Petition for Woman Suffrage from Frederick Douglass Jr. and Other Residents of the District of Columbia
1878
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Wealthy white women were not the only supporters of woman suffrage. Frederick Douglass, a former slave and leader of the abolition movement, and his children were also advocates. Douglass attended the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848; and in an editorial published that year in his newspaper, The North Star, he wrote, "...in respect to political rights...there can be no reason in the world for denying to woman the elective franchise..."
By 1877, when he was U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia, Douglass's family was also involved in the movement. His son, Frederick Douglass, Jr.; daughter, Rosetta Douglass Sprague ("Mrs. Nathan Sprague," a member of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW)); and son-in-law, Nathan Sprague, all signed this petition to Congress for woman suffrage "...to prohibit the several States from Disfranchising United States Citizens on account of Sex." This petition was part of a petition drive organized by the National Woman Suffrage Association calling for a constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote.
In addition, a growing number of black women actively supported woman's suffrage during this period. Prominent African-American suffragists included Ida B. Wells-Barnett of Chicago, a leading crusader against lynching; Mary Church Terrell, educator and first president of the NACW; and Adella Hunt Logan, Tuskegee Institute faculty member, who insisted in articles in The Crisis, that if white women needed the vote to protect their rights, then black women – victims of racism as well as sexism – needed the ballot even more.
By 1877, when he was U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia, Douglass's family was also involved in the movement. His son, Frederick Douglass, Jr.; daughter, Rosetta Douglass Sprague ("Mrs. Nathan Sprague," a member of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW)); and son-in-law, Nathan Sprague, all signed this petition to Congress for woman suffrage "...to prohibit the several States from Disfranchising United States Citizens on account of Sex." This petition was part of a petition drive organized by the National Woman Suffrage Association calling for a constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote.
In addition, a growing number of black women actively supported woman's suffrage during this period. Prominent African-American suffragists included Ida B. Wells-Barnett of Chicago, a leading crusader against lynching; Mary Church Terrell, educator and first president of the NACW; and Adella Hunt Logan, Tuskegee Institute faculty member, who insisted in articles in The Crisis, that if white women needed the vote to protect their rights, then black women – victims of racism as well as sexism – needed the ballot even more.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789 - 2011.
National Archives Identifier: 7330216
Full Citation: Petition for Woman Suffrage from Frederick Douglass Jr. and Other Residents of the District of Columbia; 1878; Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary during the 45th Congress; (HR 45A-H11.7); Petitions and Memorials, 1813 - 1968; Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789 - 2011, Record Group 233; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/douglass-petition-woman-suffrage, October 13, 2024]Activities that use this document
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