Frederick Douglass on the 1884 election

[jmknapp]

Those who would berate the Democratic politicians for not taking the extraordinary step of contesting the vote should realize the other side of the issue.

Here is what Frederick Douglass said in 1884 after his party suffered defeat:

“Happily for the peace and orderly proceeding of our country, the rule of the majority, honestly obtained and properly made known, under the regulation prescribed by law, is readily accepted and acquiesced in by good men of all parties; for all understand that this is a fundamental condition of the continued existence of free institutions. Sectional factions may rise and sectional factions may fall, but woe to the land when the nation as a whole shall turn its back on this majority principle and when the American people can no longer confide in the sanctity of the ballot-box, and cease to yield ready obedience to the legitimate decisions of the majority rule or the philosophy of our free institutions, but to consider and learn, if we may such lessons of wisdom as the late election may be fitted to teach.“