CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
Even before the end of the Civil War, newly freed Black people called on the government to grant them equal suffrage (the right to vote). A committee of Black residents in Norfolk made this demand in June 1865, shortly after the war ended.
Norfolk’s situation differed from most other areas of Virginia. Since 1862 the United States Army had controlled the city. and many men and women had flocked to Norfolk during the war to seek freedom behind Union lines. It is not surprising that early calls for equal suffrage came from the region. Some of the leaders of this movement had moved or escaped to the North, including Norfolk native Joseph T. Wilson, who had lived in Massachusetts, worked on a whaling ship and Chilean railroad crew, and served in two divisions of the United State Colored Troops, including the famed Massachusetts 54th.
The men who organized the Colored Monitor Union Club wanted to advance and protect their interests and those of their families. They published Equal Suffrage: Address from the Colored Citizens of Norfolk, Va., to the People of the United States in 1865 as a pamphlet to publicly express their desire for full citizenship. Think of this document as an “open letter” to anyone who might read it, rather than a direct demand of a specific person or group. Through their language, the men refute many stereotypes that white men and women held towards Black people. In the address, they point out ways in which freedpeople sought a better life through education and fair wages for their labor. They were careful to reassure whites that their intentions were peaceful. The men also asserted that newly-freed Black people deserved the right to vote as law-abiding citizens who had fought for their country. Ultimately, the United States government had to take action to enable Black men to vote. In Virginia, they voted for the first time in 1867 as the result of Congressional legislation that required former Confederate states to hold conventions to write new state constitutions and also required that Black men be able to vote and be candidates for those conventions. In 1870 the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States guaranteed Black men the right to vote as citizens. No women could vote in Virginia until 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified.
Citation: Excerpt from Equal Suffrage: Address from the Colored Citizens of Norfolk, Va., to the People of the United States (1865), reprinted 1969 by Rhistoric Publications, Philadelphia, JK1929.V6 E6 1969, Library of Virginia.
Related Document Bank entries:
The First Vote, Engraving published in Harper's Weekly, 1867
Learn more about Joseph T. Wilson in his Dictionary of Virginia Biography entry online at Encyclopedia Virginia.
Norfolk’s situation differed from most other areas of Virginia. Since 1862 the United States Army had controlled the city. and many men and women had flocked to Norfolk during the war to seek freedom behind Union lines. It is not surprising that early calls for equal suffrage came from the region. Some of the leaders of this movement had moved or escaped to the North, including Norfolk native Joseph T. Wilson, who had lived in Massachusetts, worked on a whaling ship and Chilean railroad crew, and served in two divisions of the United State Colored Troops, including the famed Massachusetts 54th.
The men who organized the Colored Monitor Union Club wanted to advance and protect their interests and those of their families. They published Equal Suffrage: Address from the Colored Citizens of Norfolk, Va., to the People of the United States in 1865 as a pamphlet to publicly express their desire for full citizenship. Think of this document as an “open letter” to anyone who might read it, rather than a direct demand of a specific person or group. Through their language, the men refute many stereotypes that white men and women held towards Black people. In the address, they point out ways in which freedpeople sought a better life through education and fair wages for their labor. They were careful to reassure whites that their intentions were peaceful. The men also asserted that newly-freed Black people deserved the right to vote as law-abiding citizens who had fought for their country. Ultimately, the United States government had to take action to enable Black men to vote. In Virginia, they voted for the first time in 1867 as the result of Congressional legislation that required former Confederate states to hold conventions to write new state constitutions and also required that Black men be able to vote and be candidates for those conventions. In 1870 the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States guaranteed Black men the right to vote as citizens. No women could vote in Virginia until 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified.
Citation: Excerpt from Equal Suffrage: Address from the Colored Citizens of Norfolk, Va., to the People of the United States (1865), reprinted 1969 by Rhistoric Publications, Philadelphia, JK1929.V6 E6 1969, Library of Virginia.
Related Document Bank entries:
The First Vote, Engraving published in Harper's Weekly, 1867
Learn more about Joseph T. Wilson in his Dictionary of Virginia Biography entry online at Encyclopedia Virginia.
Standards
VS.8, VUS.7, VUS.7, USII.3, GOVT 8
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Look at it: Look at the document. What phrases or words stand out to you? Why?
Post-Activities
Analyze: Based on the language the authors use in their Address, what stereotypes did they face? Why do you think Black men had to justify their right to vote? Why wouldn’t they just be able to claim these rights based on the Declaration of Independence? (Note that the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were not yet part of the U.S. Constitution.)
Artistic Expression: Design a campaign poster promoting the equal rights of African Americans using the information found in the address.
Look at it: Look at the document. What phrases or words stand out to you? Why?
Post-Activities
Analyze: Based on the language the authors use in their Address, what stereotypes did they face? Why do you think Black men had to justify their right to vote? Why wouldn’t they just be able to claim these rights based on the Declaration of Independence? (Note that the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were not yet part of the U.S. Constitution.)
Artistic Expression: Design a campaign poster promoting the equal rights of African Americans using the information found in the address.