On the record
The expectation was general, among the more intelligent, that suffrage would be given them, and many were beginning to assert their claim to lands.
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Whitelaw Reid
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gutenberg.orgWhitelaw Reid: “The expectation was general, among the more intelligent, that suffrage would be given them, and many were beginning to…”
Editor's note · Context
Reid notes the expectations among African Americans for suffrage and land ownership after the war.
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They should persist in this claim respectfully, but firmly, taking care to bring no discredit upon it by their own action.
It is my firm conviction, that suffrage is not only the best security for freedom, but the most potent agent of amelioration and civilization.
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.
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.