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The Black Vote How Pennsylvania Disenfranchised its Black Population in 1838

1790 Pennsylvania Constitution

In 1790, the State of Pennsylvania adopted a second Constitution, the first having been adopted in 1776. Under this new constitution, the voting rights clause was vague and allowed for differing interpretations of who had the right to vote.

"In elections by the citizens, EVERY FREEMAN of the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the state two years next before the election, and within that time paid a state or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least six months before the election, shall enjoy the rights of an elector." from the Pennsylvania Constitution, 1790

1780 Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act

The Black Community in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs at the beginning of the 19th century was growing. It more than doubled in the first three decades of the nineteenth century, from 6,880 in 1800 to 15,624 in 1830.

Philadelphia's Population, Philadelphia Inquirer, by Michaelle Bond and John Duchneskie Updated Aug 12, 2021

Newly freed, the Black community members bought homes, started businesses, opened schools, libraries and churches. However, their joy at their new found freedom was tempered by acts of racism, segregation and public ridicule.

Detail of The Times, Printed and published by H.R. Robinson, New York, by Edward Williams Clay, 1837

For example, the St. Thomas African Episcopal Church was built by Black congregants in 1794 who originally attended St. George’s Methodist Church. They left to start their own church after refusing to accept segregated seating.

St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, 1829, Historical Society of Pennylvania

Racial Tensions Grow

Racist cartoons, such as the series of prints entitled, "Life In Philadelphia," depicted middle class, Black Philadelphians as country bumpkins, and were published to create an anti-Black sentiment that a well-to-do Black population threatened the racial status quo.

Life in Philadelphia. "How you like de new fashion shirt...?" , by Anthony Imbert, 1830

Between 1828 and 1849 Philadelphia experienced five major race riots that ended in the destruction of the selfsame black homes, businesses, and abolitionist halls.

" A View of the City of Brotherly Love" published by H.R. Robinson circa 1842.

These racial tensions came to a head in 1837, setting in motion a series of events that would lead to the disenfranchisement of the the Black People of Pennsylvania.

A Case of Alleged Voter Fraud in Bucks County

On October 10, 1837, an election to fill six county offices was held in Bucks County. When the final results were counted, all but one of the Democratic Party candidates was defeated. The race was extremely close; many lost by slim margins and one candidate lost by only two votes.

On October 21, the first of three county meetings was held in Bucks County at Harris' White Bear Tavern in Northampton Township, to address this concern. At the meeting it was resolved that the elections of state assemblyman Aaron Ivins, commissioner Abraham Fretz, and accounts auditor Richard Moore were "governed and controlled by a large body of [illegal] Negro voters."

White Bear Tavern in Northampton Township

A week later on October 28, a second meeting of Bucks County citizens was held at Buck's Tavern in Nockamixon. About six hundred people discussed the resolutions.

The Bucksville House (formerly Buck's tavern) in Nockamixon.
Judge John Fox Rules that "that a negro in Pennsylvania has not the right of suffrage."

Judge John Fox (1787-1849) of Bucks County heard the case of alleged voter fraud, and delivered his Opinion on December 28, 1837.

Judge John Fox's Ruling

"I have thus come to the conclusion, that the people of Pennsylvania, who framed the present constitution were a political community of white men exclusively, and that colored persons of the African blood, were not contemplated by that constitution. That the latter have not, and never had, any chartered or constitutional rights...For the reasons given, the Court are of the opinion that a negro in Pennsylvania has not the right of suffrage."

1838 Pennsylvania Constitutional Amendment to Disenfranchise

In the spring and early summer of 1837, thirty-three state senators and one hundred state representatives met in Harrisburg to draft a new Pennsylvania constitution. The constitutional convention then reconvened in Philadelphia that fall before adjourning during January, 1838.

The proposed suffrage amendment was debated on June 19, 1837. Allegheny County delegate H. G. Rogers opened the discussion:

"If it is in my power," he said, "I would found this Government upon two broad and enduring pillars - universal suffrage and general education. While I would concede one as an estimable right, I advocate the other as a measure of incalculable good."

Other Pennsylvania representatives argued:

"It was madness in effect to invite hundreds of thousands of freed blacks into the state where ex-slaves, if considered the equal of whites, might subsequently control county politics by voting."

Image: an election ticket for a similar 1842 Rhode Island referendum (Russell J. DeSimone Collection)

At the Pennsylvania Convention, 77 senators voted in Favor of inserting the word "White" into the constitution, in opposition to "Negro Suffrage." 45 Senators voted against the amendment.

The Vote of the Members of the Pennsylvania Convention for a Constitutional Amendment to Disenfranchise (Harrisburg: Printed by Packer, Barrett & Parke, 1838)

In 1838, the Abolitionist Society of Philadelphia published an "Appeal to the Members of the Pennsylvania Convention." It described in detail how and why the Black population deserved the continued right to vote.

"PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 14, 1838. FELLOW CITIZENS:— WE APPEAL TO YOU FROM THE DECISION OF THE “REFORM CONVENTION,” WHICH HAS STRIPPED US OF A RIGHT PEACEABLY ENJOYED DURING FORTY-SEVEN YEARS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF THIS COMMONWEALTH. "
"There are among us in Philadelphia, Pittsburg , York, West Chester, and Columbia, 22 churches, 48 clergymen, 26 day schools, 20 Sabbath schools, 125 Sabbath school teachers, 4 literary societies, 2 public libraries, consisting of about 800 volumes, besides 8,333 volumes in private libraries, 2 tract societyes, 2 Bible societies, and 7 temperance societies…"

Despite this appeal, Voters ratified the Constitution of 1838 by a margin of a little more than one thousand votes—113,971 to 112,759—on October 9, 1838. African Americans continued to petition the legislature to reinstate suffrage for free Blacks, but their petitions were left unanswered.

In 1838, Wealthy Philadelphian, James Forten sought to individual appeal the law and get voting rights for himself

A contemporary account by Englishman Frederick Marryat, who visited Philadelphia in 1838:

A coloured man by the name of James Fortin [sic] who was . . . a sailmaker by profession, [and] at all events a person not only of the highest respectability, but said to be worth 150,000 dollars, appealed because he was not permitted to vote at elections, and claimed his right as a free citizen. The verdict, a very lengthy one, was given against him.... Forten, although not considered white enough to vote as a citizen, always been considered quite white enough to be taxed as one."

Image courtesy Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Leon Gardiner collection of American Negro Historical Society Records

Race Riots in Philadelphia

Abolitionists within the city, not deterred by the growing racial tension in the city, had constructed a meeting hall known as Pennsylvania Hall on Sixth Street near Franklin Square. It opened on Monday May 14, 1838, with little disturbance.

Destruction by Fire of Pennsylvania Hall, by J.T. Bowen, 1838

Despite their efforts the Pennsylvania Constitutional Amendment was not repealed until the Nation as a whole passed the 15th Amendment in 1870.

This Presentation was created by
Amy Hollander, Historic Properties Manager,
Bucks County Parks and Recreation Department
Created By
Amy Hollander
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