There could be no question of the zeal with which, through the exciting spring months, the people in the interior of the cotton States, supported the “President’s Policy” of Reconstruction; but it was rarely a zeal according to knowledge.
Reid comments on the enthusiasm of people in the cotton states for the Reconstruction policy, noting a lack of informed support.
Share
More from Whitelaw Reid
It is my firm conviction, that suffrage is not only the best security for freedom, but the most potent agent of amelioration and civilization.
He who has that right will usually respect himself more, be more respected, perform more, and more productive work, and do more to increase the wealth and welfare of the community, than he who has it not.
It has proved, also, that universal suffrage is the surest guarantee and most powerful stimulus of individual, social and political progress.
Let me repeat, that I think it best for all men—white men, black men, and brown men, if you make that distinction, that all men of proper age and unconvicted of crime, should have the right of suffrage.