[657]. Laws of Del., 1866–69, p. 161.
[658]. Laws of Miss., 1866–67, pp. 232–33.
[659]. Laws of S. C., 1866, p. 405.
[660]. Boston Post, May 22, 1909. The volume of New York reports containing this case is not yet accessible. It is referred to, however, in 117 N. Y. Sup., p. 116.
CHAPTER XI
SUFFRAGE
The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, ratified on March 30, 1870, reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” In the face of this unequivocal constitutional provision, it would seem impossible to have a legal race distinction in the matter of suffrage. It is plain that, if a State or the United States makes a law that in any way denies or abridges the right of a citizen to vote on account of his race, such an enactment is in violation of the Amendment. The only State or Federal statute or State constitutional provision involving a race distinction that would be valid under the Fifteenth Amendment would be one that did not amount to a denial or abridgment of the right to vote. For instance, a State might require white and Negro electors to cast their ballots in different boxes, or in different parts of the booth, or even in different booths; or it might require them to register on different days, or before different registrars. If the Negro was given the same opportunity to register and vote as the white man, the requirements of separate registering and balloting would be race distinctions in the matter of suffrage, but they would not be denials or abridgments of the right to vote and, hence, might be supported under the Fifteenth Amendment. Any such requirements have not been found in the State Constitutions or statutes; they are only suggested as possible race distinctions which might be permissible.
It follows, therefore, that the race distinctions to be considered in this chapter exist, not in conformity to law, as in the case of separate schools and public conveyances, but in defiance of law or by legal subterfuges, and are properly called discriminations.
NEGRO SUFFRAGE BEFORE 1865
The suffrage requirements as to race up to 1865 serve as a background for the events after that date. A review[[661]] of the acts of territorial government and State Constitutions of the Territories and States of the United States reveals the following facts: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont appear not to have had any race distinctions in suffrage. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, and West Virginia never permitted any but white males to vote at any time between the Revolution and 1865. The Constitutions of Kansas[[662]] of 1855 and of Minnesota[[663]] of 1857 permitted civilized Indians to vote, though the same privilege was not extended to Negroes. Kentucky,[[664]] in 1799, gave the suffrage to “free” persons, but expressly excepted Negroes, mulattoes, and Indians. Texas,[[665]] in 1845, gave the right to vote to free male persons but excepted Indians not taxed, Africans, and descendants of Africans.
Besides the above-named States which either made no race distinctions at all or else always made distinctions as to Negroes, several States, at one time or another, extended a limited suffrage to Negroes. The Constitution of New York[[666]] of 1821, giving the right to vote to male citizens, had the provision that “no man of color, unless he shall have been for three years a citizen of this State, and for one year next preceding any election shall be seized and possessed of a freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, over and above all debts and incumbrances charged thereon, and shall have been actually rated and paid a tax thereon, shall be entitled to vote at any such election.” There was no property test for white voters. The Constitution[[667]] of 1846 had the same provision about Negro voters. The question of equal suffrage to Negroes was submitted[[668]] separately in 1846, and rejected by a vote of 85,306 to 223,834. It was again submitted in 1860, with like result, the vote being 197,503 to 337,984.