William Lloyd Garrison and the Negro Franchise Author(S): Louis Ruchames Source: the Journal of Negro History, Vol
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
William Lloyd Garrison 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 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Association for the Study of African American Life and History is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Negro History. http://www.jstor.org 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 slavery 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 suffrage.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 York 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 the namberof 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. 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 39 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