The Right to Vote in Washington Territory
Legislative debates heat up over the enfranchisement of Indigenous people in the mid-1850s.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mr. Donny, the gentleman from King, says that the oath will be held in the States, and learning that half-breed Indians are allowed to vote, they will think that society is bad. This, sir, is a matter of opinion. I think the opposite will be the effect. People in the States will think it is liberal, and liberality and intelligence go hand in hand. The State of Mississippi shows not only half-breed but full-blooded Indians who have adopted the habits of civilized life are allowed to vote. The same rule prevails in Wisconsin—that State that has sprung up with such rapidity as to defy the proudest feats of magic. But, sir, what can be the ground of objection to this class voting? Are they opposed to our government, or are they sufficiently numerous and powerful to endanger it? Or is it that cold-blooded, icy malevolence hunting beyond the ordinary boundaries of intense malice upon a class of men whose only crime is that they were the original pioneers of our country?
“Are they opposed to our government, or are they sufficiently numerous and powerful to endanger it? Or is it that cold-blooded, icy malevolence... upon a class of men whose only crime is that they were the original pioneers of our country?”
This 1854 debate reflects the deep-seated anxieties over citizenship and political power during the early days of the Washington Territory. The language of 'civilized life' vs. Indigenous rights highlights the exclusionary framework that dominated the era, a stark contrast to modern debates over voting access and the inclusion of marginalized voices in democracy.
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