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To: BroJoeK
In 1865 some of the Northern states restricted voting to white males. The Fourteenth Amendment was carefully crafted to try to force the Southern states to grant the vote to black men (by threatening loss of Congressional seats if they did not--a threat never actually carried out) while not affecting the Northern states where the number of blacks was insignificant (generally under 1%). They pushed for the Fifteenth Amendment, which did extend voting rights in all states, only when they realized that the small number of black men in the North could be the margin of victory in close elections.

New York did not pass a law against discriminating against people on the basis of race in hiring until 1948.

I had a great-great-grandfather who served on the Union side in the Civil War in Missouri. He later ran for office as a Republican but lost (I don't know which year or for what office). His brother was a Confederate.

34 posted on 07/04/2021 5:16:15 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus; x
Virginia's Rufus: "In 1865 some of the Northern states restricted voting to white males."

I've seen nothing to suggest which ones did or didn't, but since until around 1932, nearly all African Americans voted Republican, a good guess is only Democrat states restricted black voting.

Virginia's Rufus: "The Fourteenth Amendment was carefully crafted to try to force the Southern states to grant the vote to black men (by threatening loss of Congressional seats if they did not--a threat never actually carried out) while not affecting the Northern states where the number of blacks was insignificant (generally under 1%)."

More important, until around 1932 nearly all African Americans voted Republican, so it was not an issue for Northern Republicans.
In those days black voters were only an issue to radical Democrats.

Virginia's Rufus: "They pushed for the Fifteenth Amendment, which did extend voting rights in all states, only when they realized that the small number of black men in the North could be the margin of victory in close elections."

The only issue was black voter suppression in the South.
Northern Republicans had no fear of black voters.

Virginia's Rufus: "New York did not pass a law against discriminating against people on the basis of race in hiring until 1948."

New York was & is a Democrat city, it's laws reflected values of Democrat voters.
Many New York Democrats wanted to secede in 1860 and ally with Confederates-- it's where their hearts lay.
Fortunately common sense prevailed, but that is not always the case in New York.

48 posted on 07/05/2021 4:10:15 PM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective...)
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To: Verginius Rufus

Virginius Rufus— sorry for the misspelling, automatic word completion struck yet again!


49 posted on 07/05/2021 4:42:46 PM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective...)
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