#历史开讲 #
Wen|Mumu
Editor|Stargazing
The passage of the Fifteenth Constitutional Amendment on February 25, 1869, caused a political storm that shredded the already fragile postwar alliance.
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Constitutional Amendments recognized black citizenship and the right of black men to vote, respectively, while ignoring the right of women (white and black) to vote.
The denial of women's suffrage reflected both gender discrimination against all women and racism against black women. It also reveals the paradox of equality, which gives black men the right to vote, thus further cementing male dominance.
First, the rupture of the alliance
In the late 60s of the 19th century, this seemingly united coalition of black and white abolitionist and women's rights movements would be completely ignited and nearly destroyed by the flames of racism and sexism.
On the second anniversary of the American Equal Rights Association in 1868, Douglas tried to calm women's rights leaders, telling them that the greatest threat was to link women's suffrage with black suffrage.
This would severely reduce the chances of black men to suffrage. In addition, I reiterate that suffrage is an 'urgent need' for blacks.
The realization of women's suffrage depended on the initial success of black suffrage. In another five to ten years, it will be women's time. But Douglas's consolation didn't work, and women's rights leaders felt betrayed.
Stanton intends to discuss the inclusion of women's suffrage in the 16th Constitutional Amendment at a subsequent meeting of the Equal Rights Association.
The 3rd American Equal Rights Association, held in New York on May 12, 1869, exposed a deep rift that had long existed among women's rights leaders, and the conference also saw a key turning point in the women's rights movement.
Now the Equal Rights Society had to consider whether to support the amendment, which had the end result that it had split the women's rights movement.
In his keynote address at the convention, Stanton called on the association to commit to the passage of the Sixteenth Constitutional Amendment, which would give women the right to vote.
Before the convention could respond directly, the question of race and who should be given priority to black male and female suffrage sparked a series of heated confrontations.
The members, led by Douglass, supported the priority of black rights, while the radicals led by Stanton and Anthony always insisted on women's rights first.
Lucy Stone and most other women who wanted to include women in the amendment supported the 15th amendment. Douglas condemned Stanton for belittling black people with racist language.
He argued that white women were entitled to vote and regretted that they were not included in the amendment, but he insisted that blacks should have the right to vote before women.
He emphasized: Black women were dragged out of their homes and hung on lampposts. When their children were pulled out of their arms, the children were thrown into the road. When they become the object of insults. When they are in danger of their homes being burned down.
When their children are not allowed into school, then they are desperate to get the same right to vote as we do.
In addition, when the audience pointed out that it was black women who faced these torments, Douglas responded: "Black women have this situation, not because she is a woman, but because she is black." There are many ways for women to vent their grievances, but there is only one for blacks."
Radicals, led by Anthony and Stanton, were adamantly opposed, preferring to see the 15th Amendment fail rather than support an amendment that would not include women's suffrage.
The two rejected any consultation, describing the debate over the 15th Constitutional Amendment as a "war between the sexes."
Anthony has always insisted that "if intelligence, justice, and morality take precedence, if the state cannot give full suffrage to all the people, it should first be given to smarter white women."
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution negates all of her proud merits, and white women will have a lower status than all men.
"When I lobbied the state government with a petition and filled the petition with the name of the cause we proposed to the legislature, a man told me that women's freedom and suffrage were entirely a theory, not a practical thing."
She asked the members of the scene: "If there is a prioritization problem, and white women are educated and smart, why can't they win?" The state should replace the coming wave of ignorance, poverty and evil with the virtues, wealth and education of women".
The radicals' claims did not seem to be faulty, but the duo and their supporters did not hesitate to launch wave after wave of insulting insults against black men, calling them ignorant savages.
Second, the parting of ways with Douglas
In response to Douglas's accusations, radicals also unceremoniously retorted: "If the 15th Amendment proposed granting the right to vote to all men except Mr. Douglas's own race, I believe he would feel the same way."
Anthony's list of male voters who shouldn't vote also included immigrants, Mexicans and working-class laborers. Stanton was shocked to realize that all lower-class men could legislate for their benefit, ignoring white women."
Douglas lamented their attacks, which he saw as proof that women like Stanton simply did not understand the difficult situation faced by black Americans in a critical period like the post-Civil War period.
They worked with Douglas for more than 30 years and were close friends, but then had to temporarily part ways because of the difficult situation of fighting politics.
The moderates, led by Lucy Stone and Catherine Beacher, agreed that women's suffrage was more important than black suffrage, but they were willing to support the passage of the amendment, arguing that universal suffrage for black men was a step in the right direction.
In Stone's "middle principle," she downplayed her argument that women's political participation was more necessary. She insisted that if we deviated from the "middle principle" and justified a class, we would lose our way.
In her speech, she hoped to make everyone in the conference aware of "how white people in the South use terror and violence to assert white supremacy."
Then, Stein condemns the North in dramatic language, "The North does not seem much better than the South." Because in the North, men deprive women of legal custody of their children in divorce cases".
She went on to say: Stanton advocated for women first, Douglas fought for his race and gender, I can understand that. But in my eyes, opposing gender oppression and racial oppression is equally important in the current situation.
Women and blacks are people in a sea of suffering, but I am happy that one of them can get out of it. But she also said after the meeting that "the advancement of educated white women would provide greater guarantees for the morality and safety of the government than for accepting blacks."
In addition, moderates who advocated support for the passage of the amendment were also a gesture of goodwill to Republicans, who hoped to maintain their alliance with Republicans in order to gain their support in the future fight for women's suffrage.
Black women among moderates, represented by Frances Allen Harper, expressed support for the 15th Amendment to the Constitution on the grounds of race and gender.
They are well aware of the struggles of black women, who suffer from the same sexism as white women, and who need to face racist oppression with black men, and who have more complex life experiences.
In their view, the biggest obstacle to the advancement of black women is not black men, but white racial discrimination.
As an AERA official, Harper had suspected that "the sudden concern of white women's rights leaders on black women was not sincere but merely expedient."
Because during the three-year AERA conference, there were more than 50 state officials and speakers, of which only 5 were black women".
At the conference, Harper sharply pointed out the shortcomings of the women's rights movement, led by white women at the time, and expressed his position.
"When it comes to race, I put gender aside as a secondary issue. But white women all pursued gender, giving race a secondary role. If this country can only solve one problem, I won't let black women get in the way, as long as men get what they want."
Black women's support for the Fifteenth Amendment did not mean that they were not interested in their right to vote, economic independence, education, or other issues that concerned them.
Harper and others understood that black women could only assert their rights when the rights of black men were guaranteed.
If black men have no rights, the struggle of black women is meaningless. Douglas accused Stanton of "relying on unarmed slave women to advance the cause of women's rights."
Unanimous support for the amendment among moderate women's rights leaders has not been enough to stop the widening division.
The radicals, led by Anthony and Stanton, ended up on the losing side of the debate, feeling isolated by the rest of AERA, which led to the eventual rupture of the women's rights movement.
Establishment of the National Women's Suffrage Association
They and their supporters withdrew from the Affirmative Action Society and in March 1869 the National Women's Suffrage Association was formed. The association was unequivocally opposed to the 15th Constitutional Amendment, and the newly established organization completely abandoned further efforts for black suffrage.
The leaders of the association are almost exclusively women, and there are strict restrictions on men who want to enter the leadership. And the organization made it clear that it did not form affiliations with political parties or cooperate with abolitionists.
The Association's goal was to urge Congress to pass the 16th constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote and to eliminate the word "male".
When the Association considers the legislation and other issues being raised, it uses only one criterion: whether the measures under consideration will have a positive or negative impact on women.
The Association meets annually in Washington, D.C., to draft and distribute petitions seeking to pass a federal constitutional amendment to women's right to vote. Under the guidance of the Association, women's "thinking and talking" on emancipation shifted to "practical and positive action".
Their newspaper, The Revolution, spoke for women's most radical demands and dealt with workers, the poor, married women's property rights and post-divorce rights.
Because it was too radical, the rhetoric of "Revolution" was often attacked and criticized by the public. In the early days of the NWSA, Stanton and Antony failed to issue an open invitation, much to the annoyance of many reformers, who felt left out in the cold.
Faced with the move of their former close friends, Stone and her husband Henry Blackwell felt that it was an insult to them personally.