and the Negro Franchise Author(s): Louis Ruchames Source: The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 50, No. 1 (Jan., 1965), pp. 37-49 Published by: Association for the Study of African American Life and History Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2716407 Accessed: 03-02-2016 15:39 UTC

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This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON AND THE NEGRO FRANCHISE

For decades, many historianshave portrayedWilliam Lloyd Garrisonas a wild-eyed,narrow-minded and unreason- able fanaticwhose bitter invectives against and slave- holdershelped bring about the Civil War. Morerecently, Garrison has beencriticized for his "grow- ingconservatism" both during and afterthe CivilWar. After emancipationof the slaves and throughoutthe Reconstruction period,Garrison, it is alleged,became increasingly indifferent to the plightof the freedmen.Consequently, he failed to un- derstandthe importanceof the one rightvital to theirwel- fare, the .Indeed, so insensitivewas he to Negro needs at the end of the war that he opposed grantingthe franchiseto theSouthern Negro. Apparently,we have in Gar- rison anotherexample of the impassionedradical, who hav- ing achievedhis one greataim, the end of slavery,became an arch-conservative. In a sense,this evaluation of Garrison'slater years dove- tails neatlywith a prevalenttheory of the ante-bellumradical as one motivatedprimarily by the need to findexpression for his ownfrustrations, rather than by a love of humanityor a sensitivityto injustice and the sufferingsof others.Garri- son's achievementof success,honor and respectabilitywith the end of slavery,presumably fully satisfied the frustrations that underlayhis turnto Abolitionmany years earlier,and accountsfor his alleged callousnesstoward the very people whomhe had previouslysought to help. The view of Garrisonas opposed to Negro suffrageduring the war and in the post-warperiod is presentedat lengthby John L. Thomas in a recentbiography.' Thomas empha- sizes thatGarrison "ignored the question of thefranchise: in his mindemancipation did not includethe rightto vote." In fact,he "opposed givingthe Negro the franchise,"and his "views on the questionof Negro suffragehad grownsteadily moreconservative. Personal freedomwas one thing,he now

1 The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison;: A Biography, by John L. Thomas. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963. 37

This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 38 JOURNALOF NEGRO HISTROY felt,the vote another."2 Nowheredoes Thomas suggestthat Garrison'sattitude toward the enfranchisementof the freed Negrowas everany other than of complete opposition. This impressionof Garrisonhas receivedwide currency in a reviewof Thomas's biographyby C. Vann Woodwardin the New Times Book Review, on June 30, 1963, and in Woodward'sletter to theeditor on July28, 1963.In thelatter, especially,Woodward maintains that Garrison"was against givingthe freedmen the right to vote." The factof the matteris thatGarrison's allegedly grow- ing indifferenceto Negrorights is simplyuntrue. It is plaus- ible onlyif one choosesto ignorereferences to his effortsdur- ing the war and post-waryears on behalfof Negro equality, includingthe franchise,and if one fails to understandfully certainevents of 1864and 1865. The issue of thefreedmen's right to vote arose in Decem- ber, 1863,with Lincoln's Proclamationof Amnestyand Re- construction.The proclamationgranted pardon, with certain exceptions,to participantsin the Rebellionwho wouldtake a prescribedoath of allegianceto the Union,to the Constitu- tion,and to the NorthernCivil War enactmentsregarding slavery. It providedthat where one-tenth of the votersquali- fied to vote in 1860 took the oath of allegiance and re- establisheda stategovernment, it wouldbe recognizedby the Federal Government.The new state governmentswere to be permittedto maintainthe codes of law and constitutions- exceptfor provisionsregarding slavery-which had existed beforethe war. Garrison'sinitial reactionto the proclamationwas one of condemnation,which he expressedin an editorialin the Liberatoron December18, 1863. Noteworthyis his displeas- ure at Lincoln'sfailure to enfranchisethe freedman: We havebarely space to say,that we regardthis amnesty as uncalledfor, and anti-republicanand perilousin someof its features.It puts the freedom,safety, and happinessof the liberatedbondmen at themercy of one-tenthof thenamber of voterswho were at the polls in any rebel State in 1860, and recognizethat fraction (one-tenth) as competentto constitute a bonafide State; and whileit allowsthose who have beenin

2 Ibid., pp. 415, 421, 433-4.

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bloodyrebellion to vote,it disfranchisesthe whole body of loyal freedmen!It opens the way for duplicityand perfidy to any extent,and virtuallynullifies the confiscationact of Congress. . Mr. Lincoln'smagnanimity is weakness,and his methodof disposingof thosewho have been emancipatedby his proclamationthat of givingover the sheep to the guar- dianshipof wolves. This must not be tolerated. At this point, the paths of Garrison and Wendell Phillips began to diverge. The root of the matter was the over-all attitude to be taken toward Lincoln. Phillips came to regard Lincoln as a drag upon the anti-slavery movement,ready to betray the slave and the freed Negro, even the Emancipation Proclamation itself for the sake of the Union. To Phillips, the Amnesty Proclamation was one more step toward that betrayal. Garrison, on the other hand, saw Lincoln as a great progressive figure,the key to the anti-slavery struggle, a symbol of its unity and progress, who had done much, especially through the Emancipation Proclamation and the enlistmentof Negroes in the Northernarmy, to destroy slav- ery and to achieve equal rights for the freedmen. Lincoln, in Garrison's opinion,was the only politician capable of rallying Northern support for the war and of leading the countryto victory; even more, the only anti-slaveryman capable of win- ning the approaching election in November, 1864, and of pre- ventinga Democratic-Copperheadvictory. Yet Lincoln would be certain of winning only if he had a united anti-slavery movementbehind him. Thus, Lincoln might be criticized but not condemned and even then criticism had to convey sym- pathy and understandingfor the problemsthe President faced. It is in terms of this conflictbetween Phillips and Garrison, and especially in terms of Garrison's attitude toward Lin- coln's role as a leader of the anti-slaverycause, that his state- ments concerning Negro enfranchisementare to be under- stood. The question came to the fore at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, on January 28, 1864, when Phillips, with the President's Amnesty Procla- mation in mind, offereda resolution which affirmedthat "the Government,in its haste, is ready to sacrificethe interestand honor of the North to secure a sham peace; thereby risking the introductioninto Congress of a strong confederate mi-

This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 40 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTROY norityto embarrasslegislation, and leavingthe freedmen and the Southern States under the control of the late slave- holders... 2 Garrisonimmediately took issue withthe resolutionand afterexplaining that "I am notprepared to bringthis charge, nor to cast this imputation.I believethat thereis only one partyat the Norththat is readyto make such a sacrificefor such an object,and that is the partyof Copperheads,"pro- posed an amendment:" 'Resolved,That, in our opinion,the Government,in its haste, is in danger of sacrificing,'etc." Garrison'sexplanation of his oppositionto Phillip's resolu- tionwas as follows: The resolution,as offered,is an impeachmentof motives, not of abilityor vigilance. It commitsus to the assertion, thatwe believethe Government-meaningMr. Lincolnin par- ticular-is readyto do a mostinfamous act, namely,'to sac- rificethe interestand honorof the Northto secure a sham peace,' wherebythe President'sEmancipation Proclamation shall be renderednull and void, and the slave oligarchyre- storedto theiroriginal supremacy. Now, sir, I do not believe a word of it . . . it amounts to perfidy. . . That is a very gravecharge. Such is not theconviction of thepeople, nor of therebels themselves who would like to destroyhim. Garrisonthen alluded to the issue whichwas already agitat- ing him deeply: Popular conventionsand gatheringsare nominatinghim [Lincoln]by acclamationfor re-election to thePresidency ... Taking all things into consideration. . . in my judgment the re-electionof AbrahamLincoln to thePresidency of theUnited States wouldbe the safestand wisestcourse, in the present state of our nationalaffairs, on the part of thosewho are friendlyto his Administration.No othercandidate would probably carry so strong a vote in opposition to Copperhead democracy.Such, at least,is myconviction.3 During the next few months, the most important task of Abolitionists,in Garrison's opinion,4 was to assure the elec- tion of Lincoln in November,and all other issues were to be judged in the light of that task. On March 18, 1864, in an edi- torial in the Liberator, entitled "The Presidency," Garrison emphasized the need for the anti-slaverymen to unite behind one candidate. That candidate, he wrote, had to be Abra-

3 The Liberator, February 5, 1864.

This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WILLIAMLLOYD GARRISON AND THE NEGROFRANCHISE 41 ham Lincoln,who surpassedall otheranti-slavery men in his popularitywith the masses and his abilityto secure votes. That Garrisonhad chosena difficulttask in defendingPresi- dentLincoln was shownby the vote at the anti-slaverymeet- ing of January28, whichhad rejectedGarrison's amendment and thenaccepted that of Phillips.4 The oppositionto Lincoln among abolitionistswas fur- ther intensifiedwhen it was reportedthat Major General N. P. Banks, commandingthe Departmentof the Gulf,had decidedto proceedunder President Lincoln's plan of Recon- struction.He had called fora state constitutionalconvention and the electionof state officersin , but in doingso had barred Negroes fromparticipation both as voters and delegates.5 Abolitionist opposition to Lincoln was noticed by Garri- son in an editorialon June3, in whichhe remarkedthat the New England Anti-SlaveryConvention of May 26 and 27 was about equallydivided over supportof Lincolnfor President; and that such Abolitioniststalwarts as Parker Pillsburyand StephenS. Foster had attendedthe Radical Political Conven- tionat Cleveland,Ohio, which had nominatedFremont, while Wendell Phillips had sent a letterto the same convention, supportingFremont as his firstchoice. It was in themidst of this apparentlydeteriorating rela- tionshipbetween Lincoln and the Abolitionists,that the Lib- erator, on July 1, reprinteda letter dated June 7, 1864, from an Englishreader, Professor Francis W. Newman,of London University-whohad been a friendof the anti-slaverymove- mentand a supporterof the North-whichcriticized Lincoln most severelyfor his supportof GeneralN. P. Banks's dis- criminatorypolicy in New Orleans,and his insistencethat the Emancipation Proclamation and other measures for the elim- ination of slavery were based on military necessity rather than moralityor a belief in equal rights. The letterended withthe warningthat "if you let the next Presidentialelec- tionspass, withoutsternly enforcing on the candidatesa total

4 It maybe notedthat with Southern secession and the beginningof the Civil War Garrisonabandoned his anti-government,anti-Constitution point of view. 5 Liberator,February 5, 1864. 6 Ibid., April 1, 1864.

This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 42 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTROY abandonmentof yourcardinal and ruinousnational insanity, -prejudice against color-your nationalfuture may be lost forever."The oppositionto Lincoln's candidacywas obvious. Garrison's answer to Professor Newman consisted of commentsin threeissues of the Liberator. His first,an edi- torialcomment in thevery issue in whichthe letter appeared, emphasizedthat ProfessorNewman had failed to realize the great advances that had been made since the Emancipation Proclamation,and that thecause of the oppressed in ourland has been steadily grow- ing brighterand brighter-theaction of the governmentmore and moredecisive in oppositionto slavery,and in favorof the equal rightsof thecolored population . . . That thereare griev- ances still to be redressed,and outragesto be protested against,is true; but is it rationallyto be expectedthat, where slaveryand its poisonousinfluences have ruled the country forcenturies, full justicefor the oppressedcan be obtainedat a singlebound-especially in the midstof the convulsionsof an unparalleledcivil war. Garrison'semphasis upon the progress being made under Lincoln'sadministration, his confidencein Lincoln's integrity as an anti-slaveryman, and his sympatheticevaluation of the Presidentwere even more evidentin two later issues of the Liberator,in whichhe continuedhis replyto Professor Newman. On July 15, he stressed that the Presidentwas not a dictatorwho could set any policyhe pleased, but an elected officialwho had to take publicopinion into consideration, that the rightto abolish slaverywas trulybased upon "military necessity,"that no Presidenthad "more honestlyendeavored to dischargeall its [the Presidency's] duties with a single eye to the welfareof the country,than Mr. Lincoln," that althoughhe had come into officeunder great handicaps- insignificantabolitionist strength, prejudice against the Negro strongand universal,"a generaldisposition ... to avoid the issue withslavery" and to restorethe Union "with all its pro- slavery compromises"-he had nevertheless"magnificent" achievementsto his credit,both in the eliminationof slavery and in the achievementof equal rightsfor the Negro. These included the Emancipation Proclamation,emancipation in Missouri,Western Virginia, , and the District of

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Columbia,the abolition of slavery in Louisiana and Ar- , its "virtual abolitionin Tennessee," the treatywith GreatBritain for the suppressionof the foreignslave-trade, the "consecration" of the Territoriesto free labor and free institutions,the recognitionof the independenceof Haiti and Liberia,the abolitionof all fugitiveslave laws and the inter- state slave trade,the enlistmentof 130,000colored soldiers, and the admissionof Negroes to equal rightsin the courts.7 On July22, withthe electiondrawing closer, and many anti-slaverymen alienated by Lincoln's failure to grantvoting rightsto the Negro in Louisiana, Garrisonwrote yet another lengthlyletter to ProfessorNewman in whichhe discussed theissue of Negrovoting rights in thenewly conquered South. It was in this letter,as well as in a later editorial,that he made the remarksupon whichthe conclusionhas been based thathe opposedgranting the vote to thefreedmen. In actuality,neither in this letter nor elsewheredid Garrisonoppose givingthe freedmenthe rightto vote. His purpose in writingthe letter was to defendLincoln from those criticswho, in effect,were reducingLincoln's chances of re-electionthrough their condemnationof the failure to grantthe freedmenin Louisiana the rightto vote and their refusalto recognizeall that Lincoln had already done and was doing on behalfof the slave and the . "The abolitionof slavery,"Garrison stressed, "is firstin order,and of paramountimportance, before we begin to determinethe exact politicalstatus of those set free." Arguingthat "the electivefranchise is a conventional,not a natural right,"he added that "yet, the more it is enjoyedin any community, as a general statement,the betterfor public safetyand ad- ministrativejustice." But the failure to achieve the vote, he insisted,ought not to involvea denial of the value of the endof slavery. Alludingto the inconsistencyof Prof. Newman'sattitude in denouncingLincoln's freeingof the slaves as a sham be- cause of the President'sfailure to grantthem suffrage, while sayingnothing about his owncountry's denial of the suffrage

7 bid., July15, 1864.

This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 44 JOURNALOF NEGRO HISTROY to thousandsof laborers who were freemen,Garrison pro- ceededto defendLincoln's failureto grantthe slave the right to vote at the momentof emancipation.He used a numberof arguments.First, the experience of history,which, he claimed, had neverknown of liberatedslaves being grantedpolitical equalityat the momentof theirliberation. Second, the exist- enceof doubtas to thePresident's constitutional right to grant the freedmenthe rightto vote,since votinghad always been "a State,never a nationalmatter." Garrison argued that Lin- coln, having freed the slaves and having insisted that any plan of Reconstructionaffirm the death of slavery,could no moreabolish racial votingdistinctions than he could "safely or advantageouslydecree that all women(whose title is equal- ly good) shouldenjoy the electoralright, and help formthe State." Third,if the freedmenof a state were to receivethe voteby Presidentialdecree, against the will of thewhite pop- ulation,and "withouta general preparationof feelingand sentiment,"they would most likelylose it again as soon as that state regainedthe rightto manage its own affairswith its readmissioninto the Union. Universal suffrage,Garrison affirmed, would ultimately be achieved. But it will come,both at the Southand withyou . . . only by a struggleon thepart of the disfranchised,and a growing convictionof its justice,'in thegood time coming.' With the abolitionof slaveryin the South,prejudice or 'colorphobia', the naturalproduct of the system,will graduallysdisap- pear-as in thecase of yourWest India Colonies-andblack menwill win their way to wealth,distinction, eminence, and officialstation. I askonly a charitablejudgment for President Lincolnrespecting this matter, whether in Louisianaor any otherstate.9 Garrison'ssupport of Lincoln's policy and thatof General Banks in Louisiana, was not based upon blind admiration of the Administrationor oppositionto Negro voting,but upon an evaluationof the situationin that state,and of the progressalready made there.Thus, in his replies to Profes- sor Newman,he refersto two of GeneralBank's ordinances: 8 Thomas,in reproducingthis statement,inadvertently substitutes "naturally" for "gradually."See op. cit., p. 434. 9 Liberator,July 22, 1864. 10Ibid, July22, 1864.

This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISONAND THE NEGROFRANCHISE 45 one,the establishmentof commonschools for all Negroesun- der Bank's rule; the other,the total abolition of slavery throughouthis department,even "where it was expressly exemptedby the President's EmancipationProclamation of January 1, 1863-thus making it completethroughout the State. Of course,this was donewith the sanctionof the Presi- dent,and is an additionalplume for himself [Banks] and the President,of the tallestkind."10 Some monthslater, with the electionout of the way,but the war not yet won and the need for anti-slaveryunity be- hind the Presidentstill important,Garrison again discussed the questionof the vote for the freedmenin the Liberator, on January13, 1865. He affirmedthat Lincoln was sympa- theticto the needs of the freedmen,and that the failure to give themthe vote,while not praiseworthy,was nevertheless understandable,perhaps even excusable. Referringto the conflictamong abolitionistsover this issue, he denied that anyabolitionist approved of discrimination. Norhas there been, nor is therenow, among the abolitionists in thiscountry, any conflict or division as to thewrongfulness ofcomplexional proscription, whether at theballot-box or else- where. If no whiteman loses his vote on accountof his ig- norance,then, they maintain, no blackman should be deprived of his vote,for the same reason. Whateveris made requisite to constitutea voterin the one case, should also be in the other.But, becausethe white man is allowedto vote,and the black man is not,is it for any abolitionistto treatthe over- throwof slavery as in itselfa smallmatter ?11 It was in this editorialthat he pointedto the contradic- tion involvedin demandingthe vote for the Negro in the Southwhile denying it to himin theNorth. But, it is said, "such a reconstructionas puts the word white into the Constitution,and bases governmenton the whiterace, is neithersafe for the Negro nor for us, and of con- sequenceis not safe for the nation." That, assuredly,is a soundpolitical axiom; but is no moretrue of Louisiana than of any otherState. Yet of all otherStates, loyal and rebel, only Maine, New Hampshire,Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island make no complexionaldiscrimination at the

11 Thomas'sbias toward Garrisonleads him into strangebyways. He mis- reads these sentencesand thus attributesto Garrisonthe thoughtthat "simply because ignorantwhite men were allowedto vote therewas no reason to enfran- chise millionsof ignorantblacks." (op. cit., p. 434).

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polls. Is the South to be held to a higherstandard than the North? Intellectuallyand morally,where are the conditions to warrantthis? With what face can those States which place theirown coloredcitizens under politicalban demand of Louisiana,or of any otherreconstructed rebel State, that she shall at oncegive the electivefranchise to her freedpopu- lation? "Thou that sayest,a man shouldnot steal,dost thou steal?" "Physician, heal thyself."12 The evidence suggests that in this editorial, as well as in his replyto Professor Newman, Garrison,far fromshowing unconcernfor Negro equality, displayed unusual political per- ceptiveness and statesmanship. In this respect he was far in advance of many otherAbolitionists. The question of reconstruction, of the admission of Louisiana to the Union and Negro rights in the South, arose again at the thirty-secondannual meeting of the Massachu- setts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, on Thursday and Fri- day, January 26 and 27, 1865.13 After Wendell Phillips had introduced several resolutions, one of which demanded a repudiation of reconstructionin Louisiana because it had not granted its Negroes equal voting rights, and another called for constitutionalamendments prohibiting slavery and forbidding the States to discriminate between their citizens because of color, Garrison introduced two additional resolu- tions. The firstresolved that If, as reconstructed,Louisiana ought not to be admitted to theUnion because she excludesher coloredpopulation from thepolls, then Connecticut, New Jersey,Pennsylvania, and all theWestern States ought not to be in the Unionfor the same reason;and whilethey are guiltyof thisproscription, it is not forthem to demandof Louisiana a broaderscope of republi- can liberalitythan they are willingto take in theirown case. The second noted that since each state claimed "the right to determine on what conditions any of its inhabitants shall wield the ballot," since no state would "consent to have this established prerogativewrested fromit, and a whollydifferent rule forcibly prescribed . . . without an amendment of the national Constitution,"and that by the conflictinglaws or constitutionsof the severalStates in thematter of voting,colored citizens who are electorsin one

12Ibid, Jan. 13, 1865. 13 Ibid, Feb. 3, 1865.

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State are disfranchisedin another,and thus this usage is at- tendedwith invidious and oppressivefeatures, and oughtnot longerto prevailamong a peopleclaiming to be onein national- ityof spirit, purpose and destiny... It then resolved that Congressshould lose no timein submittingto the people an amendmentof the Constitution,making the electorallaw uni- formin all the States,without regard to complexionaldistinc- tions.14 As a result of his defense of Lincoln, Garrison was led into defending the view that the South ought not to be re- quired, as a price of its return to the Union, to confer voting rights upon the freedmen which were not being granted to Negroes in the North or West. Phillips argued, however,that those Southern states which had seceded were in a unique position. They had no rights which the North was bound to respect, and the Federal Governmentcould rightlyask the se- ceded states to accede to conditions which were not being demanded of the North. With Lincoln's death, and as the passing monthsrevealed the recalcitranceof the South and Southern persecution of the freedmen, Garrison adopted the policy of Phillips and de- manded the vote for the Southern freedmenas one means of helping them defend themselves. On July 14, 1865, in an editorial in the Liberator, while cautioning against any hasty condemnationof President ,he concluded as follows: We are as anxiousthat the freedman should have the ballot to protecthim fromunjust class legislationas any one can reasonablybe; we denouncehis deprivationof it, on account of his complexion,as an act of injustice, which, if prolonged, will surely bring with it trouble and retribution;we regard the question of reconstructionas one of momentousimpor- tance; and we watch with eagerness and the closest scrutiny whatever has a bearing upon the freedom,safety and happi- ness of our colored countrymen.We only counsel against un- founded accusations,unreasonable impeachments, unwarranted exaggerations. With fidelityto principle, let there be a ra- tional view taken of the state of the country, and of the difficultiesand perplexities surrounding the government; so that full justice may be done to all concerned.

14 This is one of the earliest demandsfor what later became the Fifteenth Amendment.

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A monthlater, as it became evidentthat the Negro in theSouth was beingsubjected to a reignof terror,Garrison's attitudehardened and theneed forthe Negrofranchise in the Southbecame for him urgent and vital. He wrote,in an edi- torial on August 25, that "we shall confidentlylook to the nextCongress to be impregnableas Gibraltaragainst making any concessions,on the applicationof any late rebelState for admissioninto the Union,which shall leave the loyal black population helplessly deprived of the elective franchise." Duringthe remaining months of 1865,the Liberator gave strongsupport to the cause of Negro suffragein the South, both in Garrison's statementsand in publicitywhich it ex- tendedto speeches and writingsof other anti-slaverymen. In an editorialon December15, Garrisonwrote about a six weeks' lecturingtour that he had just completed."He [Gar- rison about himself]was most happy to findbut one senti- mentprevailing among loyal men,respecting what shouldbe done with the so-calledreconstructed States; and that was, that theyshould not be admittedinto the Union at the pres- ent session of Congress, no matter what parchments they maypresent or promisesmake; butthe United States Govern- mentis under the most solemnobligation to keep them on probationuntil equal rightsand freeinstitutions are accepted and enjoyed on their soil, withoutregard to complexionor race." As one reviewsGarrison's opinionson the questionof Negrosuffrage during Reconstruction, in the lightof his life- long thoughtsand actions,the conclusionemerges that at no timedid he departfrom his affirmationof Negro equalityin all areas involvingpolitical, social and economicrights, in- cluding the suffrage.During a limited period, however, fromJanuary, 1864, to Lincoln's death,he feltit necessary, for the sake of the broader anti-slaveryand Negro rights cause, to defendthe Administration'slack of progressin ex- tendingthe suffrageto the freedmen,and to seek out rea- sons which would explain it.1?As the political situation 15 JamesMcPherson, in his verydetailed and generallyexcellent study, The Strugglefor Equality: Abolitionistsand the Negro in the Civil War and Recon- structiondoes not explicitlyrelate Garrison'sposition on this issue to the questionof supportfor Lincoln and thus fails to deal withit adequately. (See pp. 294 ff.)

This content downloaded from 64.71.89.15 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:39:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON AND THE NEGRO FRANCHISE 49 changed,as the conditionof the Negro in the South dete- rioratedand the over-allpolicy of the new administration grew more indifferentto the plight of the Negro, the need for Negro suffragein the South grew ever more vital. At that pointGarrison again put forththis demandin the strongest termsin thecolumns of the Liberator. Louis RUCHAMES Northampton,Mlass.

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