Party Alliance

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For long periods, Blacks were excluded from the political life of America. Prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Blacks struggled to obtain the right to hold of�ce which was viewed as necessary in order to gain freedom and equality. After all, the right to vote was, and still is, equated to the status of full citizenship. The right brought with it improved economic and social status and in�uence that brought with it, better education and employment.

The masses of Black people, both slave and free, were not permitted to participate politically, prior to the passage of the 15h Amendment. For free Blacks, White voters, judges, and legislators blocked the right to vote in spite of numerous attempts to gain the franchise. In Rhode Island, free Blacks in 1831 petitioned for either full voting rights or an exemption from paying taxes. (Hum, makes sense since the rallying cry of the American Revolution was taxation without representation!) And, the New York Colored Americans Association in 1840 insisted "the reason the colored population of the country is not socially and morally elevated is because they were almost universally . . . disarmed of the power (political rights) for their own and the good of others." Then in Pennsylvania were free Blacks, who had previously voted, were stripped of their power when Whites wrote in a local newspaper "Blacks were not freemen as de�ned and therefore could no longer vote."

By the time the Civil War began, all but the �ve New England states either expressly denied Blacks the power to vote or forced them to meet special quali�cations not applied to White voters. Such as, in New York were Blacks had to prove they held at least $250 in property.

The hopelessness of the Antebellum period was softened with the rise of the Republican party (That is not a typo! Yes, the Republican party). The nomination of John C. Fremont as the party s presidential candidate in 1856 momentarily was a ray of hope for Blacks. His slogan suggested an understanding and commitment to the change of status for most Blacks in the nation. Though much as presidential slogans today, it was a slogan not the platform. Free Speech, Free Press, Free Men, Free Labor, Free Territory and Fremont.

On the eve of the Civil War African-American leaders were outspoken about political parties even though they were denied the right to vote. H. Ford Douglass, a runaway slave, told a Massachusetts audience in 1860 that no party deserved their vote unless that party is willing to extend to the Black man all rights of a citizen. Frederick Douglass, on the other hand, openly supported the Republicans as the only logical choice.

In Louisiana the suffrage question would not wait until the end of the Civil War. Louisiana was a state that quickly fell to the Union army. New Orleans Blacks insisted on the right to vote as a condition of the State s restoration to the Union. African-Americans submitted a petition to President Abraham Lincoln reminding him of their service in the War of 1812 and the Civil War. They asked that the right of suffrage be extended not only to natives of Louisiana of African descent, but also to all others whether born free or slave, especially those who fought. Their thoughts were that veterans had earned the right through their service. President Lincoln responded by asking the governor of Louisiana to consider the request speci�cally for the "very intelligent and those who fought gallantly."

In August 1866, the Nashville Colored Tennesseans wrote that Blacks expected Whites to deal with us justly. Tell us not that we will not work, when it was our toil that enriched the South. . .all we want is the rights of men.

During Congressional Reconstruction, Blacks obtained some access to politics. They held public of�ce and had some political power in each state, although they were never in control of any state, even in states where Blacks outnumbered the White population, such as South Carolina.

In South Carolina, Whites were always in the majority in the State senate and as governor. But, there were 87 Blacks versus 40 Whites in the �rst state house of representatives after the Civil War. Two Black lieutenant governors, 2 speakers of the house, a secretary of state and state treasurer, rounded out the rolls during Reconstruction.

In Louisiana between 1868 and 1896, there were 133 African-American legislatures, 38 senators and 95 representatives. Most were educated and had been free men before the Civil War. John W. Menard was elected to national of�ce, but denied his seat because of disputes over the election. P.B.S. Pinchback served as lieutenant governor and served as governor for 43 days when the governor was impeached.

Berry, M. F. (1983). Long Memory: The Black Experience In America. New York: Oxford University Press.