_Reconstruction in the South--Great Progress in Education--The Fifteenth
Amendment--Message of President Grant--Certificate of Mr. Secretary Fish
Regarding the Same--Great Joy Over Amendment--It Goes to Work._
General Grant had been elected President of the United States in 1868
for his first term of office. In 1872 he carried the Southern States
once more. He met with but little opposition in the South. Colored
lieutenant-governors were elected in Louisiana, Mississippi and South
Carolina, in which three States the colored population is far greater
than the white. The States of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana,
Mississippi and South Carolina had colored men in their Houses of
Representatives, and Mississippi had them also in her Senate House. Many
of the most important offices in the Southern States were held by men of
color. But by the year 1875 the white leaders in the Republican party
had become intimidated by the Ku-Klux-Klan, and were quite driven out or
destroyed by that deadly shot-gun. Thus the colored men in the
legislatures were abandoned to their fate, and the presence of the
United States Army became necessary to support them at elections, whilst
they held office, and carried on the State governments. The whole South
was in a bad way, and things had gone on from bad to worse. The sullen
and stubborn leaders of the late rebellion had refused to lend a hand in
building up the State governments once more, which they had torn down,
and the Northern government of the whole nation had committed the
reconstruction of the late rebel States to hands as yet far too feeble
at such a time, and that was, namely, to colored men, many of whom had
little experience before with carpet-baggers and scalawags. At the same
time there did not seem to be any others who could be trusted by the
national government to carry on the business of the Southern States.
Even colored men, carpet-baggers and scalawags were either heartily or
formally Republicans, and could be trusted by the Washington authorities
in acting loyally and faithfully in the discharge of their duties at
least. I am unable to see how the Washington government can be much
blamed for committing the care of the Southern States to hands so
feeble, so long as there did not seem to be anybody else to rule, and
the late rebels themselves were still in too sullen a mood to lend a
hand in the governments.
[Illustration: _FIRST READING EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION._]
But during all these unhappy years that followed the close of the war
there was one thing that did not miscarry, and that was the great march
of the emancipated slaves on the road to progress, and everything that
tends to elevate and ennoble a nation. The fostering national
government, the churches of the North, and all that which was best in
this great republic, were straining themselves to the very utmost to
lift up the entire redeemed race by affording them the best education
that they could possibly bestow. Teachers still flocked down from the
North in great numbers, all kinds of schools were opened, and institutes
and colleges were set on float for the benefit of the boys and girls,
and young men and young women, who wished to attend them. There was no
branch of education that was not supplied to the white race that was not
also supplied to the colored. And not only did children and youths
attend those schools, but even men and women; parents and grandparents
in thousands took up their spelling-books and first readers, and went to
work with a hearty good will, and learned to read, write and spell with
great rapidity. The progress that the emancipated race made in the line
of education was perfectly marvelous, and astonished the whole nation.
Even old preachers, who had been preaching the gospel for fifty years,
went to work and learned how to read the Bible; they learned how to
write letters and work arithmetic for the first time in their lives. It
had been charged often enough that the colored race were unfitted by
nature to learn this, that and other things. The studied policy of the
slave-holders was, not to give them a chance, and then to tell a willful
falsehood. But now that all were free, they rushed in at once, and
showed the whole world that they were as capable of learning as any
other race under the sun. Nay, more! They even crossed the oceans, and
were recognized by all the nations on the face of the earth!
Nor did the people only learn how to read, write and work arithmetic,
but all kinds of industrial schools were started throughout the South;
first in one place, then in another, so that the young men learned
different trades, and thus qualified themselves to learn a living in
coming years. And they not only learned, but they learned well, were
ambitious to excel, took naturally to it, and earned the good will and
praise of their teachers. In short, after the war was over, the South
was both cursed and blessed by a race of "volunteers," who came down
from the North, and whose mission was to take advantage of the new state
of things. The curse came in with those carpet-baggers, who came to take
all they could get, and hold on as long as ever they could. It is true
that they were not all bad, for indeed they ran all the way from good to
middling. But they have generally been looked upon as a set of rapacious
men, who came down to help themselves first, last and all the time; and
when all was done, if anybody else could be benefitted by them, so much
the better!
But with the teachers things were altogether different. They can in no
sense be compared with the carpet-baggers, for they were a perfect
blessing--all of them, or nearly all, being "volunteers" for the South,
and for the benefit of freedmen, and for them alone. They were sent
forth, as I have stated before, by the churches and societies of the
North, and the national government encouraged them and their efforts in
every possible way. And not only were public schools set on foot all
over the land, but there were a great many who opened private schools,
and thus the work went merrily on. And the walls of the new educational
structure began to rise rapidly on all sides, "for the people had a mind
to work," and, as the ancient Romans said, "Labor conquers all things."
[Illustration: _DE SOTO DISCOVERING MISSISSIPPI RIVER._]
And even to the very day and time whilst I am now writing, I have great
pleasure in informing my kind reader that the work goes on, and still
goes on well. Beginning gradually at the close of the war, nay, I might
almost say, in some places before the close of the war--schools and
colleges for all studies were set on foot, either South or North, some
for the training of young colored men and women, who were destined to
become teachers of their own race throughout the land; some were
institutes or colleges for the study of law, medicine, music, elocution
and a variety of other subjects. And the work still continues and
extends in all directions, and promises to unfold itself more and more
as the years go by. At the present time there are many beautiful private
schools and seminaries in many parts of the South where young colored
ladies exclusively are sent to be educated, and they are splendidly
educated, too. And inasmuch as the colored race are born to excel in
music, many of them have come to the front, and in the departments of
music and song they have shone brightly in the nation, and in distant
lands also, where they have no prejudice to contend with. But though the
color line has by no means been wiped out yet, even in the Northern
States, it must in all fairness be stated that colored youths and
maidens are freely permitted to pursue their studies in almost all the
schools and colleges of the land; and it is only where race prejudice
exists, and the last dregs thereof prevail, that the children of African
descent are barred from entering. But time changes all things; God alone
cannot be changed--new generations will arise who will entirely sweep
the evil past away!
The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution had been
passed, securing the race in their personal and civil rights as freemen
before the common law of the United States; but as yet colored men could
not vote, and the Republican party, as a just and defensive measure,
considered that it would be well to arm those who had formerly been
slaves with all the rights of citizens, even as others. This brought up
the question of a new amendment to the Constitution. It was to be a new
dress in which the new citizens were to be clothed before the work was
complete. There was opposition enough to this in some quarters; of
course, it never was once intended to ask such men as Jefferson Davis
and Robert E. Lee for their consent. Even if many of the colored men
were uneducated, they were as good, if not better, than a wicked and
intelligent rebel. The rebels (as they were still commonly called),
would rather pull the national government down to the ground than
restore it, but the entire ransomed race desired to build it up.
Politically, and also from a sense of gratitude for their freedom, they
belonged to the Republican party, and therefore they were perfectly
right in siding with the Republicans on every and all occasions.
Besides, the right for colored men to vote was bound to come forward
sometime or other, and it might just as well come now as hereafter.
Ignorance on their part was much better than the studied opposition on
the part of the rebels. And I doubt very much whether the most
illiterate colored man did not know more about the American Constitution
than those ignorant hordes of Europeans who are almost weekly dumped
down on our shores, who neither know nor care anything about our
Constitution, and who never even heard of the name of George Washington.
If this was not so serious a matter, I could almost laugh at the thought
of the ignorance of those foreigners.
Besides, if colored men were in many cases unfit for the franchise, it
was no bad thing to give it them at once anyhow, because it would
stimulate the nation at large to push their complete education along,
and the race themselves would now have a far more powerful motive to
acquire knowledge than they had ever had before. Therefore, there was a
very great deal of interest taken by the nation at large in the passage
of the new amendment to the Constitution that was destined to place
black men upon the self-same footing with white men. The white
Republicans also considered that they were indebted to colored soldiers
for the restoration of the Union to the tune of at least 200,000 brave,
heroic men, and that they owed them the right to vote.
The necessary three-fourths of all the States of the Union having voted
in their legislatures in favor of the passage of the new amendment to
the Constitution, President Grant deemed the new measure of such vast
importance that he went out of the usual mode adopted upon such
occasions, and addressed the following special message on the subject to
Congress, for the purpose of still further enhancing its importance in
the eyes of the Senate and House of Representatives, and, in short, of
the whole American people:
"SPECIAL MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT GRANT ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE FIFTEENTH
AMENDMENT.
"To the Senate and House of Representatives:
"It is unusual to notify the two houses of Congress, by message, of the
promulgation by proclamation of the Secretary of State of the
ratification of a Constitutional Amendment. In view, however, of the
vast importance of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution this day
declared a part of the revered instrument, I deem a departure from the
usual custom justifiable. A measure which makes at once four millions of
people voters, who were heretofore declared by the highest tribunal in
the land not citizens of the United States, nor eligible to become so
(with the assertion that, at the time of the Declaration of
Independence, the opinion was fixed and universal in the civilized
portion of the white race, regarded as an axiom in morals as well as
politics, that black men had no rights which the white man was bound to
respect) is indeed a measure of grander importance than any other one
act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the
present day.
"Institutions like ours, in which all power is derived directly from the
people, must depend mainly upon their intelligence, patriotism, and
industry. I call the attention, therefore, of the newly-enfranchised
race to the importance of their new privilege. To the race more favored
heretofore by our laws, I would say, withhold no legal privilege of
advancement to the new citizen. The framers of our Constitution firmly
believed that a republican government could not endure without
intelligence and education generally diffused among the people. The
'Father of his country,' in his farewell address, uses this language,
'Promote, then, as a matter of primary importance, institutions for the
general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of the
government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public
opinion should be enlightened.' In his first annual message to Congress,
the same views are forcibly presented, and are again urged in his eighth
message.
"I repeat that the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the
Constitution completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the
most important event that has occurred since the nation came into life.
The change will be beneficial in proportion to the need that is given to
the urgent recommendations of Washington. If these recommendations were
important then, with a population of but a few millions, how much more
now with a population of forty millions, and increasing in rapid ratio.
"I would therefore call upon Congress to take all the means within their
Constitutional power to promote and encourage popular education
throughout the country; and upon the people everywhere to see to it that
all who possess and exercise political rights shall have the opportunity
to acquire the knowledge which will make their share in the government a
blessing and not a danger. By such means only can the benefits
contemplated by this amendment to the Constitution be secured.
"Executive Mansion, March 30, 1870.
"U. S. GRANT."
On account of the vast importance of the Fifteenth Amendment to the
Constitution, and its direct bearing upon the elevation of the colored
race, and the immediate amelioration of their condition, I will here
append the certificate of Mr. Secretary Fish respecting ratification of
the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, March 30, 1870:
"Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State of the United States.
"To all to whom these presents may come, greeting,
"Know ye that the Congress of the United States, on or about the 27th
day of February, in the year 1869, passed a resolution in the words and
figures following, to wit:
"A resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States.
"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled (two thirds of both houses
concurring,) That the following article be proposed to the legislature,
shall be valid as part of the Constitution, namely,
"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
"Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
"And, Further, that it appears, from official documents on file in this
department, that the amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the legislatures of the
States of North Carolina, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin,
Maine, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas,
Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire,
Nevada, Vermont, Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Iowa,
Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Texas, in all,
twenty-nine States.
"And, Further, that the States whose legislatures have so ratified the
said proposed amendment constitute three-fourths of the whole number of
States in the United States.
"And, Further, that it appears, from an official document on file in
this department, that the legislature of the State of New York has since
passed resolutions claiming to withdraw the said ratification of the
said amendment, which had been made by the legislature of that State,
and of which official notice had been filed in the department.
"And, Further, that it appears from an official document on file in this
department, that the legislature of Georgia has by resolution ratified
the said proposed amendment.
"Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State
of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the Second Section
of the Act of Congress, approved the 20th day of April, 1818, entitled,
An act to provide for the publication of the Laws of the United States,
and for other purposes, do hereby certify that the amendment aforesaid
has become valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the
Constitution of the United States.
"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal
of the Department of State to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this 20th day of March, in the year of
our Lord, eighteen hundred and seventy; and of the Independence of the
United States the ninety-fourth.
"SEAL.
"HAMILTON FISH."
Thus, as will be seen above, the ever-glorious Fifteenth Amendment
became a part of the American Constitution, and the same was made known
to the remotest bounds of the Republic.
"Arise, shine forth, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord
has risen upon thee!" Such is the language of Holy Scripture, and it
expresses well the sudden outburst of the joy that filled the hearts of
the entire colored race when the Fifteenth Amendment became the law of
the land. Then, indeed, did the colored soldier feel that he had a
country, and that he had not fought and bled in vain for the cause of
freedom and the Union! Then did all colored men and women feel, indeed,
that they were men and women among other full-fledged citizens of the
United States! Then did they feel, in the celebrated words of Robert
Burns, the Scotch poet, that "An honest man, though e'er so poor, is
king of men for all that!" If the Emancipation Proclamation called forth
a tremendous flood of thankfulness and gratitude, if even the fall of
Richmond and the freeing of the last slave called for shouts of joy and
rejoicing, much more--yea, ten times more--did the publication of the
Fifteenth Amendment exercise the entire redeemed race from the very
bottom of their hearts! Their forefathers had been stolen away from
Africa; they had been brought here. This was their home, such as it was.
They had no other country but the United States. Now, the new amendment
to the Constitution had put the right to vote into their hands, the same
as others--just the same as others, and they most loyally sent up a
shout of joy that reached from Maine to the Rio Grande river, and that
shout arose to Heaven and entered into the ears of the celestials.
Where, now, was the doctrine, indeed, "That the descendants of the
African race had no rights that a white man was bound to respect?" Who
ever gave "the white man" the right to use such language, unless it was
wickedly presumed by his own presumptuous and lying arrogance? The white
race only compose a small portion of the human race. According to
tradition, Adam was as brown as a bun; and certainly our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ must have been a very dark-complexioned man? Does
anybody mean to say that Adam and the Lord Jesus had no right to be
respected because they were as brown as a bun in complexion? Like the
so-called "divine right of kings," such language was nothing but a
wilful and deliberate falsehood, for the entire race of man have rights
to be respected--the one as much as the other. How passeth away the
glory of this world! Behold your millions of people gloriously set free,
and after a long and fearful war pronounced full-fledged citizens, even
as others! If the ransomed race formerly rejoiced when they felt their
bodily chains fall off, much more did they rejoice when they were
invested with the same rights as the rest of the American nation, and
could vote like the freemen that they were! It is true that in the sight
of God and all justice (both divine and human) they were always men,
they had always rights that other men were bound to respect, but now we
had the full confession of those rights from all the rest of our own
compatriots, who fully and freely admitted, that all their rights were
ours also and justice, though long delayed, was done at last!
The colored people were now in full possession of their political rights
for the first time, and many new things happened that passed for a great
wonder in the history of the nation. Hiram B. Revels took his seat as
United States Senator for Mississippi on the 25th of February, 1870. It
was from the self-same State that Jefferson Davis hailed, for he was
Senator for Mississippi until he resigned his seat and went out with the
rest of the rebels. Nine brief years had passed away; for four and a
half years the civil war had raged; the curse of slavery had disappeared
from the land, and now came Hiram B. Revels from Mississippi, from which
the head of the Southern Confederacy had come in former days! Most
assuredly this was the Lord's work, and it was wondrous in our eyes!
It was just one year from the day and hour when Senator Revels took his
seat in the United States Senate that Jefferson F. Long, also a colored
man, was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives from the
State of Georgia--the State of Alexander H. Stephens, who had been
vice-president of the late Confederate States! It was that same Stephens
who had put forth the idea in a speech of his own immediately after he
was made vice-president, that slavery should be the corner-stone of the
new government of Secessia!
Then the United States Government sent E. D. Bassett, a colored man from
Pennsylvania, as Minister-Resident and Consul-General to the Republic of
Hayti, in the West Indies. This was carrying things on at quite a lively
rate, indeed. Nor was this all. President Grant then turned around, and
sent J. Milton Turner, a colored man from Missouri, as Minister-Resident
and Consul-General to the Republic of Liberia, in Western Africa. It is
true that Hayti and Liberia are not nations of the first rank in power
and population, but they are at least as respectable as any, and the
time must yet come when ambassadors of the colored race will be
appointed to the first nations on earth. President Grant was at least
making a good beginning, and as he had been a soldier, like the lion, he
had nothing to fear!
About this time Frederick Douglass had been made a Presidential Elector
for the great Empire State of New York, and he helped to cast the vote
for that State for General Grant upon his election for the second term,
in 1872. Times were indeed mightily changed with Frederick Douglass
since he was a young man, and fled away from Baltimore in the disguise
of a sailor, passing through New York City, which was then almost as
much opposed to freedom of the slaves as the State of Georgia.
Well does the English poet say, "Slavery there has lost the day!" The
ballot was now in the hands of the colored man as well as others. He had
tilled the fertile soil of the United States for two hundred and fifty
years; he had now lent a vigorous hand in three wars, and had completely
won his right and title to full-fledged citizenship, with all the honors
and powers that it carries with it. All Abolitionists and true-hearted
Republicans rejoiced at the spectacle, whilst the late arch-rebels and
others of that ilk were depressed at the changes!