benefit from the sharecropping system during the war.

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 10:

Thomas J. Ross offers to hire freedmen to produce and cultivate crops on his Rosstown Plantation... Regarding the following Rules, Regulations, and Remunerations The said Ross promises to provide the land to cultivate, as well as a sufficient number of mules and horses to make and dwelling. Specified crop, as well as all agricultural instruments required to carry it out and to provide said Freedmen whose names are listed below one-half of all cotton, maize, and wheat grown on that property for the After deducting all essential costs, the year 1866 accumulates on said crop.

2) Line 11 - 17:

Outside of the Freedmen's work in harvesting, transporting, and selling the crop, and the said Freedmen whose names appear below covenant and agree with said Thomas J. Ross that for and in consideration of one-half of the crop as previously said, they would sow, develop, and nurture under the Ross's management control and supervision are in good hands. trust, a cotton, corn, and oat harvest managed by him for the year 1866.

{Page 12 to 13}

3) Line 18 - 20:

And we, the said Freedmen, commit to supply ourselves and our families with supplies, clothes, medication and medical bills, and any other costs that we may incur on said plantation throughout the year 1866 at no cost to said Ross. If the said Ross provides us with any of the aforementioned supplies or any other type of expenditure during the said year, we are to settle and pay him out of the net revenues of our business. a portion of the harvest the county's retail price at the time of sale or any We may reach an agreement on a pricing. Ross is required to keep a regular journal. account, against each individual or the head of each household to be at the conclusion of the year, adjusted and settled.

{Page: 13}

1) Line 1 - 8:

We also promise to and with stated Ross that we will perform good work and work ten hours a day on average, winter and summer. The temporal span between when we begin and when we finish

We gave up... We also commit to make up all missed time or pay the penalty. Except on rainy days, the fee is one dollar per day. In illness and in health women in childbeds must lose time and account for it to the other hands out of their share of the produce at the same rates that

She or they may be paid annually.

2) Line 9 - 18:

We also bound ourselves to obey said Ross's commands in all things in carrying out and managing said harvest for said year or be fined for disobedience. All farming is the responsibility of everyone. Utensils that are available or can be placed in the custody of mentioned Freedmen for

the year 1866 to Ross and are likewise accountable to Ross if we maltreat any of his stock recklessly or intentionally from said year to said year Ross for damages to be deducted from our wages for the year.

Tinny (X) Fitch, Samuel (X) Johnson, Thomas (X) Richard, Jessie (X)

Sophe (X) Pruden, Henry (X) Pruden, Frances (X) Pruden, Simmons

Smith, Elijah (X)

{Page: 14}

99. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Home Life” (ca. 1875)

1) Line 1 - 8:

Reconstruction, according to women activists, was the chance for women to seek their own freedom. With the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing blacks equality before the law and giving black men the right to vote, women urged on the Fifteenth that the bounds of American democracy be broadened to encompass them as well. Other feminists argued on how to

obtain "liberty for married women" Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in 1875. Authored an essay requesting that the "revolutionary" concept of equality be carried into private life.

2) Line 9 - 16:

Genuine liberty for women, she believed, necessitated a revision of divorce laws (which often needed evidence of infidelity, desertion, or violent abuse to end a marriage) as well as an end to the control men wielded over their wives. Few men sympathized with women's quest for the right to vote. Even fewer people favored loosening divorce laws. However, Stanton's expansion of the concept of "liberty for women" into the most personal elements of women's lives a dilemma arose in private life that would become a fundamental focus of Feminists of subsequent generations.

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 11:

We are in the middle of a social revolution that is larger than any political or religious upheaval the world has ever seen, since it reaches deep into the fundamental foundations of civilization. A significant subject presupposes our consideration: whether man and woman are co-heirs to all the riches and joys of earth and Heaven, or whether they were predestined from the beginning, one to be sovereign, the other to be subservient another slave... Here's a question for half of humanity, and that the stronger half, on one side, who control the citadel, control the finances and shape laws and popular mood to suit their own ends.

{Page: 15}

1) Line 1 - 10:

Can all of this be changed without lengthy debate, upheavals, heart burnings, violence, and war? Will man relinquish what he thinks to be his lawful control over woman with less effort than Popes and Kings relinquish their alleged rights over their people, or slaveholders relinquish their slaves? No, no. According to John Stuart Mill, the majority of the male sex cannot yet endure the notion of living with an equal at home; and this is the source of the hostility to woman's equality in the state and the church—men are not ready to acknowledge it in the home. This is the actual risk of granting women the right to vote, as long as man makes, interprets, and executes the laws for himself, he holds the power under any system.

2) Line 11 - 23:

As a result, while he expresses concern that liberty for women may disrupt family relationships, he concedes that her current state of subordination is not of her doing. Own decision, and that if she had authority, the entire relationship would collapse. Be fundamentally altered And this is exactly what is happening, the germ of the conflict we are witnessing now this is the transition phase for women from slavery to freedom, with everything it entails. Enormous societal upheavals, which the wisest and bravest face outraged, are all vital steps on her path to equality. Conservatism screams, "We're going to ruin the family!" Timid Reformers respond that women's political equality will not alter. They are both incorrect. It will completely transform it.

3) Line 24 - 34:

When a woman is equal to a man, the marital relationship cannot continue on its current foundation. But, unlike state constitutions, this alteration will not destroy it. Statutory laws did not create marital and maternal love, and they cannot produce it. We'll have the family, that wonderful custodian of annual them... After the current concept of man's headship is rejected and woman is freed, national strength and morality will be restored. Establishing a republican form of governance and the right to make independent decisions in the family must inevitably contain debate, discord, and division, yet the very evils will evolve a purer, higher, holy marriage.

We now see and lament.

{Page 15 to 16}

1) Line 35 - 45:

This same equality law that has transformed the state and the church is now knocking on our doors, and sooner or later it will have to do its job there as well. Let us all intelligently align ourselves with this great law, for man will benefit as much as woman from equal companionship in the closest and holiest bonds of life... As long as couples marry from policy considerations based on every potential motive except the genuine one, dissension and division must follow. So long as the state does not educate youngsters on the issues and does not put protections in place to prevent marriage bonds from being formed, it is honor bound. To throw open the door of escape

{Page 16}

1) Line 1 - 8:

From a woman's perspective, I believe that marriage as an irreversible bond is a form of enslavement for women, because law, religion, and public sentiment all work together to support this notion. There is no other way for her to be genuine to this relationship, whatever it may be.

human enslavement that understands the depths of deplorable treatment as a wife no other enslavement has had such terrible effects for the race or individuals as being bound to a man she neither loves nor respects. Esteem, progress, and development...

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 7:

Divorces are permitted now for... seventeen grounds, according to the legislation of numerous states in this republic adopted by Christian representatives of the people. Several states have passed similar legislation. We have basically settled on two critical points: First, marriage is an irreversible bond that may be severed by a court order. Second, it is a legal compact, not a sacrament of the church. Church, and the one affects the other...

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 8 - 19:

A legal contract for a plot of land requires that the parties be of legal age, of sound mind, and that the title be free of flaws... However, in many jurisdictions across the Union, a legal marriage can be established between two people. A fourteen-year-old male and a twelve-year-old girl without parental approval or guardians, without banns being published... Now, who is this person?

Laws can be endorsed as sensible or reasonable by common sense or conscience. That sanction such behavior Allow for a logical state: if marriage is permitted as a civil contract, it should be governed by the same laws as all other contracts. Carefully crafted, the parties of legal age, and all agreements faithfully followed observed. . . . Let us now look at some of the most common liberal criticisms. Divorce legislation It is stated that in order to make divorce legal, moral, and popular, all familial relationships must be severed.

{Page: 17}

1) Line 1 - 11:

Is to imply that human sympathies are the outcome, not the foundation, of church canons and state regulations... To provide a means of escape for people who live in constant conflict, to the

unhappily married wives of drunkards, libertines, knaves, lunatics, and tyrants must not necessarily sour the relationships of those who are happy and contented, because the sheer fact of freedom enhances and cleanses the union's link When men and spouses do not communicate.

They possess each other as property yet are only linked by affection. Marriage will be a lifelong relationship rather than a crushing burden, according to which both may yearn for escape at times The more liberated human relationships are.

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 13:

Home life has its shadows and tragedies for the best of us, and because of our ignorance, this must be... The sun is rising. It is comforting to know that life's calamities are not visited upon us.

the Good Father from a sort of Pandora's box, but the outcomes of causes over which we have authority. The way to health and pleasure opens out before us via knowledge and application of the law: a delight And peace that surpasses all comprehension will be ours, as will the restoration of Paradise on Earth. When marriage is the outcome of a genuine union of two people,

intellect and spirit, as well as when Mothers and Fathers gift to their holy children. Marriage, maternity, and paternity will take on new holiness and dignity, and a nobler kind of masculinity and women will exalt the race!!

{Page: 18}

100. Frederick Douglass, “The Composite Nation” (1869)

1) Line 1 - 8:

Asian-Americans were another minority that did not fully participate in the extension of rights inspired by the Civil War and Reconstruction. Prejudice towards Asians was widespread, particularly on the West Coast. Where the majority of Asian immigrants lived When the Radical Republican was elected Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts proposed allowing Asians to vote. Become naturalized citizens (a privilege denied to them since Senators from California and Oregon reacted vehemently (in 1790), and the proposition was defeated.

1) Line 9 - 15:

Frederick Douglass was another supporter of Asian-American equality. Douglass decried anti-Asian prejudice in his extraordinary "Composite Nation" address, made in Boston in 1869, and advocated for them to be granted all of the rights of other Americans, including the opportunity to vote. Douglass's complete vision of a republic comprised of people of all races and ethnicities.

National origins and equal rights were considered too radical at the time, yet

Throughout the twentieth century, it gained increasing acceptance.

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1- 11:

There was a time when even brave men feared for the fate of the Republic. When our country was embroiled in a tangled web of contradictions; when massive and irreconcilable social forces fought for dominance and control; when a heavyweight. Our own soil was cursed, defying both knowledge and the & our name was a slur and a by word when our noble ship of state, freighted with the finest dreams of all oppressed peoples were violently flung. Against the hard and flinty rocks of contempt, and every cord, bolt, and chain under the impact, the beam and bend in her body quivered.

{Page: 19}

1) Line 1 - 11:

Some apologies for uncertainty and sadness But that day has thankfully gone. The storm has passed, and the signs are almost all in our favor. Overhead, there are clouds, wind, smoke, dust, and noise. There will always be thunder, but no actual thunder. A devastating bolt, threats from all directions. The main problem with us was never our system or form of government, or the ideals that underpin it; it was the distinctive mix of our people, and the relationships that existed between them and the government. Compromising spirit that ruled over the dominating force

country.

2) Line 12 - 23:

We have long hesitated and may yet refuse to embrace and implement the sole concept that may address that problem and provide the Republic peace, power, and security, and that is the principle of perfect equality. We are a land of extremes, ends, and opposites; the world's most visible example of composite nationality. Our employees defy all ethnological and logical categorizations We vary in races. From black to white, with intermediate colors that, as no one can name a number in the apocalyptic vision. In terms of creeds and beliefs, the situation is no better, & worse. Differences in race and religion are clearly more prevalent. More likely to rise than decrease.

3) Line 24 - 35:

We are sandwiched between the crowded coasts of two vast seas. Our land can support one-fifth of the world's population. Here, work is plentiful, and labor is better compensated than everywhere else. All moral, social, and geographical factors work together to bring us here. All other overpopulated countries' peoples Europe and Africa have already arrived, and the Indian was here before them either. He is currently positioned between the two extremes of black and white. White, too haughty to claim brotherhood with either, but too frail to claim fraternity with either to withstand the strength of either Previously, our government's strategy was guided by racial pride rather than intelligence. Until recently, neither the Indian nor the black were considered as a separate race.

{Page: 20}

1) Line: 1 - 12:

A component of the political body No attempt has been made to instill patriotism in either group, but the seeds of discontent and hatred have been sowed in the hearts of both races.

hatred. The tactic of isolating Indians has kept the tomahawk and scalping knives busy along our borders, and it has cost us. Mostly in blood and treasure Our treatment of the black has been inadequate. Humanity, causing unrest and ill will throughout the country drove the country to the brink of destruction before the two races' connections are fully resolved. Despite all opposition, a new race is emerging inside our boundaries and vying for our attention.

2) Line 13 - 30:

It is expected that at least 100,000 Chinese people have crossed the border into the United States. Several years ago, every vessel, great or tiny, steam or sail, destined for our Pacific coast and coming from the flowery kingdom, increased the size and power of this segment of our community. The extent of this prospective Chinese immigration varies greatly among men. The fact that by the recent treaty with China, we bind ourselves to receive immigrants from that country only as subjects of the Emperor, and by the construction, at least, we are bound not to naturalize them, and the fact that Chinamen themselves have a superstitious devotion to their country and an aversion to permanent residence in any other, contracting even in the United States. To have their bones returned if they die abroad, and from the fact that many have returned to China, and the fact that hostility to their arrival has risen rather than decreased, it is extrapolated that we will never have a big Chinese population in America. This, however, is not my viewpoint.

3) Line 31 - 37:

It is true that these and other factors may help to curb and moderate the flood of immigration; nevertheless, expecting them to do more is ludicrous. They are now counting them in the thousands, but the day will come when they will count them in the millions. The Emperor's grip on the Chinaman is powerful, but the Chinaman's grip on himself is even stronger.

{Page: 21}

1) Line 1 - 10:

Naturalization treaties, like all other treaties, are circumscribed by circumstances. The Chinese's superstitious devotion to China, like all other superstitions, will fade away in the light. As well as the fire of truth and experience Although the Chinaman is a bigot, It does not follow that he will remain one tomorrow. He is a guy, and will most likely act like one. He won't be there for long.

Discovering that a nation suitable for living in is suitable enough to die in; and that a soil rich enough to support his when he dies, his body will be strong enough to support his bones.

dead.

2) Line 11 - 20

Those who are skeptical about a substantial immigration should recall that the past provides no standard for computation. We live under new and enhanced migratory conditions, which are continually being improved. America is no longer a remote and unreachable land. Our ships are in every sea, our commerce is in every port, our language is spoken all over the world, steam and lightning have revolutionized the entire domain of human thought, changed all geographical relations, and make a day in the present seem equal to a thousand years in the past, and the continent that Columbus only conjectured four centuries ago is now the center of the world.

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 14:

I've said that the Chinese will come, and I've offered some reasons why we can anticipate them in huge numbers in the not-too-distant future. If you ask if I support such immigration, I say yes. Would you have them naturalized and given all the privileges of an American citizen? I certainly would. Would you let them vote? I certainly would. Would you let them run for office? I certainly would. But aren't there arguments against all of this? Isn't there a rule or principle called self-preservation? Isn't it true that every race owes something to itself? Should it disregard the demands of common sense? Shouldn't a superior race avoid interaction with weaker races?

Aren't white people the true proprietors of this continent? Do they not have the authority to decide who is permitted to come here and settle? Isn't it possible to be more kind than wise? In an endeavor to advance civilization.

{Page: 22}

1) Line 1 - 20:

We not bad and obliterate what we have? Is it best to accept a greater number of travelers than the boat will convey? To and the sky is the limit from there I have one among many responses, through and through good to me, however I can't guarantee that it will be so to you. I present that this inquiry of Chinese migration ought to be settled upon higher standards than those of a cold and self centered convenience. There are such things on the planet as basic freedoms. They rest upon no customary establishment, however are outside, general, and indestructible. Among these, is the right of motion; the right of relocation; the right which has a place with no standard spasm u lar race, yet has a place the same to all and to all indistinguishable. It is the right you affirm by remaining here, what's more, your dads declared by coming here.

It is this extraordinary right that I declare for the Chinese and the Japanese, and for any remaining assortments of men similarly with yourselves, presently and for eternity. I am aware of no privileges of race better than the freedoms of mankind, and when there is an alleged clash among human and public privileges, it is protected to go to the side of mankind. I have extraordinary regard for the blue eyes and light haired races of America. They are a powerful group. In any battle for the beneficial things of this world they need have no apprehension. They have don't bother questioning that they will get their full offer.

2) Line 21 - 35:

In any case, I reject the self-important and contemptuous hypothesis by which they would limit transitory freedoms, or some other fundamental common liberties to themselves, and which would make them the proprietors of this incredible landmass to the prohibition of any remaining races of men. I need a home here not just for the black, the mulatto and the Latin races; yet I need the Asiatic to fi nd a home here in the United States, and feel at ease here, both for the wellbeing of he and for our own. Right wrongs no man.

Assuming admiration is needed to larger parts, the way that only one fifth of the number of inhabitants in the globe is white, the other four fifths are hued, should have some weight and impact in discarding this and comparable inquiries. It would be a miserable reflection upon the laws of nature and upon the possibility of equity, to not express anything of a typical Creator, if four-fifths of humankind were denied of the freedoms of movement to account for the one fifth. Assuming the white race may.

{Page: 23}

1) Line: 1 - 8:

Avoid any remaining races from this mainland, it might legitimately do the same in regard to any remaining terrains, islands, capes and main lands, and hence have all the world to itself. Subsequently what might appear to have a place with the entire, would turn into the property just of a section. So much for what is correct, presently let us see what is insightful. What's more, here I hold that a liberal and charitable greeting to all who are probably going to come to the United States is the main wise approach which this country can take on.

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 12:

I close these comments as I started. Assuming our activity will be as per the standards of equity, freedom, and wonderful human fairness, no persuasiveness can sufficiently depict the significance and greatness representing things to come of the Republic. We will spread the organization of our science and development over all who look for their asylum whether from Asia, Africa, or the Isles of the ocean. We will form them all, each after his sort, into Americans; Indian and Celt, negro and Saxon, Latin and Teuton, Mongolian and Caucasian, Jew and Gentile, all will here bow to a similar regulation, talk a similar language, support a similar government, partake in something very similar freedom, vibrate with a similar public energy, and look for the same public finishes.

{Page: 24}

101. Robert B. Elliott on Civil Rights (1874)

1) Line 1 - 18:

One of the South's most noticeable dark legislators during Reconstruction, Robert B. Elliott seems to have been brought into the world in En organ and showed up in Boston presently before the Civil War. He came to South Carolina in 1867, where he laid out a regulation office and was chosen as a representative to the state's sacred show of 1868. During the 1870s, he served in the governing body and was two times chose for the U.S. Place of Representatives. In January 1874, Elliott conveyed a commended discourse in Congress in backing of the bill that turned into the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

The action banned racial segregation in transportation and spots of public convenience like theaters and inns. On account of the Civil War and Remaking, Elliott announced, "fairness under the watchful eye of the law" paying little mind to race had been composed into the regulations and Constitution and had turned into an fundamental component of American opportunity. Recreation, he reported, had "settled perpetually the political status of my race." Elliott discredited. By the turn of the 100 years, a large number of the privileges blacks had acquired after the Civil War had been removed. It would be passed on to people in the future to reinvigorate Elliott's fantasy of "equivalent, fair-minded, and all inclusive freedom."

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 9:

Sir, it is barely a long time since that courteous fellow [Alexander H. Stephens] stunned the enlightened world by declaring the introduction of an administration which laid on human bondage as its foundation. The advancement of occasions has cleared away that pseudo-government which laid on covetousness, pride, and oppression; and the race whom he then, at that point, mercilessly scorned and stomped all over are here to meet him in banter, and to request that the privileges which are delighted in by their previous oppressors — who pointlessly tried to oust a Government which they couldn't whore to the base purposes of slave master.

{Page: 25}

1) Line 1 - 13:

Will be concurred to the people who even in the haziness of bondage kept their loyalty consistent with opportunity and the Union. Sir, the courteous fellow from Georgia has learned much starting around 1861; yet he is as yet a loafer. Allow him to take care of completely the misleading and deadly speculations which have so extraordinarily damaged a generally fortunate record. Allow him to acknowledge, in its totality and usefulness, the extraordinary convention that American citizenship conveys with it each considerate and political right which masculinity can give. Allow him to loan his impact, with all his skillful capacity, to finish the glad construction of regulation which makes this country deserving of the incredible announcement which proclaimed its introduction to the world, and he will have done what will most almost reclaim his standing according to the world, and best justify the insight of that strategy which has allowed him to recover his seat upon this floor. . .

[NEW PARAGRAPH]

1) Line 1 - 20:

Sir, fairness under the watchful eye of the law is presently the wide, all inclusive, wonderful rule and command of the Republic. No State can disregard that. Kentucky and Georgia might swarm their resolution books with retrograde furthermore, uncouth regulation; they might cheer in the accursed prominence of their predictable aggression toward every one of the extraordinary strides of human advancement which have denoted our public history since bondage destroyed the stars and stripes on Fort Sumter; however, in the event that Congress will carry out its responsibility, assuming Congress will implement the incredible ensures.

Which the Supreme Court has proclaimed to be the one overrunning reason for all the new corrections, then, at that point, their rash and unenlightened lead will fall with similar load upon the courteous fellows from those States who presently loan their impact to overcome this bill, as upon the most unfortunate slave who once had no privileges which the fair men of honor were bound to regard. . . .

No language could convey a more complete statement of the power of Congress over the subject embraced in the current bill than is communicated [in the Fourteenth Amendment]. In the event that the States don't adjust to the necessities of this proviso, assuming they keep on denying to any individual inside their purview the equivalent assurance of the regulations, or as the Supreme Court had said, "deny equivalent equity”.

{Page: 26}

1) Line 1 - 14:

Then Congress is here said to have ability to uphold the established assurance by proper regulation. That is the power which this bill presently tries to place in work out. It proposes to uphold the established assurance against in balance and segregation by fitting regulation. It doesn't try to give new privileges, nor to put privileges gave by State citizenship under the assurance of the United States, yet basically to forestall and preclude in balance and segregation because of race, variety, or past state of bondage. Never was there a bill all the more totally inside the sacred force of Congress. Never was there a bill which pursued for help all the more firmly to that feeling of equity and fair-play which has been expressed, and in the fundamental with equity, to be a trait of the Anglo-Saxon race. The Constitution warrants it; the Supreme Court sanctions it; equity requests it.

2) Line 15 - 34:

Sir, I have answered to the degree of my capacity to the contentions which have been introduced by the adversaries of this action. I have answered likewise to a portion of the lawful recommendations progressed by refined men on the opposite side; and now that I am going to close, I am profoundly reasonable of the defective way where I have played out the task. Actually, this bill is to settle on the common status of the hued American resident; a point questioned at the actual development of our current Government, when by a childish strategy, an arrangement hostile to genuine conservative government, one black considered three-fifths of a man. The coherent aftereffect of this slip-up of the designers of the Constitution fortified the disease of bondage, which at last spread its noxious arms over the southern part of the body-politic.

To capture its development and save the country we have gone through the frightening activity of digestive system war, feared at all times, depended on at the last furthest point, similar to the specialist's blade, however, totally important to extirpate the sickness which compromised with the existence of the country the defeat of common and political freedom on this landmass. In that desperate limit the individuals from the race which I have the distinction to a limited extent to address — the race which argues for equity at your hands to-day, careless of their cruelness.

{Page: 27}

1) Line 1 - 23:

Mistreating subjugation at the South, their corruption and shunning at the North — flew enthusiastically and heroically to the help of the public Government. Their sufferings, help, privations, and preliminaries in the bogs and in the rice-fields, their fearlessness on the land and on the ocean, is a piece of the consistently heavenly record which makes up the history of a country saved, and may, would it be a good idea for me I encourage the case, slant you to regard and ensure their freedoms and honors as residents of our normal Republic.

However, I recollect that boldness, commitment, and reliability are not generally compensated by their retribution, and that after the fight some who have borne the brunt of the fight may, through disregard or scorn, be doled out to a subordinate place, while the adversaries in war might be liked to the victims. The aftereffects of the conflict, as found in reproduction, have settled always the political status of my race. The entry of this bill will decide the common status, of the black, however of some other class of residents who might feel themselves victimized.

It will shape the cap-stone of that sanctuary of freedom, started on this landmass under putting conditions, carried on regardless of the scoffs of monarchists and the carps of imagined companions of opportunity down, until finally it remains in the entirety of its wonderful evenness and extents, a structure the most fabulous which the world has at any point seen, understanding the most optimistic assumptions and the most noteworthy any desires for the people who, for the sake of equivalent, unbiased, and widespread freedom, established the groundwork stones.