Harper favored moral and educational tests over unrestricted universal suffrage

Evidence

I do not believe in unrestricted and universal suffrage for either men or women. I believe in moral and educational tests. I do not believe that the most ignorant and brutal man is better prepared to add value to the strength and durability of the government than the most cultured, upright, and intelligent woman…. The ballot in the hands of woman means power added to influence. How well she will use that power I can not foretell. Great evils stare us in the face that need to be throttled by the combined power of an upright manhood and an enlightened womanhood; and I know that no nation can gain its full measure of enlightenment and happiness if one-half of it is free and the other half is fettered. China compressed the feet of her women and thereby retarded the steps of her men. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 487

Categorization

• QUESTION: Harper opposed unrestricted suffrage — does this complicate the usual picture of 19th century Black suffragists as universal-suffrage advocates?