Digges Amendment

The Digges Amendment was an amendment to the Maryland Constitution proposed in 1910 to curtail the Fifteen Amendment of the United States Constitution and disenfranchise black voters in the state with the use of a property requirement. It was an initiative by Democratic Party members in the state.[1]

The amendment was drafted by Democratic state delegate (lower house) Walter Digges and co-sponsored by state senator (upper house) William J. Frere. The proposal was passed by the Democratic dominated Maryland General Assembly and approved by Governor Austin Lane Crothers but subsequently not ratified by the required general election voter referendum.[1]

History

After a brief period of Republican control in Maryland from 1896 to 1900, Democrats regained control of the government on a white supremacist platform, responding to the rise of African American Republican politicians in the ranks of municipal and state politics. There were three separate attempts to amend the Maryland Constitution so as to disenfranchise the black votes: the Poe Amendment of 1905, the Strauss Amendment of 1908-1909 and the Digges Amendment of 1910-1911. All three of the proposal were subsequently defeated by voter referendums.[2]

The Digges Amendment, if ratified, would have granted the right to votes for all white male citizens over the age of 21. All other men had to prove to have owned and paid taxes on a minimum of $500 worth of property for two previous consecutive years. Along with the introduction of this amendment and before the general election referendum of 1911, the Maryland General Assembly also attempted to pass a temporary voter registration law that would limit the votes from black counties. This law was vetoed by the Governor due to unpopular support; this ensured that all Marylanders would have the chance to vote in the election.[3]

Maryland did not ratify the Fifteen Amendment in 1870. Digges and Frere, both from the Republican stronghold of Charles County, argued that the amendment provisions do not apply to the state. The Digges plan received oppositions from Southern leaders, saying such extreme and blatant challenge to the Fifteen Amendment would undermine their own legal attempts to circumvent the enfranchisement of black votes.[4]

In Maryland’s unrestricted general election of 1911, the Digges Amendment was defeated with 46,220 votes for and 83,920 votes against the proposal. The Democrat also lost their gubernatorial tickets to the Republicans by much closer margins.[5]

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References
  1. Hill, Stephanie (18 April 2005). "One Step Closer to Freedom". Simmons College. pp. 85–86. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  2. Valelly, Richard (2004). The Two Reconstructions: The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 123–124. ISBN 0-226-84530-3.
  3. Crenson, Matthew (2017). Baltimore: A Political History. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 339. ISBN 9781421422077.
  4. Halpin, Dennis (2019). A Brotherhood of Liberty: Black Reconstruction and Its Legacies in Baltimore, 1865-1920. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. p. 135. ISBN 9780812251395.
  5. Callcott, Margaret (1968). The Negro in Maryland Politics, 1870-1912. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, Inc. p. 215.


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