Petition from “Colored Women at Washington"
1/15/1872
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Add only page 1 to activity:
Add only page 2 to activity:
After the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments, there was a great divide over how far the Government should go to enforce the rights established by these amendments. The 1875 Civil Rights Bill, first proposed by Senator Charles Sumner in 1870, was an attempt to codify those rights. Senator Sumner was the chief Radical Republican leader during Reconstruction and a vocal proponent of civil rights for freedmen.
Women in the District of Columbia sent this petition urging passage of the Sumner Civil Rights Bill. In eloquent and moving language, they describe the effect the deprivation of equal rights has had on them.
Women in the District of Columbia sent this petition urging passage of the Sumner Civil Rights Bill. In eloquent and moving language, they describe the effect the deprivation of equal rights has had on them.
The bill that passed after much debate and revision in 1875 stated that all American citizens “shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement.” Sumner, who died in 1874, did not live to celebrate the bill’s passage or to mourn its ultimate failure. In 1883, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional.
Transcript
[Four colored women at [illegible]]To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled:
We, the undersigned, Mothers, wives & sisters, feeling ourselves aggrieved, & knowing that you have the power to relieve us, appeal to you to pass Sen. Sumner's Supplementary Civil Rights Bill as calculated to meet our case.
We respectfully entreat you to hear our prayer: for we suffer indignities in public conveyances, we are deprived of privilege & advantages to which we are justly entitled in common with others. No principle was violated in the case of our Revolutionary Fathers that is not violated in our case.
Our grievances contain the essence of Slavery. The Slaveholder fed, clothed & housed his slave, poorly it is true & kept him in ignorance that the slave might not aspire to anything better than was contained in his lot. But we feed, clothe & shelter ourselves: we are striving for Education; making every effort to better our condition; & furthermore, we are taxed for the public benefit. We keenly feel all efforts made to keep us down & degrade us. [illegible strikethrough] We are told to aspire to all that is noble & elevating, to
than was contained in his lot. But we feed, clothe & shelter our-selves: we are striving for
Education; making every effort to better our condition; & furthermore, we are taxed for the public benefit. We keenly feel all efforts made to keep us down & degrade us. [struckthrough: not controlling the ballot] We are tied to aspire to all that is noble & elevating, to acquire all the conditions & surroundings of free citizens; and yet, we are subjected to mortifications, insults, & injuries, such as no free women can endure. Not controlling the ballot we are powerless to remedy the evils of which we complain; but though weak in this respect, we are morally strong in influencing our fathers, husbands & brothers; & we feel it a religious duty to use what strength we have in defence of outraged humanity; & in this spirit your petitioners will ever pray.
[left hand column]
Mrs. Louise C. Butler
Mrs. Jes T. Downing
Mrs. S.A.M. Washington
Mrs. Cordelia DeMortie
Mrs. Phillis Tallifano
Mrs. Ransom Parker
Anna Lang
Mrs. E. French
M. J. Williams
[illegible]
Mrs. James A. Harich
[illegible]
Mrs. Mary A. Hackett
Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson
Mrs. [illegible] Wilson
Mrs. [illegible] Jennings
Mrs. [illegible] Baston
Mrs. Annie M. Morrie
'' C.A. Attwell
'' M. M. [illegible]
Mrs. J. S. Marshall
[Right hand column]
Mrs. [illegible]
'' Gufman
Mrs. A. L. Ketchum
M. [illegible]
Mrs. Mary [illegible]
Mrs. Corrie Thompson
Mrs. [illegible]
Mrs. Anna E. Blouden
Mrs. Anna E. Farrell
Rachel E. Bond
M. Betsey Johnson
Ms. Jane Thompson
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.
National Archives Identifier: 306406
Full Citation: Petition from women of the District of Columbia asking for the passage of the Sumner Civil Rights Bill; 1/15/1872; Petitions and Memorials Which Were Tabled Relating to Civil Rights and Political Disabilities; Anson McCook Collection of Presidential Signatures, 1789 - 1975; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/dc-women-sumner-bill, September 11, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
