Edward Ralph May
Encyclopedia
Edward Ralph May was an American
lawyer
and politician
. He was the only delegate
to the Indiana
Constitutional Convention of 1850 to cast a vote in favor of permitting African American
suffrage
.
, May entered Amherst College
at age 14, then transferred to Yale University
, where he graduated in 1838. After teaching school and practicing law
in Norwich, Connecticut
, he moved in 1843 to Angola, Indiana
, a newly-founded town in Steuben County
with a reputation for anti-slavery sympathies. He was the county's prosecuting attorney
for two years (1847-1848). A Democrat
, May was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives
in 1849 and in 1850 as the joint representative for Steuben and DeKalb
counties. Under the law adopted for calling the Constitutional Convention of 1850, May's election to the legislature in 1850 automatically made him a delegate to the convention.
On October 28, 1850, the Convention took up two petitions on behalf of African American rights: one from "certain persons of color residing in Allen county
;" and one "from certain inhabitants of Steuben county on behalf of the colored race." Determination of what to do with the petitions was tabled until the Convention could dispose of a proposal by delegate Schuyler Colfax
(a future Vice President of the United States
) to have a committee inquiry regarding "the expediency of separately submitting the question of negro
suffrage to the people." Delegate George Berry of Franklin County
moved to amend Colfax's motion to make it a direct instruction to the committee to approve a provision "making negroes and mulattoes voters at all elections in this state." May then rose to propose amending Berry's amendment to allow the committee to propose "such restrictions and qualifications" on African American voters as the committee "might deem necessary." On its face, May's proposal does not appear to be a particularly strong endorsement of African American voting rights, but it permitted him to launch into a speech in which he ridiculed what he saw as the hypocritical attitudes of most of the delegates on racial questions.
Although May defended giving the voting franchise
to African Americans subject to qualifications such as, perhaps, property ownership, he compared the possible restrictions to those placed on immigrants from Sweden
and Germany
, who were not immediately allowed all of the rights of
citizenship
. The main point of May's speech, however, was not to propose voting restrictions as such but to force the delegates to step back from an uncompromising opposition to African American suffrage. May said:
After challenging the Convention "to declare under what circumstances, coupled with what restrictions, they [African Americans] shall enjoy the rights and privileges of men," May made an ironic
observation about the majority's apparent willingness to tax African Americans without giving them the vote:
May's amendment to Berry's proposed amendment failed on a voice vote. When Berry's amendment came up for a recorded vote
, even Berry deserted it, leaving May, in a vote of 122 to 1, as the only delegate to support the principle of unqualified suffrage for African American males.
the new constitution in a referendum
.
Article 2, Section 5, as approved, read: "No Negro or Mulatto shall have the right of suffrage." The 1851 document also contained an article, adopted as a separate question by voters in the referendum, barring new African American immigration into the state. May opposed the immigration ban and May's home county of Steuben was one of only three of Indiana's 92 counties to vote against excluding African Americans from the state.
, where both of them died, apparently of cholera
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He was the only delegate
Delegate
A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
to the Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
Constitutional Convention of 1850 to cast a vote in favor of permitting African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
.
May's early life and education
Born in Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, May entered Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
at age 14, then transferred to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he graduated in 1838. After teaching school and practicing law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Norwich, Connecticut
Norwich, Connecticut
Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 20th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing...
, he moved in 1843 to Angola, Indiana
Angola, Indiana
Angola is a city in Pleasant Township, Steuben County, Indiana, United States. The population was 8,612 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Steuben County . Angola was founded by Thomas Gale and Cornelius Gilmore. Angola is home to Trine University...
, a newly-founded town in Steuben County
Steuben County, Indiana
Steuben County is a county located in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 34,185. The county seat is Angola...
with a reputation for anti-slavery sympathies. He was the county's prosecuting attorney
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
for two years (1847-1848). A Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, May was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
in 1849 and in 1850 as the joint representative for Steuben and DeKalb
DeKalb County, Indiana
DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Named for Revolutionary War hero Johann, Baron de Kalb , the county was created by the Indiana legislature in 1835 and organized in 1837. As of 2010, the population was 42,223...
counties. Under the law adopted for calling the Constitutional Convention of 1850, May's election to the legislature in 1850 automatically made him a delegate to the convention.
Voting rights under the Constitution of 1816
Although Indiana's first constitution, adopted in 1816, did not specifically bar voting by African Americans or other persons of color, it guaranteed the right to vote only to white male citizens over the age of 21 who had lived in the state for one year. Although the Convention of 1850 adopted an article specifically prohibiting African Americans from voting, it nonetheless debated the issue of letting them vote.May's stand in favor of African American suffrage
Allen County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 331,849 people, 128,745 households, and 86,259 families residing in the county. The population density was 505 people per square mile . There were 138,905 housing units at an average density of 211 per square mile...
;" and one "from certain inhabitants of Steuben county on behalf of the colored race." Determination of what to do with the petitions was tabled until the Convention could dispose of a proposal by delegate Schuyler Colfax
Schuyler Colfax
Schuyler Colfax, Jr. was a United States Representative from Indiana , Speaker of the House of Representatives , and the 17th Vice President of the United States . To date, he is one of only two Americans to have served as both House speaker and vice president.President Ulysses S...
(a future Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
) to have a committee inquiry regarding "the expediency of separately submitting the question of negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
suffrage to the people." Delegate George Berry of Franklin County
Franklin County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,151 people, 7,868 households, and 6,129 families residing in the county. The population density was 57 people per square mile . There were 8,596 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
moved to amend Colfax's motion to make it a direct instruction to the committee to approve a provision "making negroes and mulattoes voters at all elections in this state." May then rose to propose amending Berry's amendment to allow the committee to propose "such restrictions and qualifications" on African American voters as the committee "might deem necessary." On its face, May's proposal does not appear to be a particularly strong endorsement of African American voting rights, but it permitted him to launch into a speech in which he ridiculed what he saw as the hypocritical attitudes of most of the delegates on racial questions.
Although May defended giving the voting franchise
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
to African Americans subject to qualifications such as, perhaps, property ownership, he compared the possible restrictions to those placed on immigrants from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, who were not immediately allowed all of the rights of
citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
. The main point of May's speech, however, was not to propose voting restrictions as such but to force the delegates to step back from an uncompromising opposition to African American suffrage. May said:
After challenging the Convention "to declare under what circumstances, coupled with what restrictions, they [African Americans] shall enjoy the rights and privileges of men," May made an ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
observation about the majority's apparent willingness to tax African Americans without giving them the vote:
May's amendment to Berry's proposed amendment failed on a voice vote. When Berry's amendment came up for a recorded vote
Recorded vote
A recorded vote is a vote in which the names of those voting for and against a motion may be recorded.In many deliberative bodies , questions may be decided by voice vote, but the voice vote does not allow one to determine at a later date which members voted for and against the motion...
, even Berry deserted it, leaving May, in a vote of 122 to 1, as the only delegate to support the principle of unqualified suffrage for African American males.
African American suffrage in the Constitution of 1851
On August 4, 1851, Indiana voters ratifiedRatification
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal. The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutionals in federations such as the United States and Canada.- Private law :In contract law, the...
the new constitution in a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
.
Article 2, Section 5, as approved, read: "No Negro or Mulatto shall have the right of suffrage." The 1851 document also contained an article, adopted as a separate question by voters in the referendum, barring new African American immigration into the state. May opposed the immigration ban and May's home county of Steuben was one of only three of Indiana's 92 counties to vote against excluding African Americans from the state.
After the Convention
May returned to Angola and married Nancy C. Orton in 1851. He did not seek re-election to the legislature. In 1852, May and his wife moved to Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, where both of them died, apparently of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
.