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 suffrage, but they would not be denials or abridgments of the right to vote and, hence, might be supported under the Fifteenth Amendment. Any such requirements have not been found in the State Constitutions or statutes; they are only suggested as possible race distinctions which might be permissible.

It follows, therefore, that the race distinctions to be considered in this chapter exist, not in conformity to law, as in the case of separate schools and public conveyances, but in defiance of law or by legal subterfuges, and are properly called discriminations.

NEGRO SUFFRAGE BEFORE 1865

The suffrage requirements as to race up to 1865 serve as a background for the events after that date. A review[1] of the acts of territorial government and State Constitutions of the Territories and States of the United States reveals the following facts: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont appear not to have had any race distinctions in suffrage. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, and West Virginia never permitted any but white males to vote at any time between the Revolution and 1865. The Constitutions of Kansas[2] of 1855 and of Minnesota[3] of 1857 permitted civilized Indians to vote, though the same privilege was not extended to Negroes. Kentucky,[4] in 1799, gave the suffrage to "free" persons, but expressly excepted Negroes, mulattoes, and Indians. Tex