Race Distinctions in American LawStephenson, Gilbert Thomas
History
Race Distinctions in American Law
Stephenson, Gilbert Thomas
African Americans -- Politics and government; Law -- United States -- History; United States -- Race relations
The Constitution of North Carolina[669] of 1835, as amended, provided
that no free Negro, free mulatto, or free person of mixed blood,
descended from Negro ancestors to the fourth generation inclusive,
though one ancestor in each generation might have been a white person,
should vote for members of the “senate or house of commons” of the
State. Negroes who paid a certain poll tax were allowed to vote until
this Amendment went into effect. Governor W. W. Kitchin,[670] of that
State, says: “There were 21,000 free Negroes in North Carolina in 1835,
4,000 of whom were entitled then to vote.” After 1835 Negroes were not
allowed to vote there again until after the War.
The Constitution of Tennessee[671] of 1834 provided that no person
should be disqualified from voting in any election who was then by the
laws of the State a competent witness in a court of justice against a
white person. One cannot tell how many Negroes were qualified to vote
under this provision. The Constitution of Wisconsin[672] of 1848 limited
the privilege of voting to white persons, but the Supreme Court[673] of
that State held in 1866 that suffrage had been extended to Negroes by a
vote of the people at the general election on November 6, 1849.
Several States which at first allowed Negro freemen to vote later
withdrew the privilege. Until the Revolution, they were allowed to vote
in every State except Georgia and South Carolina. Between 1792 and 1834,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky denied the suffrage to
Negroes. As has been seen, North Carolina permitted a restricted Negro
suffrage until 1835. New Jersey took the suffrage from the Negro in
1807, Connecticut in 1814, and Pennsylvania in 1838; and Tennessee, in
1834, limited the right to those Negroes who were competent as witnesses
against white persons. New York, in 1821, required a very high property
qualification not required of white persons.[674] Wisconsin alone
changed its law so as to allow Negroes to vote on equality with white
persons. New York tried twice to do so, but failed each time.
In each of the acts of territorial government drawn up by Congress,
suffrage was restricted to free white persons. This fact, together with
the fact that the West Virginia Constitution of 1861–63 also restricted
the suffrage to white persons, tends to show the attitude of the
National Government in the early days toward Negro suffrage.
SUFFRAGE BETWEEN 1865 AND 1870
In 1865, the only States that permitted Negroes to vote on the same
footing as white persons were Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. New York and Tennessee permitted a
restricted Negro suffrage.
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