Quotes from the Mississippi Constitutional Convention 1890

This source includes quotes from delegates at the 1890 Mississippi Constitutional Convention asserting the desire to create a government to uphold white supremacy.

Subject

History
Social Studies

Language

English — US

Available in

Updated

March 31, 2023

Save

Cite this resource

Your free Facing History account gives you access to all of this Reading’s content and materials in Google Drive.

Get it in Google Drive!

Get everything you need including content from this page.

In 1890, Mississippi convened a convention to write a new state constitution. Below are quotes from several delegates from the Democratic Party about the convention. Of the 134 delegates present, only one was Black.

“Let’s tell the truth if it bursts the bottom of the Universe. . . . We came here to exclude the Negro. Nothing short of this. . . . Negro suffrage is an evil. . . . The Negro race seems unfit to rule.”

—Solomon Saladin “S. S.” Calhoon

“It is the manifest intention of this Convention to secure to the State of Mississippi, ‘white supremacy.’”

—Delegate George P. Melchior of Bolivar County

“What are you here for, if not to maintain white supremacy?”

— Delegate Will T. Martin of Adams County

Facing History & Ourselves, “Quotes from the Mississippi Constitutional Convention 1890”, last updated March 31, 2023.

Lesson

Students learn about the debate within the women’s rights movement over the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.

Five black women officers sitting for a portrait

Lesson

Students explore some of the limitations of Reconstruction's transformation on US democracy and learn about groups who demanded that the promise of equality be made a reality.

Seated portrait of women's voting rights advocate Susan B. Anthony.

Lesson

Students learn about the responses to Johnson’s policies by Republicans in Congress and examine the fourteenth amendment that overturned Presidential Reconstruction.

Photo of page 1 of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution

Lesson

Students reflect on the revolutionary changes that occurred because of the landmark legislation and amendments passed during the Reconstruction era.

A studio portrait shows African American members of the General Assembly from 1887 to 1888

Lesson

Students learn about the period of violence in the South from 1873-1876 and examine its role in influencing elections and ending Republican control of Southern state governments.

A picture of one hand holding down another hand on top of a gun and a pile of papers

Lesson

Students explore the legacies of the Reconstruction era today, reflect on the idea of democracy as a continuous process, and consider how they can best participate in the ongoing work of strengthening our democracy.

Demonstrators march down Pennsylvania Avenue with signs for Black Lives Matter

Lesson

Students learn about the violent responses to the transformation of US democracy that occurred as a result of Radical Reconstruction.

Black and white photo of the house committee

Lesson

Students examine the factors that led many northerners to turn against federal policies passed during the Reconstruction era that protected freedpeople.