The Political History of Virginia during the Reconstruction/6
CHAPTER VI.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1868.
The constitutional convention assembled in the capitol in Richmond on December 3, 1867.1 It was composed of 105 members. The radicals had elected 72 delegates and the conservatives 33, but several members elected by the Republicans identified themselves with the conservatives, thus making them about one-half the number of their opponents.
This convention was the most remarkable political assembly that ever met in Virginia. It was the first legislative body in the history of the State in which negroes sat as members. For this reason and on account of the bitter political feeling of the time, the session of the convention was exceedingly inharmonious. The membership of the body indicates the great political revolution that had taken place in Virginia with the extension of the ballot to the colored race. The old, long-dominant planter class, which had governed the State through its previous history, was now without power; the organic law was to be framed by negroes and the white representatives of negroes and of the whites who supported the Republican party in defiance of their race. The radical majority was composed of twenty-five negroes and about forty-five white men. Fourteen of the latter were native Virginians; the others came from Northern States and a few from abroad.2 The majority was
[1] Enquirer, December 4, 1867.
[2] According to the address of the conservative members (see Fredericksburg News, April 23, 1867) there were on the radical side, 24 negroes, 14 native white Virginians, 13 New Yorkers, one member each from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, South Carolina, Maryland and the District of Columbia; two from England and one each from Ireland, Scotland, Nova Scotia and Canada.
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dominated by the political ideas that then held the popular mind in the North. These humanitarian and democratic theories made no allowance for the great differences of condition existing between the two races. Consequently it was evident that there would be difficulty in finding such a ground of compromise between the radicals and the conservatives as would allow both parties to take part in forming the new constitution. In fact, no meeting place was found and the radicals alone framed the constitution, while the conservatives became a mere party of obstruction.
The convention, immediately upon assembling, proceeded to the election of officers.3 Judge John C. Underwood was elected president, receiving 64 votes to the 33 for the Reverend Norval Wilson, the conservative candidate.
John Curtiss Underwood was born in Litchfield, New York, in 1808.4 He removed to Virginia some years before the Civil War, but afterwards left the State on account of the unpopularity he incurred from his abolitionist sentiments. The Washington government made him the district judge of Virginia in 1861. He established his court in Alexandria and actively advocated the confiscation of Confederate property. After the war he went to Richmond, and the trial of Jefferson Davis fell within his jurisdiction. Indeed, a jury, composed of blacks as well as of whites, had been impaneled when Davis was admitted to bail. Underwood derived his importance entirely from his position as a Federal judge, and he was elected president of the convention on this account.
The convention of 1868 was remarkable in that none of the well-known politicians of Virginia took part in it, their places being filled by young men, who now for the first time came into public notice. The ablest debater on the floor
[3] Judge Snead of Accomac received three votes, H. M. Bowden, one. Other officers were George Rye, secretary; J. H. Painter and W. J. Hunter, assistant secretaries; W. R. Tall, sergeant-at-arms; W. H. Samuel, official reporter. Debates 7.
[4] Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 6, p. 210.
The Constitutional Convention of 1868. p.89
was John L. Marye, Jr., of Fredericksburg. The most aggressive conservative leader was Eustace Gibson of Giles. James M. French, J. C. Gibson, Jacob W. Liggett, W. H. Robertson and Norval Wilson were also prominent men on this side.
Judge John C. Underwood, Judge Edward Snead, John Hawxhurst, James W. Hunnicutt, Charles H. Porter, Edgar Allan, James H. Clements, James H. Platt, Orrin E. Hine, David B. White and Henry M. Bowden were the radical leaders. The most distinguished negro members were Dr. Thomas Bayne, Willis A. Hodges and Lewis Lindsay. Edward Snead of Accomac was the ablest debater on the Republican side. He was a fair-minded and logical man, more moderate in his opinions than the majority of his party. The negroes proved apt pupils in the school of politics. Although entirely ignorant at first, they soon acquired a knowledge of the rules of legislative proceedings, which they delighted to apply, rising on all possible occasions to "pints" of order.5 They spoke poor English, of course, but were nothing daunted by this drawback; indeed Dr. Bayne became the most garrulous speaker in the convention.6
The first few weeks of the session were mainly spent in organization and in preliminary political discussions.7 From the very first party lines were drawn. The conservatives, in view of the great impoverishment of the State, did not wish to expend much money upon the convention. The radicals, on the other hand, realized its importance and favored a more liberal expenditure, especially as some of them were adventurers from outside the State. The convention finally adopted a per diem of eight dollars.8 The Republicans inclined to take a large view of the powers of the convention, and presented a very wide range of
[5] History of Augusta County, p. 350. Enquirer, February 7, 1868.
[6] Enquirer, March 25, 1868. Mr. Parr wished to limit him to five speeches a day.
[7] Debates of Convention, p. 42 et seq.
[8] Debates, p. 41.
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resolutions and petitions; even practical legislation was proposed which lay beyond the legitimate sphere of a constitutional convention.9
Nothing, however, came of the attempts of some inexperienced members to stretch the powers of the constitutional convention so as to include those of the general assembly. By January the committees had been organized and they then settled down to their tasks. The period of disconnected resolutions and discussions passed away; and the public work of the convention began in earnest as the constitution was referred by parts from the various committees. The radicals displayed their political philosophy as practically applied in the various reforms and changes they proposed to make in the organic law of Virginia.10
On January 6, 1868, the committee on the preamble and the bill of rights brought in its report.11 The first section of the preamble was the same as in the old constitution.12 Various substitutes were offered.13 by the conservatives and radicals. The most sweeping change proposed was that of James White, who wished to do away with the old preamble altogether.14 J. W. D. Bland offered a resolution striking out the word "men" from the first section as reported and inserting in its place the words "mankind, irrespective of race or color." But this amendment, intended for the protection of the colored race, was strongly opposed by the negro members, because it made a specific reference to racial differences, while the negroes were bent on keeping out of the new constitution any reference whatever to race
[9] An injunction was asked to prevent the lease of the Norfolk ferry.
[10] Namely, distinction between the races on steamboats, on railroads, on street-cars and in schools.
[11] Debates p. 221.
[12] Debates, p. 241. "That all men are by nature equally free and
independent and have certain inherent rights of which when they enter into a state
of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity, namely,
the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing
property, and obtaining happiness and safety."
[13] p. 241, 246.
[14] p. 248.