History of Woman Suffrage
Chapter 160 : Mrs. MARY F. DAVIS spoke in behalf of the rights of her own s.e.x, but expressed her w

Mrs. MARY F. DAVIS spoke in behalf of the rights of her own s.e.x, but expressed her willingness to see the negro guaranteed in his rights, and would wait if only one question could be disposed of.

But she thought they would not have to wait long, for the Hon.

Mr. Wilson had a.s.sured them that their side is to be strongly and successfully advocated. Every step in the great cause of human rights helps the next one forward. In 1848 Mrs. Stanton called the first Convention at Seneca Falls.

Miss ANTHONY: And Lucretia Mott.

Mrs. DAVIS: Yes, and Lucretia Mott; and I love to speak of them in a.s.sociation. Mrs. Rose has alluded to the primary steps she took, and there were Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, and Paulina Wright Davis, and a great galaxy who paved the way; and we stand here to proclaim the immortal principle of woman's freedom. [Great applause.] The lady then referred to the great work that lay before them in lifting out of misery and wretchedness the numbers of women in this city and elsewhere, who were experiencing all the fullness of human degradation. Even when they had finished their present work, a large field was still before them in the elevation of their s.e.x.

[Applause.]

Mrs. PAULINA W. DAVIS said she would not be altogether satisfied to have the XVth Amendment pa.s.sed without the XVIth, for woman would have a race of tyrants raised above her in the South, and the black women of that country would also receive worse treatment than if the Amendment was not pa.s.sed. Take any cla.s.s that have been slaves, and you will find that they are the worst when free, and become the hardest masters. The colored women of the South say they do not want to get married to the negro, as their husbands can take their children away from them, and also appropriate their earnings. The black women are more intelligent than the men, because they have learned something from their mistresses. She then related incidents showing how black men whip and abuse their wives in the South. One of her sister's servants whipped his wife every Sunday regularly. [Laughter.] She thought that sort of men should not have the making of the laws for the government of the women throughout the land. [Applause.]

Mr. DOUGLa.s.s said that all disinterested spectators would concede that this Equal Rights meeting had been pre-eminently a Woman's Rights meeting. [Applause.] They had just heard an argument with which he could not agree--that the suffrage to the black men should be postponed to that of the women. I do not believe the story that the slaves who are enfranchised become the worst of tyrants. [A voice, "Neither do I." Applause.] I know how this theory came about. When a slave was made a driver, he made himself more officious than the white driver, so that his master might not suspect that he was favoring those under him. But we do not intend to have any master over us. [Applause.]

THE PRESIDENT, Mrs. Stanton, argued that not another man should be enfranchised until enough women are admitted to the polls to outweigh those already there. [Applause.] She did not believe in allowing ignorant negroes and foreigners to make laws for her to obey. [Applause.]

Mrs. HARPER (colored) asked Mr. Blackwell to read the fifth resolution of the series he submitted, and contended that that covered the whole ground of the resolutions of Mr. Dougla.s.s. When it was a question of race, she let the lesser question of s.e.x go.

But the white women all go for s.e.x, letting race occupy a minor position. She liked the idea of working women, but she would like to know if it was broad enough to take colored women?

Miss ANTHONY and several others: Yes, yes.

Mrs. HARPER said that when she was at Boston there were sixty women who left work because one colored woman went to gain a livelihood in their midst. [Applause] If the nation could only handle one question, she would not have the black women put a single straw in the way, if only the men of the race could obtain what they wanted. [Great applause.]

Mr. C. C. BURLEIGH attempted to speak, but was received with some disapprobation by the audience, and confusion ensued.

Miss ANTHONY protested against the XVth Amendment because it wasn't Equal Rights. It put two million more men in position of tyrants over two million women who had until now been the equals of the men at their side.

Mr. BURLEIGH again essayed to speak. The confusion was so great that he could not be heard.

Mrs. STONE appealed for order, and her first appearance caused the most respectful silence, as did the words of every one of the ladies who addressed the audience. Mr. Burleigh again ventured, but with no better result, and Miss Anthony made another appeal to the audience to hear him. He tried again to get a word in, but was once more unsuccessful.

Mrs. LIVERMORE, after protesting against the disorderly behavior of the audience, said a few words in advocacy of the resolutions of Mr. Dougla.s.s, when a motion was made to lay them upon the table, and Mr. Blackwell moved the "previous question."

Miss ANTHONY hoped that this, the first attempt at gagging discussion, would not be countenanced. (Applause.) She made a strong protest against this treatment of Mr. Burleigh. Sufficient silence was obtained for that gentleman to say that he had finished; but he was determined that they should hear the last word. (Hisses and laughter.) He now took his seat. The motion to lay the resolutions upon the table for discussion in the evening was then carried, and the a.s.sociation adjourned till the evening, to meet in the large hall of the Cooper Inst.i.tute. A letter from Jules Favre, the celebrated French advocate and _litterateur_, was read, after which addresses were delivered by Madam Anneke, of Milwaukee (in German), and by Madame de Hericourt, of Chicago (in French). Both of these ladies are of revolutionary tendencies, and left their native countries because they had rendered themselves obnoxious by a too free expression of their political opinions.

Madam ANNEKE said--_Mrs. President_: Nearly two decades have pa.s.sed since, in answer to a call from our co-workers, I stood before a large a.s.sembly, over which Mrs. Mott presided, to utter, in the name of suffering and struggling womanhood, the cry of my old Fatherland for freedom and justice. At that time my voice was overwhelmed by the sound of sneers, scoffs, and hisses--the eloquence of tyranny, by which every outcry of the human heart is stifled. Then, through the support of our friends Mrs. Rose and Wendell Phillips, who are ever ready in the cause of human rights, I was allowed, in my native tongue, to echo faintly the cry for justice and freedom. What a change has been wrought since then! To-day they greet us with deferential respect. Such giant steps are made by public opinion! What they then derided, and sought, through physical power and rough ignorance, to render wholly impossible, to day they greet with the voice of welcome and jubilee. Such an expression of sentiment is to us the most certain and joyful token of a gigantic revolution in public opinion--still more gratifying is it, that the history of the last few years proves that under the force of an universal necessity, reason and freedom are being consistently developed.

Such is the iron step of time, that it brings forward every event to meet its rare fulfillment. Under your protection I am once more permitted, in this dawning of a new epoch which is visible to all eyes that will see, and audible to all ears that will hear, to express my hopes, my longing, my striving, and my confidence. And now, permit me to do so in the language of my childhood's play, as well as that of the earnest and free philosophy of German thinkers and workers. Not that I believe it is left to me to interest the children of my old Fatherland, here present, in the new era of truth and freedom, as if these glorious principles were not of yore implanted in their hearts--as if they could not take them up in a strange idiom--but because I am urged from my deepest soul to speak out loud and free, as I have ever felt myself constrained to do, and as I can not do in the language of my beloved adopted land. The consciousness and the holy conviction of our inalienable human rights, which I have won in the struggle of my own strangely varied life, and in the wrestling for independence which has carried me through the terrors of b.l.o.o.d.y revolution, and brought me to this effulgent sh.o.r.e where _Sanita Libertas_ is free to all who seek it--this sacred strand, of which our German poet says: _Dich halte ich!_ (I have gained thee and will not leave thee.) So I turn to you, my dear compatriots, in the language of our Fatherland--to you who are accustomed to German ways of thinking--to you who have grown up in the light which flows from thinking brains--to you whose hearts warmly cherish human rights and human worth--who are not afraid of truth when it speaks of such deep, clear, and universally important subjects as human rights and human duties. He who fears truth will find hiding places, but he who combats for it is worthy of it. The method of its adversaries is to address themselves to thoughtless pa.s.sion, and thus arouse mockery and abuse against those who search for scientific knowledge to appeal to easily moved feelings and kindle sentiments of hatred and contempt. They can do this only while truth is in the minority--only until right shall become might.

You will learn to judge of woman's strength when you see that she persists strenuously in this purpose, and secures, by her energy, the rights which shall invest her with power. That which you can no longer suppress in woman--that which is free above all things--that which is pre-eminently important to mankind, and must have free play in every mind, is the natural thirst for scientific knowledge--that fountain of all peacefully progressing amelioration in human history. This longing, this effort of reason seeking knowledge of itself, of ideas, conclusions, and all higher things, has, as far as historical remembrance goes back, never been so violently suppressed in any human being as in woman. But, so far from its having been extinguished in her, it has, under the influence of this enlightened century, become a gigantic flame which s.h.i.+nes most brightly under the protection of the star-spangled banner. There does not exist a man-made doctrine, fabricated expressly for us, and which we must learn by heart, that shall henceforth be our law. Nor shall the authority of old traditions be a standard for us--be this authority called Veda, Talmud, Koran, or Bible. No. Reason, which we recognize as our highest and only law-giver, commands us to be free. We have recognized our duty--we have heard the rustling of the golden wings of our guardian angel--we are inspired for the work!

We are no longer in the beginning of history--that age which was a constant struggle with nature, misery, ignorance, helplessness, and every kind of bondage. The moral idea of the State struggles for that fulfillment in which all individuals shall be brought into a union which shall augment a million-fold both its individual and collective force. Therefore, don't exclude us--don't exclude woman--don't exclude the whole half of the human family. Receive us--begin the work in which a new era shall dawn. In all great events we find that woman has a guiding hand--let us stay near you now, when humanity is concerned. Man has the spirit of truth, but woman alone has pa.s.sion for it. All creations need love--let us, therefore, celebrate a union from which shall spring the morning of freedom for humanity. Give us our rights in the State. Honor us as your equals, and allow us to use the rights which belong to us, and which reason commands us to use. Whether it be prudent to enfranchise woman, is not the question--only whether it be right. What is positively right, must be prudent, must be wise, and must, finally, be useful. Give the lie to the monarchically disposed statesman, who says the republic of the United States is only an experiment, which earlier or later will prove a failure. Give the lie to such hopes, I say, by carrying out the whole elevated idea of the republic--by calling the entire, excluded half of mankind and every being endowed with reason, to the ballot-box, which is the people's holy palladium.

MADAME DE HERICOURT said: I wish to ask if rights have their source in ability, in functions, in qualities? No, certainly; for we see that all men, however they may differ in endowments, have equal rights. What, then, is the basis of rights? Humanity.

Consequently, even if it be true that woman is inferior to man in intelligence and social ability, it is not desirable that she shut herself within what is called woman's sphere. In a philosophical light, the objections brought against her have no bearing on this question. Woman must have equal rights with man, because she is, like him, a human being; and only in establis.h.i.+ng, through anatomical or biological proof, that she does not belong to the human race, can her rights be withheld.

When such demonstration is made, my claims shall cease. In the meantime, let me say that woman--whether useful or useless--belonging to humanity, must have the rights of humanity.

But is it true that the equality of man and woman would not be useful to society? We might answer this question in the affirmative were the s.e.xes alike, but for the very reason that they differ in many respects, is the presence of woman by the side of man, if we desire order and justice, everywhere necessary. Is it graceful, I ask, to walk on one leg? Men, since the beginning of history, have had the bad taste to prefer a lame society to one that is healthy and beautiful. We women have really too much taste to yield longer to such deformity. In law, in inst.i.tutions, in every social and political matter, there are two sides. Up to the present day, man has usurped what belongs to woman. That is the reason why we have injustice, corruption, international hatred, cruelty, war, shameful laws--man a.s.suming, in regard to woman, the sinful relation of slaveholder. Such relation must and will change, because we women have decided that it shall not exist. With you, gentlemen, we will vote, legislate, govern--not only because it is our right, but because it is time to subst.i.tute order, peace, equity, and virtue, for the disorder, war, cruelty, injustice, and corruption which you, acting alone, have established. You doubt our fitness to take part in government because we are fickle, extravagant, etc., etc., as you say. I answer, there is an inconsiderable minority which deserve such epithets; but even if all women deserved them, who is in fault? You not only prefer the weak-minded, extravagant women to the strong-minded and reasonable ones, but as soon as a woman attempts to leave her sphere, you, coward-like, throw yourselves before her, and secure to your own profit all remunerative occupations. I could, perhaps, forgive your selfishness and injustice, but I can not forgive your want of logic nor your hypocrisy. You condemn woman to starvation, to ignorance, to extravagance, in order to please yourselves, and then reproach her for this ignorance and extravagance, while you heap blame and ridicule on those who are educated, wise, and frugal. You are, indeed, very absurd or very silly. Your judgment is so weak that you reproach woman with the faults of a slave, when it is you who have made and who keep her a slave, and who know, moreover, that no true and virtuous soul can accept slavery. You reproach woman with being an active agent in corruption and ruin, without perceiving that it is you who have condemned her to this awful work, in which only your bad pa.s.sions sustain her. Whatever you may do, you can not escape her influence. If she is free, virtuous, and worthy, she will give you free, virtuous, and worthy sons, and maintain in you republican virtues. If she remain a slave, she will debase you and your sons; and your country will come under the rule of tyranny. Insane men can not understand that where there is one slave there are always two--he who wears the chain and he who rivets it. Unreasonable, short-sighted men can not understand that to enfranchise woman is to elevate man; to give him a companion who shall encourage his good and n.o.ble aspirations, instead of one who would debase and draw him down into an abyss of selfishness and dishonesty.

Gentlemen, will you be just, will you preserve the republic, will you stop the moral ruin of your country; will you be worthy, virtuous, and courageous for the welfare of your nation, and, in spite of all obstacles, enfranchise your mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters? Take care that you be not too late! Such injustice and folly would be at the cost of your liberty, in which event you could claim no mercy, for tyrants deserve to be the victims of tyrants.

After her brief address, Madame de Hericourt submitted to the Convention a series of resolutions for the organization of Women's Leagues.[121]

ERNESTINE L. ROSE said--_Mrs. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen_: What we need is to arouse both men and women to the great necessity of justice and of right. The world moves. We need not seek further than this Convention a.s.sembled here to-night to show that it moves. We have a.s.sembled here delegates from the East and the West, from the North and the South, from all over the United States, from England, from France, and from Germany--all have come to give us greeting and well-wishes, both in writing and in speech. I only wish that this whole audience might have been able to understand and appreciate the eloquent speeches which have been delivered here to-night. They have been uttered in support of the claim--the just demand--of woman for the right to vote.

Why is it, my friends, that Congress has enacted laws to give the negro of the South the right to vote? Why do they not at the same time protect the negro woman? If Congress really means to protect the negro race, they should have acknowledged woman just as much as man; not only in the South, but here in the North, the only way to protect her is by the ballot. We have often heard from this platform, and I myself have often said, that with individual man we do not find fault. We do not war with man; we war with bad principles. And let me ask whether we have not the right to war with these principles which stamp the degradation of inferiority upon women.

This Society calls itself the Equal Rights a.s.sociation. That I understand to be an a.s.sociation which has no distinction of s.e.x, cla.s.s, or color. Congress does not seem to understand the meaning of the term universal. I understand the word universal to include ALL. Congress understood that Universal Suffrage meant the white man only. Since the war we have changed the name for Impartial Suffrage. When some of our editors, such as Mr. Greeley and others, were asked what they meant by impartial suffrage, they said, "Why, man, of course; the man and the brother." Congress has enacted resolutions for the suffrage of men and brothers.

They don't speak of the women and sisters. [Applause.] They have begun to change their tactics, and call it manhood suffrage. I propose to call it Woman Suffrage; then we shall know what we mean. We might commence by calling the Chinaman a man and a brother, or the Hottentot, or the Calmuck, or the Indian, the idiot or the criminal, but where shall we stop? They will bring all these in before us, and then they will bring in the babies--the _male_ babies. [Laughter.] I am a foreigner. I had great difficulty in acquiring the English language, and I never shall acquire it. But I am afraid that in the meaning of language Congress is a great deal worse off than I have ever been. I go for the change of name; I will not be construed into a man and a brother. I ask the same rights for women that are extended to men--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and every pursuit in life must be as free and open to me as any man in the land. [Applause.] But they will never be thrown open to me or to any of you, until we have the power of the ballot in our own hands. That little paper is a great talisman. We have often been told that the golden key can unlock all the doors.

That little piece of paper can unlock doors where golden keys fail. Wherever men are--whether in the workshop, in the store, in the laboratory, or in the legislative halls--I want to see women.

Wherever man is, there she is needed; wherever man has work to do--work for the benefit of humanity--there should men and women unite and co-operate together. It is not well for man to be alone or work alone; and he can not work for woman as well as woman can work for herself. I suggest that the name of this society be changed from Equal Rights a.s.sociation to Woman's Suffrage a.s.sociation.

LUCY STONE said she must oppose this till the colored man gained the right to vote. If they changed the name of the a.s.sociation for such a reason as it was evident it was proposed, they would lose the confidence of the public. I hope you will not do it.

A GENTLEMAN: Mrs. President, I hope you will do it. I move that the name of the a.s.sociation be changed to the "Universal Franchise a.s.sociation."

Mrs. STANTON: The question is already settled by our const.i.tution, which requires a month's notice previous to the annual meeting before any change of name can be made. We will now have a song. [Laughter.]

Mr. BLACKWELL said that he had just returned from the South, and that he had learned to think that the test oath required of white men who had been rebels must be abolished before the vote be given to the negro. He was willing that the negro should have the suffrage, but not under such conditions that he should rule the South. [At the allusion of Mr. Blackwell to abolis.h.i.+ng the test oath, the audience hissed loudly.]

Mrs. STANTON said--Gentlemen and Ladies: I take this as quite an insult to me. It is as if you were invited to dine with me and you turned up your nose at everything that was set on the table.

Mrs. LIVERMORE said: It certainly requires a great amount of nerve to talk before you, for you have such a frankness in expressing yourselves that I am afraid of you. [Laughter and applause.] If you do not like the dish, you turn up your nose at it and say, "Take it away, take it away." [Laughter.] I was brought up in the West, and it is a good place to get rid of any superfluous modesty, but I am afraid of you. [Applause.] It seems that you are more willing to be pleased than to hear what we have to say. [Applause.] Throughout the day the men who have attended our Convention have been turbulent. [Applause.] I say it frankly, that the behavior of the majority of men has not been respectful.

[Applause.] She then gave a pathetic narration of the sorrow she had seen among the depraved and dest.i.tute of our great cities, and said the work of the coming year would be to get up a monster pet.i.tion of a million of names asking the Legislature for suffrage. [Applause.]

After a song from the Hutchinson Family, who had come from Chicago to entertain the audiences of the a.s.sociation, the meeting adjourned.

The friends of woman's suffrage, including most of the delegates to the Equal Rights Convention in New York, met in ma.s.s meeting in the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, Friday morning, May 14th, at 10 o'clock.

Mr. Edwin A. Studwell called the meeting to order and nominated Mrs.

Anna C. Field for President. This lady was unanimously elected, and took the chair. Mrs. Celia Burleigh was elected Secretary. On motion of Mr. Studwell, a committee[122] was appointed to draft resolutions.

Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was then introduced, and made the opening speech.

Mrs. LUCY STONE congratulated the ladies upon the large number of men who had become converted to their cause.

Mr. LANGDON, of Vermont, followed with a brief speech.

Mrs. BURLEIGH read a letter from the Hon. Geo. Wm. Curtis, indorsing very decidedly the doctrine of woman suffrage.

Rev. PHEBE HANAFORD then delivered a most eloquent and touching address on the moral influence that the partic.i.p.ation of women in government would have upon the world. Every true mother was with this movement. The golden rule given by Jesus, if carried out, would give equal rights to all, and there would be no distinction between color, race, or s.e.x.

The Rev. GILBERT HAVEN, of Ma.s.sachusetts, said there were three reforms needed--one was the abolition of social distinctions, another was the abolition of the rum-shop, and the third was giving the ballot to women. Of the three, which should take the precedence? It was hard to say that woman did not lead them all.

He had claimed yesterday that the Woman's Rights movement originated in Ma.s.sachusetts. He was mistaken. The great idea of woman's equality was taught by Christ; and still further back, when man and woman were created and placed in Paradise, they were placed there on an equality. G.o.d gave man no supremacy over woman there. Not until sin had entered the world, not until after the fall was it said, "He shall rule over her." If we were to be controlled by this curse of sin, we should still adhere to the old law giving the supremacy to the first-born son, for that was declared at the same time between Cain and Abel. Sin degraded, but grace emanc.i.p.ated. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit fell upon the man and woman alike. St. Paul declared this great doctrine of Woman's Rights when he said, "There is neither Greek nor Jew, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female, but all are one in Christ. If a woman prophesy, let her prophesy with the head covered," but he did not say women shall not prophesy. The doctrine of Woman's Rights originated with G.o.d Himself. There were many reasons why we should give the ballot to women. It would elevate woman herself, as well as confer incalculable benefits on man.

At the afternoon session addresses were made by Mrs. Livermore, Lucy Stone, Lilie Peckham, Rev. J. W. Chadwick, and Lucretia Mott. In the evening the building was crowded throughout, including stage and both galleries, with the very best of people. The Committee on organization reported for President, Mrs. Celia Burleigh, and for Vice-Presidents about twenty names. Mrs. Norton read an extract from a letter of Wm.

Lloyd Garrison. Miss Olive Logan spoke in her own dramatic style. She dealt numerous severe blows at the other s.e.x. Her many sarcastic and humorous. .h.i.ts elicited great applause. A resolution declaring woman ent.i.tled to vote and hold office under all conditions which it is proper to impose on man, was read and adopted, after which Lucretia Mott addressed the convention in her usual happy manner.

Mrs. HARPER spoke on matters concerning her own race.

The Rev. HENRY WARD BEECHER said: In relation to this Woman's Rights movement, I am opposed to coercion. If a woman says, "I have all the rights I want," I say, very well. We do not preach the doctrine of coercive rights. You shall have perfect liberty to stay at home. All we ask is, that women shall follow their natures. Of all heresies it seems to me there never was one so absurd as that which supposes that woman is not fit for the peculiar duties of government. She was fit to whip you and me; to teach us the best things we know; fit to take care of home; and let me tell you that the woman who is fit to take care of home is fit to stand in the gateway of heaven itself. Nothing is more sacred between this and the heavenly rest than the Christian household. It is said that woman is not fit to hold office. Take the Presidents of the United States, as they run for the last eight or ten years, and I would rather take my chances among the average of women. A President of these United States requires merely common sense and honesty. Men are not more honest than women, not more sincere nor more capable.

Miss PHOEBE COUZINS and Mr. DOUGLa.s.s made brief addresses. The HUTCHINSONS sang one of their soul-stirring songs. LUCY STONE closed the exercises with a most effective appeal.

Out of these broad differences of opinion on the amendments, as shown in the debates, divisions grew up between Republicans and Abolitionists on the one side, and the leaders of the Woman Suffrage movement on the other. The constant conflict on the Equal Rights platform proved the futility of any attempt to discuss the wrongs of different cla.s.ses in one a.s.sociation. A general dissatisfaction had been expressed by the delegates from the West at the lat.i.tude of debate involved in an Equal Rights a.s.sociation. Hence, a change of name and more restricted discussions were strenuously urged by them.

Accordingly, at the close of Anniversary week, a meeting was called at the Woman's Bureau,[123] which resulted in reorganization under the name of "The National Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation."[124]