in circul-AT º - C DDRESS ..., . ºut. - - - º STATE CONVENTION º - º º> º ºs s OF THE - º ºlomºn (ITIZENS of Tºº state of Michigan, º: º mum mºtiºn ºn ºn tº º ºf Gºtºhºr, 1843, - - - - Sºros the purpose or consºrse tº Mo- º, RAL AND politicAL condition. As citizens º OF THE sº ATE, º º º º * D. E. T. R O IT : - Rºn By will LIAM ºr ARSHA- 1843. GºGº Gºº Gº G). minium º º, Gº & Söğ º gº gº º º WILLIAMLCLEMENTS LIV3RARY OF AMERICAN HISTORY UNIVERSITY/MICHIGAN AN ADDRESS TO THE CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN - FELLow Cºrizºns,—The State Convention of Col- ored citizens, assembled in Detroit, October 26th, and 27th, to consider their political condition, in behalf of their people in this state, would respectſully address you on a subject to them of the most vital importance. We, the oppressed portion of this State, rejoice that we are the native born inhabitants of a country that pro- ſesses to be the land of the free, and an asylum for the oppressed of all nations. ºn But yet we feel ourselves aggrieved, that we anal prived by injustice of those inajienable rights ºt, which we are endowed by the Creator of the Universe, and incorporated and made sacred to every native born inhabitant of these United States, by the Declaration of the American Independence. Therefore do we sºlemnly appeal to you for a just reason, why we should be deprived of ou nee born lights, which are guaranteed tº us as nati. born Amer- 1Cans. For We find ourselves existing in this State, with no marks of ºriminality attached to our names as a class, no spots ºf immorality staining our characters—no char. gº ºf disloyalty dishonoring our birth-tight; yet we º from being Pºliciºns in those ſide-born ghts an sympathies, that are bountifully guaranteed º º """ humanity of this State, i. also to Pig * * * ºver elimo or language. We ºld ". lº and ºf the opposing y º Pºnted º ºg ºn assenting or 3 Voice in the bºdie pºintment of those 4. who rule us, and are made passive instruments of all laws, just or unjust, that may be enacted, to which we are bound to subscribe, even while we have no instru- mentality, either in their formation or adoption, and which in their practical operation act upon us with del structive tendency. By subjecting us to taxation without representation, by allowing us but a scany and inade. - quate participation in the privileges of education. For We are deprived of a just and equal participation in the educational privileges of the State, for which we are equally taxed to support. - - By shutting us out from the exercise of the elective - franchise, a right which invigorates the soul, and ex- pands the mental powers, and is the safeguard of the liberty and prosperity of a free and independent pco- ple, and by being deprived of this right we are virtu. ally and manifestly shutout from the attainment of those resources of pecuniary and possessional enouments, - h an unshackled citizenship does always ensure. A proscriptions in the privileges of the State, we sider to be undemocratic, unjust, and not in accor- º with the spirit and political institutions of our republican form of government, and contrary to the first article of our State Constitution, which in the first three clauses of said article, expressly declares that, - 1st, All political power is inherent in the people ºd. Government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people, and they have the right at all times, to alter or reform the same, and to abºlish One - form of government and establish another, whenever º the public good requires it. 8d. No man or set ºn are entitled to exclusive or separate privileges. And as we, the oppressed form a portion of the people º the State, and are deprived of all the rights and privileges guaranteed to the people, therefºre, we entºr our º protest against the word "white," embodied in the first clause of the second article of the aforesaid Constitu- tion, which provides for all white male citizens the ex- ... ... .º. f the exercise of the clusive and separate privilege of the - º elective franchise, of which we are deprived, and which is also contrary, and gives the lie to the third clause of the first article of the Constitution, which so positive: ly declares that “no man, or set of men are are entitled to exclusive or separate privileges.” - For the same here avowed proscriptions in the pri- vileges of the government, did the fathers of the Revº- lution of 1776, declare these United States to be ab- solved from all allegiance to the British crown. They published as a justification, a declaration of rights, and an extensive list of grievances, and then established a republican form of government for their future protec- tion, laying its foundation on the broad platform of those noble principles set forth in their Declaration of Inde- pendence; which so nobly declares that all men are born free and equal, and endowed by their Creator with in- alienable rights, among which, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, gov- ernments are instituted amongst men, deriving th: just powers from the consent of the governed; that people are the only legitimate source of lawful politi power, and that they have a right to institute, alter of abolish forms of government when they ſail to secure the ends for which they were established; and that this right is inherent, inalienable and supreme. That the definition of “the people” is all men; that tº enable all men to exercise their right to institute º should enjoy the right of suffrage. right is a natural right, belonging to man, be- gause he is a person and not a thing a accountable being and not a brute. That government - - be executed for the benefit of II: * is a trust to ends are the pre: ºnefit of all; that its legitimate of justice .." . º Pºace, the establishment rights. º º ... ºf crime, and the security of all political in: Pºpº declare eternal war against | political injustice. They condemn all - - - violating the soil; - mn all Legislation - * "º spirit of equality. They the f - tion of a true, and u * They are the founda 2 * *Prºscriptive republican form of government - - - - - tion. and tº correct guides in all political ac- - For the maintenance of these noble repubican prin. - ciples, the fathers of the Revolution, pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors, and thereupon ordained and established the Constitu. tion of these United States, which guarantees to every State in this Union a republican form of government and explicitly declares that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citi. zens in the several States. In accordance with these glorious republican principles, have we, year after year petitioned our State Legislature for the redress of grie. vances, and we have received from time to time but little or no attention. - In that declaration of fundamental principles, set forth by the fathers of '76, we ſail to discover anything like a system of exclusion. No there is not an ex- - - - - - - - - - - - -- º pression, not an implied sentiment to be found making a distinction in the rights and privileges of any class of Ameliºn ºns: But ºne contrary, its first intºn ºreath. bºldly proclaims men are born free and K ºn and that consº iſe, liberty. and the pur. suit of happiness, are inherent in every individual ves ted inalienably by natural birth-tight. Had the declaration said that all “white men are born free and equal,” then our ancestors would not have been deceived into the belief, that they were included as constituting a portion of the party, engaged in the striſe against British oppression. Nº have given oc- casion to the observation of General La Fayette. when he visited this country, that during the Revolution the white and black soldies ſought and messed together without hesitation. The records of that º prove that the blacks rushed forth to the conflict, an poured out their blood with as much bravery as º white fellow soldiers, in the attacks made upon ºº they then considered to be the common enemy: -- - - --- - testimony of Generals Washington, Green, anº º others, to the valor of our people in the time ºº try’s greatest peril, and danger, shines ſº º ous to be impeached by any enlightened ind idual. - Yes! fellow-citizens,—again in the War of º people were called upon to repel an invading . . our native soil. Regardless of the wrongs that hº already been heaped upon them, they immediately rush- ed forth to the conflict; and under the command of Gen- eral Jackson in the Southern Army, and especially at the battle of New Orleans, distinguished themselves as valiant soldiers, fighting in defence of their country's honor. The splendid naval achievements, on Lakes Erie and Champlain, were owing, mostly, to the skill and prowess of Colored men. The ſame of Perry was gained at the expense of the mangled bodies and bleed- ing veins of our disfranchised people. The blood of our fathers is mingled with the soil of every battlefield: and their bones have enriched the most productive lands ºt our country. Yes! in those ever-memorable battles which achieved the Independence, and maintained the honor of our country, your fathers and ours, fought side by side, many of both were laid low, bleeding and wal- º lowing in their gore, which was the dear price they paid fºr the Independence of this, our beloved, country, º that all their posterity might enjoy the blessings of Equal Therefore, we feel ourselves aggrieved, that blessings ºbtained by the blood and toil of our fathers, are not administered as equally to us as to yourselves. We | feel that our sufferings caused by our being deprived 4. ** Pºlitiºn Rights, should call forth the sympathies of the whole human race, but more especially those of yºurselves,among whom we dwell & who are the authors ºf our enlamities. For you have trampled our Liber- tº in the dust, and thus standing with the iron-heel of Qppression upon our heads, you bid us rise to a level with Youſselves; and because we do not rise, you Point the finger of scorn and ºntempt at us, and say, that we are an inſerior race by nature. Yes! whº anº *Yºues of privileged life have been closed against us, our hands bound with stationary ſetters, our minds left * 3rope in the prison cell of impenetrable gloom, and - - - º ry expectation on which such a requisition is found. & º out whole action regulated by constitutional law, a a perverse public sentiment: we have been taunting required to prove the dignity of our human nature, disrobing ourselves of inferiority and exhibiting to world, our profound scholars, distinguished philo phers, learned jurists, and eminent statesmen. The to say the least, is unreasonable; for it is only when seed is sown, that we can justly expect tº reap. Buty we feel constrained to say, we present the curious an acknowledged creditable spectacle of a people bendi under the weight of a galling proscription, who yetw. not suffer by comparison with our more privileged ſº low citizens of the same rank, either in religion, moral ty, industry or general information. A spirit of intelligence pervades our entive nº lation, keeping pace with the progressive spirit the age, and the continual intellectual progress the nation. There are but few families in whi —Ten, ink and paper, and books, are not common a necessary commodities. If then, amidst all the di culties with which we are surrounded, and privatiºn ºve have suffered, we present an equal amount of telligence with that class of our ſellow citizens that he been so peculiarly favored; a very grave and dange ous question presents itself to the world, on the natu equality of man; and the best rule of logic, would pº those who have oppressed us, in the scale of inferiori, Our condition as a people in ancient times. was from indicating intellectual or moral inferiority: º we are informed by the writings of Herodotus, Pinda Eschylus and many other ancient historians, that Egy and Ethiopia held the most conspicuous places amº the nations of the earth. Their princes Werº wealſ and powerful, and their people distinguished ſº º profound learning and wisdom. Twº thousand ago, people flocked from all parts of the knºwn º down into Africa, to receive instruction from the woolly haired and blackskinned Ethiopians and " - 9 tians yes, even the proudest of the Greelan philoso- phers historians and pºets, among whom were Solon, - - - Pyth gºras ºato, H. erodotus, Hºmer Lycurgus, and many ºnes all went down intº Africa. and set at the feet our ancestors, and drank in wisdom, until they were taught in all the arts and sciences of those ancient African nations. The codºdministered by Solon to the inhabitants of Athens, shows mºnº of his black instructors. The schools of arts and sciences established by Pythagoras and Plato, after their return from Africa, shows no interiory of ther black African tutors. The form of Govern- men: established by Lycurgºs, to raise up the down trodden Spartans, to become the dread and terror of all their neighboring Grecian states, shows nº ºrity in the Governmental º ge of his black African eaches ºne song that Homer sung of Egypt's Thebes with her hun- died ºf polish bºss, her splendid architecture, her statues, her pyramiº. ººnes of sculptured marble, which were so gigantic and superiºus that the very ruins are yet so tremendous, that they still mºre ºn nº with such gigantic phantoms, that Napoleon's whole ºmy ºil in Africa) all suddenly stoniº, and with ºne accord, stood in am ment. d clapped their hands º delight, over the ancient º sereat Empress, on the Egyptºn lain, which three thousand - 5 tºo, - - -- º her conquest over a tºo sº sº. - And noured her heroes through a ºn sº- Two hundred horsemen and two ºured tº, From each wide portal issued forth to tº wºrsº . . . . - - ºº º*"... ſ º king º ºpº J who went Egypt. qu the whole known world, leaving Ethiopian and º colonies behind him, to civilize and improve the condition of b * nations that he had conquered. He also caused his own statue to carved of marble and placed among them that the name of the Grea. t º º Conqueror of the World, might ever be fresh in from ºy who had leſſ his countrymen among them, to raise them su º and barbarism, to learning and civilization war as º º evidence of Herodotus and Strabo that the statues 4. from sº rican leader still remained in their days (which was inspecial , .. º of 860 years, and even that they were actually A ria. º . º .. ñº Palestine Arabia, Media and Assy. - ºas to the following ºº " lese proud monuments every where boro - *ses is kind. in a sostris, king of kings andlord of lords, subdued this cºuntry by the power of his arms.” ºlº gº hodius that the . ºlºny there; and we are informed by Apollonius apital of º: Perity of the Egyptian governor subsisted at Ea, the ºry colony . º #ºnºrations. The descendants of this mili- ere long distin º ...” complexion and woolly hair of Africa, ey dwelt. º º ed from the natives of the district among whom ssians, certain i. pºssible even at this day, to find among the Cº. e soldiers of º families, whose blood might be traced to inity which . º and whose features still verify the raditional iopia. Th °, them with the ancient inhabitants of Egypt and -tº- * great Assyrian empire of the once powerful Babylon and - - - - - - - Nineve - - - - - Tyre º º º º º blacks. - their times, were also once founded b º *althy and polished states of ...º.º.º. ... . . . . . . whos - ments are still spared by the hand of time, to be the Woº. º º of the world, and which by their gi - - - - mºn workmanship, shows no i. * º and exquisite those ancient African ... ty * wealth, power or wisdom of º º...”* . from the centre of Africa, and like the º - y he ce. estial regions, it east its light into the most e corners of the earth, giving arts, sciences and intellectualim- Prºmº tº all that lay beneath its elevating rays. Therefºre, fellow citizens. proscribe us no longer, by holding us in a degraded light, on account onatural inferiority, but rather extend to our free born right, the Elective Franchise, which invigorates the soul and expands the the mental powers of a free and independent people We then would be able to disrobe ourselves of inferiority, and prove . the world, that we are worthy of the name of American citizens. There- fore, we appeal to you to secure to us our political rights; for the en- joyment of those rights in a free country, is a stimulant to enterprise, a means of influence, and source of of respects they ºgos and energy through the entire heart of a people; the want of them in a com- - munity is the cause of carelessless, intellectualinertness, and indolence. º- ſº many of us have sprung above all these depressing circumstances and exerting ourselves with unwon ted alacrity, by native industry, have - accumulated property, for which we are now taxed and not represented we firm elieves in the doctrinesset forth in the Declaration of In- dependence. We are among those who believe that taxation, and re- presentation, should go together. We acquiesce in the sentiment that - Governments can only derive their just power from the consent of the ºverned. Therefore, we declare it to be a violation of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and not in accord- with a republican form of Government, contrary tº the 1st article of our- state Constitutution, and injustice of the most aggravated character, either to deprive us of a just and legitimate participation in the rights - - * and privileges of the state, or to make us bear the burdens and submit ... tº enactments; when all its arrangements, plans and purposes are - framed and put into operation utterly regardless of us, and which in their practical operation, act upon is with destructive tendency. - Therefore, Fellow Citizens,—the Colored Citizens of this State, through us, their representatives, respectfully and earnestly ask a your hands, the speedy adoption of such plans, and the form ºn of such measures as may secure to them their Equal Political Riºs. - ºf LAMBERT Ch'n of Com. - |- |- Will. A M HARSHA, orner ºf Jefferson Avenue & Griswºld St. tºº, - - Over R. Banks's Clºthing Stone, adjoining the º º º Book Bird of Z. Vollum, - - - - - * * ** Tº be 0 || || || ||Nº|| - º, º - * tº º ºsº dº ſºlº - > º - He º solicits º ºpºlls, BILLS OF LADING, . ºsnow BILLS. BILººps BANK CHECKS, CARDs, 7 º' CIRCULARS, BILLS OF EXCH ºr J. - RECEPTS, &c. º LABELS, ºn in ºr ºress º | - - - - - - º- sº - º º