gal citizens. This was a huge defeat for the South. Southern political offices began to be filled with black officials. The old South began to crumple.The need for emancipation and the drive to fight for it was something many Americans felt strongly about. It was what needed to be done for the betterment of the nation. Douglass felt that the policy of emancipation and giving freedom to the blacks was in no way more important than granting them suffrage. During the war the black was an integral part and without him the war would have been futile. The nation also depended upon the African American during the peace that followed. Douglass felt it should be realized the “nation must fall or flourish with the negro”. The previous session of Congress failed to recognize this and allowed for States to disfranchise their freedmen as they saw fit. The call made by Douglass to the current Congress was to give the freedmen their vote and make it an undeniable right by either state or federal governments. The Constitution of the United States recognizes no distinction between one citizen and another and therefore race and color of skin should not be a factor in civil rights. The Constitution “declares that the citizens of each State shall enjoy all the rights and immunities of citizens of the several State,--so that a legal voter in any State shall be a legal voter in all the States”. The Constitution is our most powerful document and has been the foundation of our country. As Americans we pride ourselves on our democracy and always have. The South was a very proud group of Democrats. Had they stopped and thought about where that political party gained its name they might have realized how wrong they were in desiring to withhold the democratic rights of a citizen of these United States....
