The Flick Amendment was an 1871
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
-initiated
amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...
to the
West Virginia State Constitution
The Constitution of the State of West Virginia West Virginia State Constitution is the supreme law of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It expresses the rights of the state's citizens and provides the framework for the organization of law and gover ...
that restored state rights to former
Confederates and African-Americans who had been barred from voting and holding office in West Virginia following the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
.
In the years following the Civil War, the
West Virginia legislature
The West Virginia Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of West Virginia. A bicameral legislative body, the legislature is split between the upper Senate and the lower House of Delegates. It was established under Article VI o ...
was dominated by the
Radical Republicans
The Radical Republicans (later also known as " Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reco ...
. By 1869,
Liberal Republicans were being elected to the legislature in significant numbers. The amendment, named for William H.H. Flick, a newly elected Liberal Republican, was intended to limit the growth of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in the legislature by appealing to African-Americans and conservative-leaning Democrats.
The amendment, however, had unintentional consequences for the Republican party. The
15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It was ...
, which granted in 1870 the right to vote regardless of skin color, had been ratified more quickly than proponent of the Flick Amendment had anticipated, nullifying its appeal to African-Americans.
The provisions of the Flick Amendment were incorporated into the West Virginia Constitution of 1872. Republicans had hoped the amendment would unite the Republicans and fragment the Democratic party. The opposite occurred, however, and the newly enfranchised Democratic Party—propelled by reinstated ex-Confederate voters, dominated state politics for the next quarter-century.
References
{{reflist
* Ambler, Charles H. & Festus P. Summers. West Virginia: The Mountain State. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1958.
*Rice, Otis K. & Stephen W. Brown. West Virginia: A History. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1993.
*Callahan, James M. Semi- Centennial History of West Virginia. Charleston: Semi-Centennial Commission, 1913.
Legal history of West Virginia