The expulsion of the ex-rebels from the Georgia Legislature, and the admission of the loyal colored men, whose seats had been forcibly taken from them, had a good effect upon all the Southern States, for it showed that the national administration was determined that justice should be done.
The prompt admission of Hiram R. Revels to a seat in the United States Senate from Mississippi, showed that progress was the watch-word of the Republican party. The appointments of E. D. Bassett as Minister to Hayti, and J. Milton Turner as Consul-General to Liberia, set at rest all doubt with regard to the views of President Grant, and the negro’s political equality.
In 1869, colored men, for the first time in the history of the District of Columbia, were drawn as jurors, and served with white men. This was the crowning event of that glorious emancipation which began at the capital, and radiated throughout the length and breadth of the nation. Since then, one by one, distinguishing lines have been erased, and now the black man is deemed worthy to participate in all the privileges of an American citizen.
The election of Oscar J. Dunn as Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, was a triumph which gladdened the hearts of his race from Maine to California. Alabama sent B. S. Turner to Congress; Florida, J. T. Walls, while colored men entered the Legislative halls of several states not named in this connection.
The National Republican Convention, held at Philadelphia in June, 1872, received as delegates a number of colored men, and for the first time in the history of Presidential conventions, the negro’s voice was heard and applauded.
Education is what we now need, and education we must have, at all hazards. Wilberforce and Avery Colleges, and Lincoln University, have all done good service. Howard University, Lincoln Institute, Hampton Manual Labor School, and Fisk University, are harbingers of light to our people. But we need an educated ministry; and until we have it, the masses will grope in darkness. The cause of Temperance, that John the Baptist of reforms, must be introduced into every community, and every other method resorted to by the whites for their elevation should be used by the colored men.
Our young men must be encouraged to enter the various professions, and to become mechanics, and thereby lay the foundation for future usefulness.
An ignorant man will trust to luck for success; an educated man will make success. God helps those who help themselves.