JB/109/074/001

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We close with a few words on a subject to which Mr.
Bentham has frequently adverted – the example of the United States of
America. The system which we oppose is established in that Republic,
– and it is said to be attended with no mischievous effects.

To this we answer, that, in America, Universal Suffrage is
not the rule, but the exception. In twelve out of the nineteen States
which compose that immense confederacy, the disgraceful Institution
of Slavery deprives great multitudes not only of political
franchises, but of the indefeasible rights of all mankind. The
numbers of representatives of the Slave States in Congress is proportioned
to their population, whether slaves or freemen; a provision
arising, indeed, from the most abominable of all human institutions,
but recognizing the just principles, that property is one
of the elements of every wise representation. In many, the White
complexion is a necessary quallification for suffrage; and the
disfranchised are separated from the privileged order by a physical
boundary, which no individual can ever pass. In Countries of Slavery,
where to be free is to be noble, the universal distribution
of privilege among the ruling caste, is a natural consequence of
the aristocratical pride with which each man regards the dignity
of the whole order, especially when they are all distinguished
from their slaves, by the same conspicuous and indelible masks.
Yet, in Virginia, which has long been the ruling State of the
Confederacy, even the Citizens of the Governing class can not
vote without the possession of a freehold estate. A real or personal
Estate is required in New England, the ancient seat of
the character and spirit of America; the parent of those seamen,
who, with a courage and skill worthy of our Common
forefathers, have met the followers of Nelson in War; the nursery
of the intelligent and moral, as well as handy and laborious
race, who now annually colonize the vast regions of the
West.

Identifier: | JB/109/074/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 109.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering	33-41
Box	109	Main Headings	Parliamentary Reform
Folio number	074	Info in main headings field
Image	001	Titles
Category	Copy/fair copy sheet	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	E9
Penner		Watermarks
Marginals	Jeremy Bentham	Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public		ID Number	35729
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