Whitelaw Reid: “Under the Constitution of 1776, free negroes, having the requisite qualifications, voted as freely as any other portion…”

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.

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.

It has proved, also, that universal suffrage is the surest guarantee and most powerful stimulus of individual, social and political progress.

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.