“shall be elected by the loyal male citizens of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, and resident at the time in the county, parish, or district in which they shall offer to vote, and enrolled as aforesaid, or absent in the military service of the United States.”[262]
And then the bill proceeds to provide,—
“Sec. 8. … That the Convention shall declare, on behalf of the people of the State, their submission to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and shall adopt the following provisions, hereby prescribed by the United States in the execution of the constitutional duty to guaranty a republican form of government to every State, and incorporate them in the Constitution of the State: that is to say:—”
After one—two—three—four provisions, the section proceeds as follows:—
“Fifthly, There shall be no distinction among the inhabitants of this State founded on race, former condition, or color. Every such inhabitant shall be entitled to all the privileges before the law enjoyed by the most favored class of such inhabitants.”
And the section concludes:—
“Sixthly, These provisions shall be perpetual, not to be abolished or changed hereafter.”[263]
Nor is this all. On the same day I introduced “A Bill supplying appropriate legislation to enforce the Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting Slavery,”[264] of which I will read the third section:—