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happen to be of a darker hue than honorable gentlemen around
me? Let me see whether lam or not. I want to convim*
the House, to-day, that lam entitled to my seat here. Ascer
tain gentleman has argued that the negro was a mere develop
ment similar to the ourang-outang or bhimpanz.ee, but it so
happens that, when a negro is examined, physiologically, phre
nologically and anatomically, and, I may say, physiognomically,
he is found to be the same as persons of different color. I
would like to ask any gentleman on this floor, where is the
analogy? Bo you find me a quadruped, or do you find me a
man? Do you find three bones less in my back than in that
of the white man? Do you find less organs in the brain /
you know nothing of this, I do; for I have helped to dissect
fifty men, black and white, and I assert that by the time you
take off the mucous pigment—the color of the skin—you
cannot, to save your life, distinguish between the black man
and the white. Am I a man? Have I a soul to save, as you
have? Am.l susceptible of eternal development, as you aie.
Can I learn all the arts and sciences that you can—has ® ve ’
been demonstrated in the history of the world? Haye black
men ever exhibited bravery, as white men have done ? av e
they ever been in the professions! Have they not as goes
articulative organs as you? Some people argue that there is
a very close similarity between the larynx of the negro ami
that of the ourang-outang. Why, sir, there ifj not so much
similarity between them as there is between the larynx ot the
num and that of the dog, and this fact T dare any Member ot
this House to dispute. God saw fit to vary everything m
Nature. There are no two men alike —no two voices alike no
two trees alike. God has weaved and tissued variety aim ver
satility throughout the, boundless space of His creation.—
Because God saw fit to make some red, and some white, and
some black, and some brown, are we to sit here in judgment
upon what God has seen fit to do? As well might one play
with the thunderbolts of heaven as with that creature that
bears God’s image—God’s photograph.
The question is asked: “ What is it that the negro race has
done?” Well, Mr. Speaker, all 1 have to say upon the subject
is this: that if we are the class of people that we are generally
represented to be, I hold that we are a very great people. It
is generally considered that we are the Children of Canaan,
and that the curse of a father rests upon our beads, and has
rested, all through history. Sir, I deny that the curse of Noah
has anything to do with the negro. We are not the Children
of Canaan;'and if we were, sir, where should we stand? Let
us look a little into history. Melchisedeck was a Canaanite ;
all the Phanicians—all those inventors of the arts and sci
ences—were the posterity of Canaan; but, sir, the negro is
not. We are the children of Cush, and Canaan’s curse has
nothing whatever to do with the negro. If we belong to that
race, 11am belonged to it, under whose instructions Napoleon
Bonaparte studied military tactics. If we belong to that race,
St. Augustine belonged to it. Who was it that laid the founda
tion or the great Reformation? Martin Luther, who lit the
light of Gospel Truth—a light that will never go out until the
sun shall rise to set no more; and, long ere then, Democratic
principles will have found their level in the regions ol Pluto
and of Proserpine.
The negro is here charged with holding office. Why, sir,
the negro never wanted office. I recollect that when we wanted
candidates for the Constitutional Convention, we went from
door to door in the “negro belt,” and begged white men to
run. Some promised to do so; and yet, on the very day of
election, many of them first made known their determination
not to comply with their promises. They told black men,
everywhere, that they would rather see zAent run; ami it was
this encouragement of the white men that induced the colored
man toplace his name upon the ticket as a candidate for the
Convention. In many instances, these white men voted for us.
We did not want them, nor ask them, to do it. .All we wanted
them to do was, to stand still and allow us to walk up to the
polls and deposit ojtr ballots. They would not come here them
selves, but would insist upon sending us. Ben. Hill told them
* it was a nigger affair, and advised them to stay away from the
I . polls a piece of advice which they took very liberal advan-
tage of. If the “ niggers” had “ office on the brain,” it was the
white man that put' it there—not carpet-baggers, either, nor
Mhnkees, nor scalawags, but the high-bred and dignified
Democracy of the South. And if any one is to blame for
having negroes in these Legislative Halls—if blame attaches
to it at all —it* is the Democratic party. Now, however, a
change has come over the spirit of their*a l rguiiieut,
mail is debarred from holding office by
the Reconstruction measures of Congress. Let me tell them
one thing for their information. Black men have held office,
and are now holding office, under the United States Govern
ment. Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, in
1865, commissioned me as United States Chaplain, and I would
have been Chaplain to-day, had I not resigned—not desiring to
lold'office any longer. Let the Democratic pai ty, then, go to
Mr. Johnson, and ask him why he commissioned a negro to
that position? And if they inquire further, they will ascertain
that black men have been commissioned as Lieutenants, Cap
tains, Majors, Brevet Colonels, Surgeons, and other offices of
trust and responsibility, under the United States Government.
Black men, to-day, in Washington City, hold positions as
Clerks, and the only reason why Mr. Langston is not at this
time a Consul Diplomat or Minister Plenipotentiary in some
foreign country, is, because he would not be corrupted by
President Johnson and made to subscribe to his wicked designs.
I . L not that an office, and is it not a great deal better office than
I any seat held in this body ?
The honorable gentleman from Whitfield (Mr. Shumate),
when arguing this question, a day or two ago, put forth the
■ ' proposition that to be a Representative was not to be an
■ officer—“it was a privilege that citizens had a right to enjoy.”
These are his words. It was not an office; it was a “privi
lege.” Every gentleman here knows that he denied that to be
a Representative was to be an officer. Now, he is recognized
'E as a leader of the Democratic party in this House, and gene-
f rally cooks victuals for them to eat; makes that 'remarkable
B declaration, and how are you, gentlemen on the other side of
H the House, to ignore that declaration ? Are you going to expel
|» me from this House, because I am an officer, when one of your
J great lights says that I am not an officer ? If you ddny my
y rigiit—the right of my constituents to have representation
here—because it is a “privilege,” then, sir, I will show you
| that I have as many privileges as the whitest man on this floor,
j II lam not permitted to occupy a seat here, for the purpose of
my constituents, I want to know how white men
be permitted to do so? How can a white man represent
constituency, if a colored man cannot do it? The
argument is: “Oh, we have inherited” this, that and
JU the other. Now, I want gentlemen to come down to cool,
|> ; common sense. Is the created greater than the Creator? Is
| man greater than God? It is very strange, if a white man can
g occupy on this floor a seat created by colored cotes, and a black
|K man cannot do it. Why, gentlemen, it is the most short-sighted
* reasoning in the world. A man can see better than that with
» half an eye; and even if he had no eye at all, he could forge
|H one, as the Cyclops did, or punch one with his finger, which
|P would enable him to see through that.
g‘ It is said that Congress never gave us the right to hold office.
IB I want to know, sir, if the Reconstruction measures did not
■ ' base their action on the ground that no distinction should be
t I on account of race, color, or previous condition ! Was
K | not that the grand fulcrum on which they rested? And did
K I not every reconstructed State have to reconstruct on the idea
W I that no discrimination, in any sense of. the term, should be
!■ made? There is not a man here who will dare say, “No.” If
K'l has simply given me merely sufficient civil mid politi-
fi I ca! ri ghts to make me a mere political slave for Democrats or
<1 an yhody else —giving them the opportunity of jumping on’my
■H back, in order to leap into political power—4 do not thank
>*Uongress for it. Never, so help me, God, shall Ibe a political
slave. lam not now speaking for colored men who sit
»B with me in this House, nor do I -Say that they endorse my
srtitiJneTits J cries from the colored Members, “We do!”|, but
simply and solely for myself. Congress, after
Mr. Lincoln to take me out of servile slavery, did not
to put me and my race into political slavery. If they
let them take away my ballot—l do not want it, and shall
j|Bnot have it. [Several colored Members: “Nor we!”] 1 don’t
BHuanf to be a incro tool of that sort. I have been a slave long
uMenough already.
aB- I tel) you what 1 Would be willing to do: lam willing that
HHthc question should be submitted to Congress for an explana-
Mtion as to what was meant in the passage of these Reconstruc
||Jpi°n measures, and of the Constitutional Amendment. Let ;
Democratic party in this House pass a Resolution giving <
this subject that direction, and I shall be content. I dare you,
gentlemen, to do it. Come up to the question openly, whether
it meant that the negro might hold office, or whether it meant
that he shbuld merely have the right to vote. If you are
honest men, you will do it. If, however, you will not do that,
I would make another proposition: Call together, again, the
Convention that framed the Constitution under which we arc
acting; let them take a vote upon the subject, and I am willing
to abide their decision.
In the course of this discussion, a good deal ot reference
has been made to the Constitution of the United States. I
hold, sir, that, under that Constitution, I am as much a man as
anybody else. I hold that that document is neither pro
scripted, or has it ever, in the first instance, sanctioned slavery.
The Constitution says that any person escaping from service
in one State, and going to another, shall, on demand, be given
up. That has been the clause under which the Democratic
fire-eaters have maintained that that document sanctioned
slavery in man. I shall show you that it meant no such thing.
It was placed there, according to Mr. Madison, altogether for
a'different purpose. In the Convention that drafted the Con
stitution,
Mr. Madison declared, he “ thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution
the idea that there could be property in man.” On motion of Mr. Randolph,
the word “servitude” was struck out, and “service” unanimously
inserted—the former being thought to express the condition of slaves, and
the latter the obligation of free persons.—-3d Mad. Pai*., 1420 and 1569.
Now, if you can, make anything out of that that you find
in it. It comes from one of the fathers ol the Constitution.
Sir, I want the gentleman to know that the Constitution, as
Mr. Alexander 11. Stephens said, I think, in 185 4, so far 38
slavery is concerned, is neutral. He said, that if slavery
existed in Georgia, it existed under the Constitution ami by
the authority of the Constitution; that if slavery did not exist
in Pennsylvania, or in New York, zf was equally under the
Constitution.
That is a distinct avowal that the Constitution was neutral,
ami it is the opinion of a man who is acknowledged to be a
man of great mind and large acquaintance with political affairs.
Again: the Constitution of the United States has the following
clause:
“This Constitution, and and all laws made in pursvanci thereof, shall be
the supreme law of the land.”
Every law, therefore, which is passed •under the Constitu
tion of the United States, is a portion of the supreme law of
the land, and you are bound to obey it.
But gentlemen say that the Democrats did not pass the
Reconstruction measures. I know they did not. Such Demo
crats as we are having in this State corne pretty well under the
description given of the Bourbons by Napoleon Bonaparte,
who said that they never originated a new idea, nor ever forgot
an old one. They certainly never would pass such measures.
Did the Revolutionary Fathers intend to perpetuate slavery?
Many sny they did; I say they did not. What was meant by
the clause which states that no bill of attainder or expost facto
law shall be passed? I will tell you what I believe the Revo
lutionary Fathers meant: I believe it was intended to put a
clause there which should eventually work out the emancipa
tion of the slaves. It was not intended that becausqthe father
had served in slavery the curse should descend.
One of the strongest objections to the negro holding office
is based upon the fact that he has been a slave, ami had no
rights; but the Fathers of this country framed a Constitution
and Laws, whose spirit and letter condemn this everlasting
proscription of the negro.
Let us take, for example, an extract from a memorial sent to
Congress in 1794. It was written by a Committee of which
Dr. Rush was Chairman, and is signed by such men as Samuel
Adams, John Adams, Isaac Law, Stephen Hopkins, and a
host of other prominent gentlemen. This memorial says:
“Many reasons concur in persuading us to abolish slavery in our country.
It is inconsistent with the safety of the liberties of the Unjted States. Free
dom and slavery cannot long exist together.”
Let it be remembered that some of the gentlemen who signed
this memorial had been Presidents of the United States. It
is also well known that General Washington, in his will, ear
nestly expresses a desire that all his slaves should receive their
freedom upon the death of his wife. He says:
“ Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that ail the slavct
held by me in my own right should receive their freedom... I do moM
pointedly and sblcmnly cnioin’Be religiously fulfilled.”
mg uiv slavu« -
mil he intend to perpetuate slavery or negro proscription?
What says he, when writing to General Lafayette?—
“ There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to sec a
plan adopted for the abolition of slavery, but there is only one plan by which
It can be accomplished. That is by legislative authority, and this, so far as
my suffrage will go, shall not be wanting.”
General Lafayette once said:
“ 1 never thought, when I was fighting for America, that 1 was lighting to
perpetuate slavery. I never should have drawn my sword in her defence, if 1
snspcctcd such a thing.”
Jefferson says:
11 And can the liberties of the nation be thought secure, when we have
removed the only firm basis—the conviction of the minds of the i>coplc that
liberty is the gift of God ’ Indeed, I tremble for my country, when 1 reflect
that God is just, and that injustice cannot last forever.”
I could quote from such men for days and weeks together,
to show the spirit that was in them' upon this subject, if I
thought it necessary to my cause.
We are told that we have no right to hold office, because it
was never conferred upon us by “specific enactment.” ITcre
we ever made slaves by specific enactment? I hold, sir, that
there never was a law passed in this country, from its fonnda
dation to the Emancipation, which enacted us slaves. Even
the great Mr. Calhoun said: “ I doubt whether there is a
single State in the South that ever enacted them slaves." If,
then, you have no laws enacting me a slave, how can you ques
tion my right to my freedom? Judge Lumpkin, one of the
ablest jurists that Georgia ever had, said that there never was
any positive law in the State of Georgia thpt forbade negroes
from testifying in Courts; “and they are,” sard he, “onlv
debarjed by their ignorance and ignoble status.” Neither did
Queen Elizabeth, when she gave to Sir John Hawkins a char
ter to bring negroes to this country, give him that right with
any other understanding than that no violence or force should
be used therefor; and she never intended that they should be
anything more than apprentices. Mr. Madison, in speaking
upon the subject of jury-trials for negroes, says: “Proof would
have to be brought forward that slavery was establish 'd by
preexisting laws;” “and,” said he, “it will be impossible to
comply with such a request, for no such law could be pro
duced." Why, then, do gentlemen clamor for proof of our
being free “by virtue of specific enactment?” Show me anv
specifio law of Georgia, or of the United States, that enacted
black men to be slaves, and I will then tell you that, before we
can enjoy our rights as free men, such law must be repealed.
I stand here to-day, sir, pleading for ninety thousand black
men—voters—of Georgia; and I shall stain! and plead the
cause of my race until God, in His providence, shall see proper
to take me hence. I trust that He will give me strength to
stand, and power to accomplish the simple justice that I seek
for them.
Why did your forefathers come to this country ? Did they
not flee from oppression ? They came to free themselves from
the chains of tyranny, and to escape from under the heel of the
Autocrat. Why, sir, in England, for centuries together,
men—add white men at that—wore metal collars around their
necks, bestring, in graven eltaracters, the names by which they
were known. Your great and noble race were sold in the
slave-marts of Home. The Irish, alsrt, held many white slaves,
until 1172; and even Queen Elizabeth, in her day, had to send
a deputation to inquire into the condition of such white slaves
as had been born in England. King Alfred the Great, in his
time, provided that for seven years’ work the slave should be
set free. And, going back to more ancient and more valuable
authority, did not God himself, when he had brought the Chil
dren of Israel out of Egypt, say unto them: “ Remember that
you were slaves in Egypt?” I say to you, white men, to-day,
that the great deliverance of the recent past is not altogether
dissimilar to the great deliverance of ancient times, Your
Democratic party may be aptly said to represent Pharaoh ; the
North to represent one of the walls, ami the South the other,
between these two great walls the black man passes out to
freedom, while your Democratic party —the Pharaoh of to-day—
follows ns with hasty strides and lowering visage.
Phe gentleman Irom Floyd (Mr. Scott) went down amid the
chambers of the dead, and waked up the musty decision of
Judge laaiey in the Dred Scott case. Why, the verv right on
which he denied citizenship to Dred Scott, was, that if he were
a citizen, he would be a free man, and invested with all rights
of citizenship. Tin* Constitution says that
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and resident in this
State, are hereby declared citizens of this State; and no law shall be made or
enforced that shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of.lhe
United States, or of this State, or deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the egual protection of its laws.”
For what purpose was this clause inserted in that Constitu
tion? It was placed there, sir, to protect the rights of every
man—the Heaven-granted, inalienable, unrestricted rights of
mine, and of my race. Great God, if I had the voice of seven
thunders, to-day, I would make the ends of the earth to lieai
me. The Code of Laws known as Irwin’s Code of Georgia,
clearly states the rights of citizens. Section 1648 is as fol
lows :
“ Among the rights of citizens are the enjoyment of personal security, of
personal Hberty, private property and the disposition thereof, the elective
franchise, the right to hold office, to appeal to the Courts, to testify as a wit-
Hess, to perform any civil function, and to keep and bear arms.
Section 1649 of the same Code says:
“All citizens arc entitled to the exercise of their right as such, unless spe
cially prohibited by law.”
I would like to ascertain, Mr. Speaker, what prohibition has
been put upon me, or upon my race, and what can be put upon
it, under the provision of the Constitution, which would deprive
us of holding office. The Constitution of Georgia, Article 2,
Section 2, says that
“ Every male person who has been born or naturalized, or who has legally
declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, twenty years
old or upward, who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding
the election, and shall have resided thirty days in the county in which he
offers to vote, and shall have paid all taxes which may have been required of
him, and which he may have had an opportunity of paying, agreeably to law,
for the year next preceding the election (except as hereinafter provided), shall
be declared an elector; and every male citizen of the United States, of the
age aforesaid (except as hereinafter provided), who may be a resident of the
State at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be deemed an
elector, and shall have all the rights of an elector as aforesaid.”
Now let me read to you the meaning of the word “citizen,”
as given by Mr. Bouvier in his Law Dictionary;
“ In American law. one who, under the Constitution and Laws of the I nited
States, has a right to vote for Representatives in Congress and other public
officers, and who is qualified to fill offices in the gift of the people. Any white
person born in the United States, or naturalized person born out of the same,
who has not lost his right as such.”
Now, sir, I claim to be a citizen, I claim to lx* an elector,
ami I claim to be entitled to hold office.
We have heard a good deal said about Greece and Rome,
and the great nations of antiquity, and of such great men as
Socrates, Seneca, Aristotle, Plato, Herodotus, Horace, and
Homer. Well, I make a reference or two to these times and
nations. A freedman among the Romans was nothing more
than, in the time of slavery in this country, a free negro would
be. He could not come in contact with the citizen upon an
equal footing, but when the Empire came under the sway ol
Constantine, he provided that all slaves who were made free
upon account of meritorious conduct should be enfranchised.
Go back, then, Georgians, to the days of Constantine, and
learn from him a lesson of wisdom. In the days of Justinian,
too, provision was made that every slave who was made free
should be enfranchised and made a full citizen of Rome. Die
celebrated Roman writer, Horace, boasted that he was the son
of a freedman; and I would remind you, also, that one of the
Emperors and rulers of Rome had a slave mother. Another
provision of those times was, that a slave could become free
and a citizen by the consent of six thousand other citizens.
Now,, sir, even following the example of Rome, am I not a
citizen? Have not more than six thousand white citizens voted
me my rights as such? And have not forty thousand white
citizens voted for the Constitution which grants me my rights
as such?
We learn some peculiar points in regard to slavery from
many of the writers of ancient times. Tacitus, for instance,
tells us that, amongst the ancient Germans, if, in gaming, the
slave should win, the master became his property and slave,
while he became master. Mohammed gave political rights to
all slaves who defended his religion; and so, indeed, in general,
did the Crusaders; and the Popes of Rome used to teach their
flocks that all men were the Lord’s freemen. St. Jerome once
remarked that a man’s right to enfranchisement existed in his
knowledge of the truth. I might quote for hours from such
authorities as these upon the rights which rested in, and were
acquired by, the slaves of old, but I deem it unnecessary to do
so at this time.
These.colored men, who are unable to express themselves
country. It reminds me very much of the man who looked at
himself in a mirror, and, imagining that he was addressing
another person, exclaimed: “My God, how ugly you are
[Laughter.] These gentlemen do not consider for a moment
the dreadful hardships which these people have endured, and
especially those who in any way endeavored to acquire an
education. For myself, sir, I was raised in the cotton field of
South Carolina, and, in order to prepare myself for usefulness, as
well to myself as to my race, I determined to devote my spare
hours to study. When the overseer retired at night to his
comfortable couch, I sat and read, and thought, and studied,
until I heard him blow his horn in the morning. He frequently
told me, with an oath, that if he discovered me attempting to
learn, he would whip me to death, and I have no doubt he would
have done so, if he had found an opportunity. I prayed to
Almighty God to assist me, and He did, ami I thank Him with
my whole heart, and soul.
Personally, I have the highest regard for the gentleman from
Floyd (Mr. Scott), but! need scarcely say that I heartily despise
the political sentiments which he holds. I would pledge myself
to do this, however: To take the Holy Bible and read it in as
many different languages as he will. If Ac reads it in Eng
lish, / will do it; if he reads it in Latin, J will do the same;
if in Greek, [ will read it in that language, too; and if in
Hebrew, / will meet frirn, also, there. It can scarcely, then,
be upon the plea of ignorance that he would debar me from
the exercise of political rights.
I must now direet your attention to a point which shows the
intention of the framers of the Constitution of Georgia, which
you have sworn to support. In the “ Proceedings of the Con
stitutional Convention,” which framed this Constitution, I find,
under date of March 3d, 1868, that, on motion of Mr. Akerinan,
the report of the Judiciary Committee on the subject of the
qualifications of persons for membership to the first General
Assembly, after the ratification and adoption of the Constitu
tion, was taken up, and, without amendment, adopted. That
report is as follows :
“ Z>e it ord<iln< <l\y the people of Georgia, In Convention antembled, That
the persons eligible as members of the General Assembly, at the first election
held under the Constitution framed by this Convention, shall be citizens of
the United States who shall have been inhabitants of this State for six months,
and of the district or county for which they shall be elected for three months
next preceding such election, and who, in the case of Senators, shall have
attained the age of twenty-five years, and, in the case, of Representatives, the
age of twenty-one years, at the time of such election.”
Gentlemen will observe the word “inhabitant” in that
Ordinance; and it was put there especially, in order that no
question could arise as to who were eligible to fill the positions
of Senator and Representative.
So far as Lam personally concerned, no man in Georgia lias
been more conservative than I. “Anything to please the white
folks” has been my motto; and so closely have I adhered to
that course, that many among my own party have classed me
as a Democrat. One of the leaders of the Republican party
in Georgia has not been at all favorable to me for some time
back, because be believed that I was too “conservative” for
a Republican. I can assure you, however, Mr. Speaker, that I
have had quite enough, and to spare, of such “ conservatism.”
The “conservative” element has pursued a somewhat erratic
course in the reconstruction of Georgia. In several instances—
as, for instance, in Houston county—they placed negroes on
their tickets for county offices, and elected them, too, and they
are holding office to-day. And this policy is perfectly con
sistent with the doctrine tanght, in public and in private, by
the great lights of Democracy, all through the last canvass.
They objected to the Constitution, “because,” said thev, “it
confers upon the niggers the right to hold office.” Even Mr.
Alexander 11. Stephens—one of the greatest men, if not the
greatest man, in the South, to-day, and one for whom I have
the utmost respect —in a conversation that I had with him
before the Legislature convened (Governor Brown’s Marietta
speech being one of the topics under consideration very gene
rally throughout the State at the time), said: “Governor
Brown says that the black man cannot hold office under that
Constitution, but he knows that he can.”
But, Mr. Speaker, I do not regard this movement as a thrust .
at mo. It is a thrust at the Bible—a thrust at the God of the
Universe, for making a man and not finishing him; it is simplv
calling the Great Jehovah a fool. Why, sir, though we are
not white, we have accomplished 5 much. We have pioneered i
civilization here; we have built up your eoimtrv; wo have
worked in your fields, and garnered your harvests, for two i
. -
hundred mt fifty years! And what do we ask of you in
return? Do we ask you for compensation for the sweat onr
fathers bore for you—for the tears you have caused, and the
hearts you have broken, ;uid the lives you have curtailed, and
the blood you have spilled ? Do we ask retaliation t Me ask
it not We are willing to let the dead past bury its dead; but
we ask you, now, for our bights. You have all the elements
of superiority upon your side; you have our money and your
own* you have onr education and your own; and you have
our land and your own, too. We, who number hundreds of
thousands in Georgia, including onr wives ami families, with
not a foot of land to call our own—strangers in the land ot our
birth; without money, without education, without aid, without
a roof to cover us while we live, nor sufficient clay to cover
us when we die! It is extraordinary that n race such as yours,
professing gallantry, and chivalry, and education, and supe
riority, living in a land where ringing chimes call child and
sire to the Church of God—a land where Bibles arc read and
Gospel truths are spoken, and where courts of justice are pre
sumed to exist; it is extraordinary, I say, that, with all these
advantages on your side, you can make war upon the poor
defenceless black man. You know we have no money, no rail
roads, no telegraphs, no advantages of any sort, and yet all
manner of injustice is placed upon us. You know that the
black people of this country acknowledge you as their supe
riors, by virtue of your education and advantages.
There was a Resolution passed here at the early part of this
session stating that all persons who were in their seat s were
eligible thereto. What are gentlemen going to do, with that
Resolution staring them in the face? lour children and my
children will read that Resolution, and they will be astonished
that persons, claiming to be men, with souls and consciences,
should, contrary to the express provision of that Resolution,
turn the colored man out of his seat in this Hall. Another
Resolution came before this House, a short time ago, praying
Congress to remove all political disabilities from the white
people of Georgia. I stood up in my place here, sir, and advo
cated that Resolution, and advised all colored Members to do
the same; and almost every one of them voted for it. We
were willing to give the white man every right which he ever
rightfully possessed, and, were there forty negroes in this
country to one white man, I would have precisely the same
feeling, and act precisely the same way. The action of the
House reminds me very much of a couple of lines of verse
which we occasionally- read:
“ When the Devil was sick, the Devil a saint would be;
When the Devil was well, the Devil a saint was he.”
When this House was “sick” with fear for the safety of
the seats of ineligible Democrats, they were all very gracious
and polite. But, when the Resolution was passed, declaring,
in the face of facts, that all who were in their seats were eligi
ble, then the foot was raised which was to trample on the jioor
negro, and that, too, by those who claim bravery and chivalry.
You may expel us, gentlemen, but I firmly believe that you
will some day repent it. The black man cannot protect a
country, if the country doesn’t protect him; and if, to-morrow,
a war should arise, I would not raise a musket to defend a
country where my manhood is denied. The fashionable way
in Georgia, when hard work is to be done, is, lor the white
man to sit at his ease, while the black man doos the work;
but, sir, I will say this much to the colored men of Georgia,
as, if I should be killed in this campaign,! may have no oppor
tunity of telling them at any other time: Never lilt a finger
nor raise a hand in defence ol Georgia, unless Georgia acknowl
edges that you are men, and invests you with the rights per
taining to manhood. Pay your taxes, however, obey all orders
from your employers, take good counsel from friends, work
faithfully, earn an honest living, and show, by your conduct,
, that you can be good citizens.
T want to take your memories back to 18G2. In that year,
the Emperor of Russia, with one stroke of his pen, freed
twenty-two millions of serfs. What did Russia do, then ?
Did she draw lines of distinction between those who had been
serfs and her other citizens? No! That noble Prince, upon
whose realm the sun never sets, after having freed these serfs,
invested them with all the political rights enjoyed by his other
subjects. America boasts of being the most enlightened,
intelligent and enterprising nation in the world, and inany
people look upon Russia as not altogether perfectly civilized.
But, look at what Russia has done for her slaves; there were
tWeiltV‘’^ wr ' wLilo avo fxrttr millions
ui us in the whole South, and only half a million in Georgia.
If the action is t iken in this House that is contemplated to-day'
I will call a colored Convention, and I will say to my friends:
Let us send-North for carpet-baggers and Yankees, ami let us
send to Eurojie and all over the world for immigrants, and
when they come here, we will give them every vote we have,
and send them to the Legislature, in preference to sending a
Georgian there.
Go on with your oppressions. Babylon fell. Where is
Greece? Where is Nineveh? and where is Rome, the mistress
Empire of the world? Why is it that she stands, to-day, in
broken fragments throughout Europe? Because oppression
killed her. Every act that we commit is like a bounding ball.
If you curse a man, that curse rebounds upon you; and when
you bless a man, the blessing returns to you; and when'you
oppress a man, the oppression, also, will rebound. Where
have you ever heard of four millions of freemen being gov
erned by laws, and yet have no hand in their making? Search
the records of the world, and you will find no example.
“ Governments derive their just powers from the consent of
the governed.” How dare you to make laws by which to try
me and my wife and children, and deny me a voice in the
making of these laws ? I know you can establish a monarchy,
an autocracy, an oligarchy, or any other kind of an “ocracy”
that you please; and that you can declare whom you please to
be sovereign; but tell me, sir, how you can clothe me with
more power than another, where all are sovereigns alike?
How can you say you have a Republican form of Government,
when you make such distinction and enact such proscriptive
laws?
Gentlemen talk a good deal about the negroes “building no
monuments.” I can tell the gentlemen one thing; that is, that
we could have built monuments of fire while the war was in
progress. We could have fired your woods, your barns and
fences, and called you home. Did we do it? No, sir! And
God grant that the negro may never do it, or do anything else
that would destroy the good opinion of his friends. No epithet
is sufficiently opprobrious for us now. I say, sir, that we have
built a monument of docility, of obedience,‘of respect, aiid of
self-control, that will endure longer than the Pyramids of
We are a persecuted people. Luther was persecuted;
Galileo was persecuted; good men in all nations have been
persecuted; but the persecutors have been handed down to
posterity with shame and ignominy. If you pass this Bill, you j
will never get Congress to pardon or enfranchise another rebel
in your lives. You are going to fix an evcrlast ing disfranchise- 1
ment upon Mr. Toombs and the other leading men of Georgia.
You may think you are doing yourselves honor by expelling us
from this House; but when we go, we will do as Wickliffe and
as Latimer did. We will light a torch of truth that, will never
be extinguished—the impression that will run through the
country, as people picture in their mind’s eye these poor black
men, in all parts of this Southern country, pleading for their
rights. When you expel us, you make us forever your politi
cal foes, and you will never find a black man to vote a Demo
cratic ticket again; for, so help me, God, I will go through all
the length and breadth of the land, where a man of my race
is to be found, and advisq, him to beware of the Democratic
party. Justice is the great doctrine taught in the Bible. God’s
Eternal Justice is founded upon Truth, and the man who steps
from Justice steps from Truth, and cannot make his principles
to prevail.
I have now, Mr. Speaker, said all that my physical condition
will allow me to say. Weak and ill, though I am, I could not
sit passively here and sec the sacred rights of my race destroyed
at one blow. We are in a position somewhat similar to that
of the famous “ Light Brigade,” of which Tennyson says, they
had
“ Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them.
Volleyed and thundered.”
I hope our poor, down-trodden race may act well and wisely
through this period of trial, and that they will exercise patience
ami discretion under all circumstances.
You may expel us, gentlemen, by your votes, to-day; but,
while you do it, remember that .there is a just God in Heaven,
whose All-Seeing Eye beholds alike the acts of the oppressor
and the oppressed, and who, despite the machinations of the
wicked, never fails to vindicate the cause of Justice, and lhe
sanctity of His own handiwork.
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