Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:58:55.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The New York Afro-American's Struggle for Political Rights and the Emergence of Political Recognition, 1865–1900

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In this periodical, in a previous article covering the period 1777–1865, it was revealed that many New York Afro-Americans had refused to view with apathy, or even equanimity, their changed political status following the end of the American Revolution. Under New York State's 1777 Constitution, freed Black Americans had held equal suffrage rights with whites, but shortly thereafter discovered that most of these voting rights were to be whittled down, initially by the Democratic-Republicans. Many New York Afro-Americans, individually and in concert reacted to the watering down of their political rights by consistently petitioning the New York State Legislature to restore their political rights as held under the 1777 Constitution. However, the dominant group's stereotype of the Colored American prevailed since petition after petition failed to convince, first the legislators and later the white voters that they should restore equal political status to Afro-Americans in New York.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1968

References

page 321 note 1 Bloch, H. D., “The New York Negro's Battle for Political Rights, 1777–1865”, in: International Review of Social History, Vol. 9, (1964), Part I.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

page 321 note 2 New York Spectator, April 29, 1809.

page 322 note 1 McCall, S. W., Thaddeus Stevens (N.Y., 1899), preface.Google Scholar

page 322 note 2 Minor, H., The Story of the Democratic Party (N.Y., 1928), p. 295.Google Scholar

page 322 note 3 Alexander, D. S., Political History of the State of New York (N.Y., 1909), III, p. 136.Google Scholar

page 322 note 4 Elkins v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94, p. 102 (1884).

page 323 note 1 Ibid., p. 102.

page 323 note 2 Minor, p. 294.

page 323 note 3 Ibid., pp. 294–295.

page 323 note 4 Tribune Almanac and Political Register for 1866 (N.Y., 18581889), p. 44.Google Scholar

page 323 note 5 McCall, p. 246.

page 324 note 1 Ibid., pp. 247–249.

page 324 note 2 Mississippi, Act of November 24, 1865, as cited by McCall.

page 324 note 3 McPherson, , The Political History of the U.S. of America during the Reconstruction (2nd ed., Washington, D.C., 1875), p. 21.Google Scholar

page 324 note 4 New York Times, June 18, 1968. A 102 years after its enactment, the United States Supreme Court cited the 1866 Civil Rights Act as being constitutional. The 1866 Act goes beyond the 1968 Civil Rights Act since the former bans bias in “purchase, lease, sell, hold and convey real and personal property”.

page 325 note 1 Congressional Globe, 39 Cong., 1 sess., appendix, ch. XXXI, pp. 315, 316.

page 325 note 2 American Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events (N.Y., 1865), pp. 614615.Google Scholar

page 325 note 3 New York Tribune, July 8, 1865.

page 325 note 4 House Miscellaneous Documents, No 109, 39 Cong., 1 sess.; Blaine, James G., Twenty Years of Congress (Norwich, Conn., 18841886).Google Scholar

page 326 note 1 McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1 (1892).

page 326 note 2 Saunders v. Wilkins, 152 F (2d) 235 (1945).

page 326 note 3 Op. cit., pp. 235, 237–238, citing Willoughby, Constitution, 2nd ed., pp. 626– 627.

page 327 note 1 14th Amendment, Sec. 1 (Italics added).

page 327 note 2 Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall, pp. 36, 74 (1873).Google Scholar

page 327 note 3 Scott v. Sandford, 19 How. 393 (1857).

page 328 note 1 Ibid., pp. 404–406, 417–420.

page 328 note 2 McPherson v. Blacker, op. cit., p. 1.

page 328 note 3 Horace Greeley to James R. Lawrence, December 16, 1866 (Greeley Papers, New York Public Library).

page 329 note 1 Anti-Slavery Standard, January 7, 1865.

page 329 note 2 New York Independent, 11 2, 16, 1865.Google Scholar

page 329 note 3 New York Tribune, December 14, 1865.

page 329 note 4 Fishel, L. Jr, “The Negro in Northern Politics, 1870–1900”, in: The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. XLII, No 1, 06 1955, p. 468.Google Scholar

page 329 note 5 New York Herald, May 18, 1865.

page 330 note 1 New York Times, June 7, 1865; New York Herald, June 12, 1865.

page 330 note 2 Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, “What the Black Man Wants” (Boston, 04 17, 1865), p. 37.Google Scholar

page 330 note 3 Ibid, p. 29.

page 330 note 4 New York Times, June 2, 1865; New York Times, April 24, 1865. Apparently, various New York Afro-American societies including Black chapters of the Free Masons had sought in vain permission to march in the Lincoln funeral procession from the Committee of Common Council.

page 330 note 5 New York Times, June 2, 1865.

page 331 note 1 New York Times, June 25, 1865.

page 331 note 2 American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events (N.Y., 1865), p. 615.Google Scholar

page 331 note 3 McPherson, E. A., Handbook of Politics for 1868 (Phillips and Solomon, 1868), p. 52.Google Scholar

page 331 note 4 Ibid.

page 331 note 5 Ibid. p. 53.

page 331 note 6 McCall, op. cit., pp. 257–264. The rupture between the majority of the Republicans the President with regard to reconstruction was partially revealed when Stevens resolution to form a joint committee on reconstruction to inquire into the condition of the Southern States was carried by 133 to 36.

page 332 note 1 E. A. McPherson, op. cit., p. 53.

page 332 note 2 Ibid., pp. 55–56.

page 332 note 3 Ibid.

page 332 note 4 American Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events (N.Y., 1866), p. 544.Google Scholar

page 332 note 5 New York Times.June 6, 1866.

page 333 note 1 New York Times, September 8, 1866.

page 333 note 2 Dunning, W. A., “The Second Birth of the Republican Party”, in: American Historical Review, XVI, p. 56.Google Scholar

page 333 note 3 Flick, A. C. (ed.), History of te State of New York (N.Y., 1935), VII, p. 111.Google Scholar

page 333 note 4 Dunning, op. cit., p. 57.

page 333 note 5 Ibid., p. 61.

page 334 note 1 New York Times, October 23, 1866.

page 334 note 2 New York Times, November 20, 1866.

page 334 note 3 Ibid.

page 334 note 4 New York Times, November 23, 1866.

page 334 note 5 New York Times, November 22, 1866.

page 334 note 6 Laws of the State of New York, 1866, Ch. 812, Sec. 7.

page 335 note 1 New York Times, November 23, 1866.

page 335 note 2 Ibid.

page 335 note 3 Ibid.

page 335 note 4 Ibid.

page 335 note 5 New York Times, November 28, 1866.

page 336 note 1 Flick, op. cit., p. 105.

page 336 note 2 Johnson, W. H., Autobiography (Albany, N.Y., 1900), p. 70.Google Scholar

page 336 note 3 Documents of the Convention of the State of New York, 1867–1868, (Albany, N.Y., 1868), I, pp. 2, 282.Google Scholar

page 336 note 4 Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention of the State of New York (Albany, N.Y., 1868), I, pp. 200263, V, pp. 35603586.Google Scholar

page 336 note 5 Ibid., I, p. 289.

page 337 note 1 New York Independent, August 1, 1867; Alexander, D. C., Political History of the State of New York (N.Y., 1909), III, pp. 185186.Google Scholar

page 337 note 2 Documents of the Convention of the State of New York, 18671868, pp. 11811182.Google Scholar

page 337 note 3 Ibid.

page 337 note 4 American Annual Cyclopaedia (N.Y., 1870), pp. 486490.Google Scholar

page 337 note 5 New York Times, March 18, April 15, September 23, December 8, 1869.

page 337 note 6 New York Times, April 22, 1870.

page 337 note 7 MacPherson, E., The Political History of the U.S. of America during the Reconstruction (2nd ed., Washington, D.C., 1875), pp. 551562.Google Scholar

page 338 note 1 “The Constitutional Commission, 1872”, in: Political Science Quarterly, IV, 06 1889, pp. 240241, 258.Google Scholar

page 338 note 2 Alexander, op. cit., p. 320.

page 338 note 3 U. S. v. Reese. 92 U.S. 214, 217–218 (1876); U. S. v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542, 556 (1876).

page 338 note 4 Laws of New York (1870), p. 922.Google Scholar

page 339 note 1 Bailey, F. A. (ed.), The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (N.Y., 1941), appendix I, pp. 649650.Google Scholar

page 339 note 2 Tatum, E. L., The Changed Political Thought of the Negro, 1915–1940 (N.Y., 1951), p. 76.Google Scholar

page 339 note 3 W. H. Johnson, op. cit., pp. 94–95.

page 339 note 4 Ibid., p. 214.

page 339 note 5 Ibid., p. 68.

page 339 note 6 Unless otherwise stated this section of the paper is based on articles and editorials in the New York Times for the period July 8, 1871 through Feb., 1872.

page 340 note 1 Harper's Weekly, July 22, 1871.

page 340 note 2 Laws of New York (1873), ch. 335.

page 340 note 3 New York Tribune, October 23, 1873.

page 340 note 4 McKay, C., Harlem: Negro Metropolis (N.Y., 1940), pp. 124131.Google Scholar

page 340 note 5 Amerian Annual Cyclopaedia … (Albany, N.Y., 1872), pp. 585586.Google Scholar

page 340 note 6 Simmons, W. J., Men of Mark, Eminent, Progressive and Rising (Cleveland, 1887), p. 73.Google Scholar

page 341 note 1 Ibid., p. 79.

page 341 note 2 New York Times, September 9, 1875.

page 341 note 3 New National Era, December 18, 1873; Bee, March 14, 1885.

page 341 note 4 Simmons, op. cit.

page 341 note 5 Brown, W. W., The Rising Son: or the antecedents and advancement of the Colored Race (Boston, 1874), p. 253.Google Scholar

page 341 note 6 Laws of New York, (1874), p. 925.Google Scholar

page 341 note 7 Gerrymander is to alter the political map of, as a State, or County, so that the voting districts are unfairly, or abnormally arranged, for the purpose of advancing the interests of a particular party, or candidate. To wit: “Mr. McKinley … was warmly supported by the popular vote, gaining considerably in his district, and he was defeated only by a gerrymander.” Curtis, C. W., Harper's Weekly, 03 28, 1891.Google Scholar

page 341 note 8 Laws of New York, op. cit.

page 342 note 1 Bailey, op. cit., pp. 477–491.

page 342 note 2 New York Times, September 17, 1876.

page 343 note 1 New York Times, November 3, 1876.

page 343 note 2 American Annual Cyclopaedia …, 1878, p. 623Google Scholar; Tribune Almanac, 1883, p. 42.

page 344 note 1 Douglass, F., “The Color Line”, in: North American Review, 06 1881, p. 573.Google Scholar

page 344 note 2 New York Freeman, November 28, 1885 (Italics added).

page 344 note 3 New York Tribune, December 14, 1886.

page 344 note 4 Tribune Almanac, December 14, 1886.

page 345 note 1 W. H. Johnson, Autobiography …, op. cit., pp. 19, 35, 157.

page 345 note 2 New York Globe, May 12, 1883.

page 345 note 3 Fortune, T. T., The Negro in Politics (N.Y., 1886), pp. 5859.Google Scholar

page 345 note 4 The New York Age, August 25, 1888.

page 345 note 5 New York Tribune, December 14, 1886.

page 345 note 6 Minor, H., The Story of the Democratic Party (N.Y., 1928), p. 361.Google Scholar

page 345 note 7 The New York State Cleveland League, Colored Citizens State Democratic and Independent Organization (N.Y., 05 26, 1892), p. 11.Google Scholar

page 346 note 1 The Afro-American in Politics, an address by T. McCants Stewart, Esq. 10 27, 1891, p. 6.Google Scholar

page 346 note 2 Ibid., p. 9.

page 346 note 3 The Address of C. H. Lansing, Jr. President of the Colored Citizens Chapin Club (N.Y., 1889), p. 5.Google Scholar

page 346 note 4 New York Tribune, October 11, 1889.

page 347 note 1 New York Tribune, December 19, 1889.

page 347 note 2 New York Tribune, December 10, 1889.

page 347 note 3 New York Tribune, October 28, 1894.

page 347 note 4 New York Tribune, July 4, 1895; October 20, 1898.

page 347 note 5 New York Times, July 10, August 17, 1895.

page 348 note 1 Morison, E. E. (ed.), The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt (Cambridge, Mass., 19511954), I, p. 357.Google Scholar

page 348 note 2 New York Post, August 21, 1900.

page 349 note 1 Osolsky, G., Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto (N.Y., 1966), p. 159.Google Scholar