And since we all know that natural rights can not be made secure except through political rights, shall not the ballot—the freeman’s weapon in peace—replace the bayonet—the freeman’s weapon in war?
He asserts that political rights are essential for securing natural rights.
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And it is both natural and right that colored Americans, entitled to the rights of citizens, should claim their exercise.
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.
They should persist in this claim respectfully, but firmly, taking care to bring no discredit upon it by their own action.
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.