Negro Election Day is a festival that began during 1741 in several towns of New England as part of the local election of the black representative of that community. The festival incorporated aspects of West African culture and ritualistic celebrations such as traditional dancing, African feasting, and parades. The election process itself was unclear in its methods and was often conducted vocally or by debate rather than the

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

system used by the white voters, although it is known that it has been determined by a contest of strength or speed.

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

during pre-revolutionary America had not gained the vote, and did not so until the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870. Therefore, the Election Day festivities held by their white counterparts did not appeal to the slave population due to the fact that they could not vote themselves. In

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

New England, the slave owners and freemen organized for the black communities to vote for an official that would act as a intermediary in white and black relations. As part of this, they granted their slaves one day off to enjoy the festivities and to rejoice. This ran alongside the main white elections; in some cases, this official proved worthy and though not recognized federally, acted as a reputable liaison. In other cases, however, this official was named the ‘king’ or ‘governor’, and served more as a parody of the newly elected white leader. After the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

(1861–1865) the festival had lost its zeal amongst the black communities for reasons unknown, possibly spurred by the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870.

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