#DouglassDay. Frederick Douglass was born February 14, 1818. New Orleans Tribune publisher Jean Baptiste Roudanez met Douglass on a speaking tour in Boston. Roudanez and Arnold Bertonneau were there following a White House meeting with Lincoln where they presented the President with the "Petition of the Free Colored Population of Louisiana," demanding Black male suffrage. The Douglass letter, full text below, was published in the Tribune on October 27, 1865. Learn more at www.roudanez.com.
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White House meeting with Lincoln where they presented the President with the "Petition of the Free Colored Population of Louisiana," demanding Black male suffrage. The Douglass letter was published in the Tribune on October 27, 1865.
The following letter addressed to Mr. J.B. Roudanez, publisher of the Tribune, by our distinguished fellow-citizen, Frederick Douglass, will be read with uncommon interest, by this time of hesitations and doubt. It will be seen that Frederick Douglass considers the right of vote inherent to citizenship, and therefore admits of neither qualification nor compromise.
Rochester, N.Y., Oct. 9, 1865.
Mr. Roudanez:
Dear Sir—Absence from home on a lecturing tour is my apology for not sooner sending you a line in answer to your inquiry whether I ever see the “Tribune.” I have to say, that I not only see it sometimes, but that I see it and read it with very great pleasure. I am proud that a press so true and wise is devoted to the interests of liberty and equality in your Southern latitude.
The time that I predicted in your presence at that memorable dinner at the Parker House, Boston, is now upon us. While the war lasted, and loyal blood flowed at the call of rebel steel, the great North was virtuous, and held the colored race in high esteem. Black soldier meant black citizen, the bayonet meant ballot; but matters have changed. The war is ended, and it seems to me that there is a settled determination in high quarters to hand the country over to its former rulers, and the black man back again to a condition little less degrading than his former one.
I do not, however, think that this effort on the part of our enemies can long succeed. The negro question is a live one, and will not be buried alive. If so buried, it will defy the tomb. Never, until justice is done the negro, can this country have peace. If we cannot get justice under Johnson, we will go before the country in 68; and if we fail then, nothing daunted, we shall fight on until victory is secured.
I am looking for a stormy Congress; it seems plain to me that Johnson has sold us, but it remains to Congress to pass upon the bargain. I have still some hope in Congress. Strong men all over the North are demanding suffrage for the colored people of the South; manhood suffrage is now the popular idea with the choice and master spirits of the North. Keep your little sheet on the breeze. Hold up this one grand idea without compromise or qualification and we shall come out right in the end. The cause of our race is one whether at the North or the South—and every upward movement at the South in our behalf is instantly felt here. You may depend upon me to do what I can in the right direction here.
With best wishes,
I am, dear sir, very truly yours,
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
The following letter addressed to Mr. J.B. Roudanez, publisher of the Tribune, by our distinguished fellow-citizen, Frederick Douglass, will be read with uncommon interest, by this time of hesitations and doubt. It will be seen that Frederick Douglass considers the right of vote inherent to citizenship, and therefore admits of neither qualification nor compromise.
Rochester, N.Y., Oct. 9, 1865.
Mr. Roudanez:
Dear Sir—Absence from home on a lecturing tour is my apology for not sooner sending you a line in answer to your inquiry whether I ever see the “Tribune.” I have to say, that I not only see it sometimes, but that I see it and read it with very great pleasure. I am proud that a press so true and wise is devoted to the interests of liberty and equality in your Southern latitude.
The time that I predicted in your presence at that memorable dinner at the Parker House, Boston, is now upon us. While the war lasted, and loyal blood flowed at the call of rebel steel, the great North was virtuous, and held the colored race in high esteem. Black soldier meant black citizen, the bayonet meant ballot; but matters have changed. The war is ended, and it seems to me that there is a settled determination in high quarters to hand the country over to its former rulers, and the black man back again to a condition little less degrading than his former one.
I do not, however, think that this effort on the part of our enemies can long succeed. The negro question is a live one, and will not be buried alive. If so buried, it will defy the tomb. Never, until justice is done the negro, can this country have peace. If we cannot get justice under Johnson, we will go before the country in 68; and if we fail then, nothing daunted, we shall fight on until victory is secured.
I am looking for a stormy Congress; it seems plain to me that Johnson has sold us, but it remains to Congress to pass upon the bargain. I have still some hope in Congress. Strong men all over the North are demanding suffrage for the colored people of the South; manhood suffrage is now the popular idea with the choice and master spirits of the North. Keep your little sheet on the breeze. Hold up this one grand idea without compromise or qualification and we shall come out right in the end. The cause of our race is one whether at the North or the South—and every upward movement at the South in our behalf is instantly felt here. You may depend upon me to do what I can in the right direction here.
With best wishes,
I am, dear sir, very truly yours,
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
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