As a nation, we cannot afford to have amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense of wrong. Exclude the negroes as a class from political rightsteach them that the high and manly privilege of suffrage is to be enjoyed by white citizens only, that they may bear the burdens of the state, but that they are to have no part in its direction or its honors, and you at once deprive them of one of the main incentives to manly character and patriotic devotion to the interests of the government; in a word, you stamp them as a degraded caste, you teach them to despise themselves, and all others to despise them. This ends the case. Yet, as Douglass explains, citizenship has no meaning without the right to vote. It is a measure of relief, a shield to break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it harmless. The South will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. beware of what you do. beware what you do. _E/sZ@)m"\ kAk> ,?/. Credit Line: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress, More about Copyright and other Restrictions. Oak Ridge High School 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike Oak Ridge, TN 37830. (1867) Frederick Douglass, "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage" We have thus far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, victory without peace. It is enough that the possession and exercise of the elective franchise is in itself an appeal to the nobler elements of manhood, and imposes education as essential to the safety of society. Margaret Sanger Analysis - 836 Words | Internet Public Library In a word, it must enfranchise the negro, and by means of the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build up a national party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North and South, so that our country may have a common liberty and a common civilization. In a pair of Atlantic articles in 1866 and '67, Douglass addressed members of the 39th session of Congress, urging them to give black Americans the right to vote.