On the record
Helena, and wherever else they have had the opportunity, the negroes have bought the titles to their little farms—or “plantations,” as they still ambitiously style them.
Said by
Whitelaw Reid
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gutenberg.orgWhitelaw Reid: “Helena, and wherever else they have had the opportunity, the negroes have bought the titles to their little farms—or…”
Editor's note · Context
Reid notes that formerly enslaved individuals have actively purchased land, demonstrating their ambition and desire for independence.
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Never was there a problem more serious or difficult than that which is now before the Nation, as to this race, whose destiny has been confided to the wisdom and honor of our Government.
In this way they will surely overcome unjust hostility, and convince even the most prejudiced that the denial to them of any right which citizens may properly exercise is equally unwise and wrong.
They should strive for distinction by economy, by industry, by sobriety, by patient perseverance in well-doing, by constant improvement of religious instruction, and by the constant practice of Christian virtues.
It has proved, also, that universal suffrage is the surest guarantee and most powerful stimulus of individual, social and political progress.