Resolved, that free persons of color, including mulattoes, mustees, and Indians were not parties to our political compact, nor were they represented in the Convention which formed the evidence of the compact, under which the free people of the State, and of the United States, are associated for civil government. Nor, are they recognized by our political fabrics as subjects of our naturalization laws; but on the contrary, are, by the Constitution and laws of the United States, prohibited from being brought to the United States, either as property, or as being within the scope and meaning of our provision relating to naturalization and citizenship and hence their supposed claim to the exercise of the great right of free suffrage is and, shall be, not only not recognized, but prohibited. Resolved that all free white men of the age of twenty-one and upwards, who are natural born citizens of this State, or of any one of the United States, and all who have been naturalized and admitted to the rights and privileges as citizens of the United States by our laws, and who, being inhabitants of this State, and who have a fixed or known residence in the county or election district, six months immediately preceding the day of election, shall be entitled to vote for members of either house of the General Assembly, in and for the county or district in which they may reside.[63] These resolutions were referred to the committee of the whole. July 1, Mr. Loving, in the committee of the whole, said: That when this question was first taken up by the committee he then believed he should content himself with giving his silent vote, and he remained of that opinion until he ascertained that the friends of free persons of color, were much more numerous than he had first supposed; he was truly astonished and regretted to see old members, yes, Mr. Chairman, old gray headed gentlemen in plaintive and importuning language, contending for a proposition to let free negroes, mulattoes, etc., exercise the highest right and privilege in a free government—that of the right of suffrage. He would have supposed that those old members could ere this have seen the impolicy of such a course as he was gratified to see that there were some, who had long since condemned that feature on our constitution and who were now ready and even ably contending with him to expunge that odious and very objectionable feature from the constitution. Mr. Loving’s arguments against the suffrage for free negroes were about as follows: 1. He objected to making the suffrage a natural right, an inalienable and inherent right. He said it did not belong to the state of society, but grew out of the body politic.