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FREEDOM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: THE PUZZLES OF
STATUS AND ACCESSDR. EVELYN STERNE
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORYUNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
RIGHT TO VOTE IS IDEAL LENS FOR VIEWING CONCEPT OF FREEDOM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE IN 19TH CENTURY
THROUGH THIS LENS, FREEDOM LOOKS MUCH MORE THEORETICAL THAN PRACTICAL
STORY OF WOMEN’S & AFRICAN AMERICANS’ POLITICAL EXCLUSION IS WELL-KNOWN, BUT WORKERS’ & IMMIGRANTS’ IS NOT. ◦ ALEX KEYSSAR, THE RIGHT TO VOTE
GOALS FOR TONIGHT:
WE’LL USE CONNECTING THEME OF SUFFRAGE TO EXPLORE:
ANTEBELLUM WOMEN’S LEGAL STATUS
RI’S DORR REBELLION (1842)
RACE, IMMIGRATION AND POLITICAL EXCLUSION IN LATE 19TH c.
GOALS FOR TONIGHT:
USE “THE PROTEST OF LUCY STONE AND HENRY BLACKWELL UPON THEIR MARRIAGE ON MAY 2, 1855,” TO DISCUSS WHICH LEGAL RIGHTS ANTEBELLUM WOMEN WERE DENIED
PRINCIPLE OF “COVERTURE”
ANTEBELLUM WOMEN’S LEGAL STATUS
WOMEN HAD MADE MODEST GAINS AFTER 1830 IN:
RIGHT TO DIVORCE
PROPERTY OWNERSHIP
BUT…
ANTEBELLUM WOMEN’S LEGAL STATUS
WHEN DID WOMEN ORGANIZE TO DEMAND THEIR RIGHTS?
1848 WOMAN’S RIGHT’S CONVENTION◦ SENECA FALLS (NY)
LED BY ELIZABETH CADY STANTON & LUCRETIA MOTT
300 WOMEN (AND MEN) ATTENDED◦ INCLUDING FREDERICK DOUGLASS
ANTEBELLUM WOMEN’S LEGAL STATUS
GROUP WORK ON “DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS”:
WHICH SPECIFIC RIGHTS WERE DEMANDED?
HOW WERE THEY JUSTIFIED?
WHAT IS STRIKING ABOUT THE RHETORIC?
ALSO THINK ABOUT: “WHY 1848”?
WOMAN’S RIGHTS CONVENTION (1848)
WHY 1848?
ANTEBELLUM REFORM CLIMATE: KEY SUFFRAGISTS WERE ABOLITIONISTS LINKS TO EVANGELICALISM
CLIMATE OF INDIVIDUALISM: REVOLUTION, 2ND GREAT AWAKENING
SUFFRAGE REFORM NATIONWIDE: AN UNEVEN REVOLUTION
SENECA FALLS CONVENTION (1848)
THE NATIONAL PICTURE: A POST-REVOLUTION SUFFRAGE REVOLUTION
WHO COULD VOTE IN COLONIAL ERA? WHY WAS VOTE LAND-BASED?
WHY DID MOST STATES REMOVE LAND REQUIREMENTS (FOR WHITE MEN) AFTER REVOLUTION?
BUT NOT RI…
RI’S DORR REBELLION (1842)
BECAUSE ONLY LANDOWNERS COULD VOTE IN RI, BY 1842:
PROPORTION OF VOTERS DECLINING
POPULAR GROUNDSWELL FOR REFORM GROWING
THOMAS WILSON DORR STEPPED FORWARD◦ UNLIKELY REBEL
RI’S DORR REBELLION (1842)
THE DRAMA MOUNTED…
2 GOVERNMENTS: PEOPLE’S vs. LAW & ORDER
2 CONSTITUTIONS
FAILED ATTACK ON PROVIDENCE ARSENAL ESCAPE, ATTEMPTED COMEBACK, EXILE,
ARRESTS AND MARTIAL LAW
RI’S DORR REBELLION (1842)
1843 CONSTITUTION CREATED A TWO-TIERED POLITY:
FREE SUFFRAGE FOR NATIVE-BORN MEN (WHITE & BLACK)
LAND REQUIREMENT FOR IMMIGRANTS
“A SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS WITHOUT VOTERS”
ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO CHANGE
RI’S DORR REBELLION (1842)
BY 1850s RI WAS ONLY STATE WITH: LANDOWNING REQUIREMENTS FOR
WHITES SEVERE AND EXPLICIT VOTING
RESTRICTIONS ON IMMIGRANTS WHY DID OPPOSITION RUN SO DEEP?
RI’S DORR REBELLION (1842)
USE YOUR DOCUMENT TO EXPLORE REASONS RAISED/RHETORIC USED TO DENY POLITICAL ACCESS TO IRISH CATHOLICS (IN RI & OTHER CONTEXTS).
WHAT DOES THIS DOCUMENT REVEAL
ABOUT ANTEBELLUM POLITICAL & CULTURAL CONCERNS?
WHICH STRIKE YOU AS SINCERE? SELF-SERVING?
GROUP WORK: DOCUMENTING ANTI-CATHOLICISM IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA
ONLY NATIVE-BORN PROTESTANTS SHOULD HOLD OFFICE
21-YEAR WAITING PERIOD FOR NATURALIZATION
BY 1855 CONTROLLED STATE LEGISLATURES IN NEW ENGLAND & BORDER STATES, WITH SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS IN CONGRESS
MOMENT QUICKLY FADED ONCE ELECTED, YET SIGNIFICANCE RAN DEEPER
OUTCOME: THE AMERICAN (KNOW-NOTHING) PARTY, F. 1854
DORR REBELLION HAD EXPOSED DEEP CONCERNS ABOUT INTEGRATING CATHOLICS INTO POLITY
FORESHADOWED SUBSEQUENT ATTEMPTS TO EXCLUDE IMMIGRANTS FROM AMERICAN FREEDOMS
IMPLICATIONS OF DORR REBELLION
BY THE GILDED AGE, IRISH CATHOLICS SEEMED LESS WORRISOME BECAUSE OF NEWER THREATS
THE “NEW” IMMIGRATION: HOW HAD THE POPULATION DIVERSIFIED
SINCE MID-CENTURY? “NEW” IMMIGRANTS PERCEIVED NOT ONLY
AS UNAMERICAN, BUT ALSO AS NONWHITE◦ DAVID ROEDIGER, WORKING TOWARD
WHITENESS
RACE, IMMIGRATION AND POLITICAL EXCLUSION IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY
USE YOUR DOCUMENT TO EXPLORE WHY THE “NEW” IMMIGRANTS SEEMED SO DIFFERENT AND THREATENING THEY WERE RACIALIZED AS ‘NONWHITE’.◦ DOCUMENTS FROM JON GJERDE, MAJOR
PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN IMMIGRATION AND ETHNIC HISTORY
RACE, IMMIGRATION AND POLITICAL EXCLUSION IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY
THESE CONCERNS PEAKED WITH THE CHINESE
WHY SEEN AS ESPECIALLY THREATENING?◦ CULTURALLY?◦ ECONOMICALLY?◦ (.002 % OF POPULATION IN 1880)
CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT (1882)◦ CHINESE COULD NOT IMMIGRATE◦ THOSE ALREADY HERE COULD NOT NATURALIZE
RACE, IMMIGRATION AND POLITICAL EXCLUSION IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY
OTHER STATES & CITIES FOLLOWED RI’S EXAMPLE AND SUBTLY RESTRICTED IMMIGRANT/WORKING-CLASS VOTE◦ LITERACY TESTS, RESIDENCY RULES,
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS, PAUPER RESTRICTIONS
◦ *LOCAL TAX REQUIREMENTS*
RIGHT TO VOTE WAS CONTRACTING AS RI’S WORRIES BECAME NATIONAL WORRIES
IMPLICATIONS FOR IMMIGRANT SUFFRAGE
OTHER STRUCTURAL IMPEDIMENTS TO IMMIGRANTS’ POLITICAL INCLUSION WHICH OTHER FACTORS PREVENTED
IMMIGRANTS FROM ENTERING POLITICS IN RI?
IMPLICATIONS FOR IMMIGRANT SUFFRAGE
FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY AT TIME OF CONTRACTION
COMPETING WITH MEN WHO LACKED FULL ACCESS TO VOTE THEMSELVES
YET SKILLFULLY PLAYED ON FEARS OF ETHNIC VOTES
IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE
NEW NATION WAS TRYING ON “DEMOCRACY” UNCOMFORTABLY◦ CONFRONTING LIMITS OF ITS OWN VISION
TO WHAT EXTENT DID THE U.S. LIVE UP TO ITS PROMISES OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN THE 19TH c.?
WHY DID WOMEN, IMMIGRANTS FALL OUTSIDE CONTEMPORARY CONCEPTIONS OF THE VIRTUOUS REPUBLICAN CITIZEN?
FREEDOM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: THE PUZZLES OF STATUS AND ACCESS