December 10th, on motion of Mr. Morrill, the Senate proceeded with the Suffrage Bill. Mr. Sumner joined in urging it:—
“Let us, so far as the Senate can do it, give suffrage to the colored race in the District; let us signalize this first day of actual business by finishing this great act.”
Debate ensued for four days, in which Mr. Morrill, Mr. Willey, of West Virginia, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, Mr. Pomeroy, of Kansas, Mr. Anthony, of Rhode Island, Mr. Williams, of Oregon, Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wade, of Ohio, Mr. Yates, of Illinois, Mr. Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, Mr. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, Mr. Sprague, of Rhode Island, Mr. Buckalew, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, Mr. Dixon, of Connecticut, Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, Mr. Foster, of Connecticut, Mr. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, Mr. Lane, of Indiana, and Mr. Sumner, took part. The remarks of the last will appear in their proper place, according to date.[2] Among the amendments considered was one by Mr. Cowan to strike out the word “male,” so as to open suffrage to women, which was rejected,—Yeas 9, Nays 37. The amendment by Mr. Dixon, making reading and writing a qualification, was also rejected,—Yeas 11, Nays 34.
December 13th, the bill passed the Senate,—Yeas 32, Nays 13. The announcement of its passage was followed by applause in the galleries. On the next day the bill passed the other House,—Yeas 128, Nays 46.
January 7, 1867, the bill passed the Senate over the veto of President Johnson, by a two-thirds vote,—Yeas 29, Nays 10. On the next day it passed the other House by a two-thirds vote,—Yeas 113, Nays 38. And so it became a law, and also a model for similar legislation in the reconstruction of the Rebel States.
IMPARTIAL JURORS FOR COLORED PERSONS.
Bill in the Senate, December 4, 1865.