Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 to F. A. Angell
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06660 Author/Creator: Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 Place Written: Lowell, Massachusetts Type: Letter signed Date: 11 July 1865 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 24.7 cm, Width: 19.8 cm Order a Copy
General Butler writes to Angell in Brooklyn, New York. "A mans right to self government is inherent and inalienable. It does not depend on the degree of his intelligence or on other accident. It is the correlative of self defence. Is the negro a man? But it is said that the negro will vote as his late master directs, and thus increase his master's political power. Be it so... I do not see how he or we are worse off if the negro votes with him [the master]... we gain and can loose nothing by giving the negro the right of suffrage."
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