Virginia Constitutional Convention

(19011902)
Contributed by Susan Breitzer

The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 19011902

produced the Virginia Constitution of 1902 and is an
important example of post-Reconstruction efforts to restore
white supremacy in the American South by disenfranchising
large numbers of blacks and working-class whites.
Remaining in effect until July 1, 1971, the constitution did
much to shape Virginia politics in the twentieth centurya
politics dominated by a conservative Democratic Party that
fiercely resisted the New Deal, the New Frontier, the Great
Society, the civil rights movement, and, with special fervor,
federally mandated public school desegregation. Yet the
significance of the 19011902 convention extends beyond
Virginia in that it demonstrates the irony of how Progressive
Era reforms nationwide often resulted in state legislation
that was far from progressive. MORE...

Call for a Convention

The Progressive Era lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s and was marked by
efforts to root out governmental corruption and waste, and to protect the
rights of women, children, and the working-class. Not all progressive reforms
were strictly democratic, however. For instance, reformers sought efficiency
in government by emphasizing the roles of experts and specialists over
elected officials and common citizens. In Virginia, progressives attempted to
make experts, or "virtuous" voters, out of the entire electorate by educating
citizens on their civic responsibilities and then excluding whole classes of
voters deemed unfit. African Americans were among those most often
excluded. By definition, they were considered to be less "virtuous" than their Accomack County: All on
white counterparts, and were therefore often the targets of various rules, Fire For Hancock and English and
Garrison!
regulations, and restrictions designed to prevent them from voting. The
language of the law generally applied to all eligible male voters, but whites
tended to benefit from numerous exemptions.

Progressive reforms in Virginia came in response to a period of political and

economic turmoil in the decades following the Reconstruction-era Underwood
Constitution of 1869. New Yorknative John C. Underwood was a Republican
judge who dominated the convention in the absence of boycotting Democrats.
The document he helped to draft included full suffrage for all males twenty-
one years or older, including African Americans, and was an important step in
getting the state readmitted into the Union following the American Civil War
(18611865). Despite this reform, state politics came to be largely influenced
by the same conservative Democrats who had refused to participate in the
convention. One of their leaders was U.S. senator Thomas Staples Martin, a Thomas Staples Martin

Confederate army veteran and railroad lawyer whose tenure atop the state
party, beginning with his election in 1893, was notorious for accusations of
bribery, voter fraud, and corruption. The political turmoil brought forth public
alarm and calls for reform.

As early as 1885, such calls had coalesced into a constitutional reform

movement, with black suffrage one of its principal targets. Nine years later, in
1894, the General Assembly narrowly passed the controversial Walton Act. It
mandated what was known as the "Australian ballot," or a uniform ballot
issued by the state and not by a political party. In addition, the new law
instituted secret voting, which some worried would have significant
consequences for voters who could not read. As the New York Times reported
on October 29, 1894, "Its most effective, as well, possibly, as its most
repugnant, feature is that providing for the appointment of a special
constable. This officer is practically the ballot reader for the physically
disqualified and the illiterate. It is within his power to disqualify or neutralize
the votes of as many of the latter class as he may see fit."

Soon, calls for a new constitution were coming from both ends of the political
spectrum, from Populists as well as conservative Democrats. On May 24, 1900,
voters approved the proposed convention by state referendum.

The Convention
An elected body of one hundred delegates, including eleven Republican and
one Independent, convened in Richmond on June 12, 1901, and debated for
almost a year, until June 26, 1902. Not surprisingly, the convention was
dominated by Democrats, such as the state party chairman, J. Taylor Ellyson;
the convention's president, John Goode; and the party's gubernatorial
candidate, Andrew J. Montague. At the beginning, Goode explained that
voting rights, in particular those enjoyed by African Americans, would be "a
subject of transcendent interest and importance" to the convention. "The
right of suffrage is not a natural right," he explained. "It is a social right and
Members and Officers of
must necessarily be regulated by society. Virginia, within her borders, can
The Constitutional Convention of
regulate it according to her own sovereign will and pleasure, provided she Virginia, Richmond1901'2
does not violate the Constitution of the United States."

The big question, though, was how to do that. After all, the Fourteenth
Amendment (1868) to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed equal protection
under the law; the Fifteenth (1870) guaranteed African American suffrage.
This latter amendment, said Goode, was not only "a stupendous blunder, but a
crime against civilization and Christianity," ratified by southern states only
"under the rule of bayonet." Still, he insisted that "our people have no
prejudice, no animosity, against the members of the colored race." Besides
wondering how to tread this fine line between loving the black voter but
hating his vote, the Democrats debated whether new laws also should exclude
white voters deemed unworthy because of poverty or illiteracy.

Raleigh C. Minor, a delegate from Charlottesville, suggested one solution: the

votes of landowners should count double those of nonlandowners. In a letter
to the convention, he called his idea "plural voting," claiming it would give
"the balance of power to the great, intelligent middle class, while not denying
to the poor and ignorant a voice in the community commensurate with their
intelligence and average ability to pass upon the complex public questions
that constantly arise."

The most-debated specific measure, though, was the so-called "understanding

clause," which required prospective votersor at least those unable to pay a
newly instituted poll taxto give a "reasonable" explanation of any section of
the new state constitution at the demand of a registration board. This board,
of course, was empowered fully to decide on what was "reasonable." Delegate
Alfred P. Thom did not pretend that such boards would treat white and black
voters equally. "[I]t would not be frank in me, Mr. Chairman," he said, "if I did
not say that I do not expect an understanding clause to be administered with
any degree of friendship by the white man to the suffrage of the black man."
And just to clarify his meaning, he added, "I would not expect an impartial View Slideshow
administration of the clause."

Not everyone supported the understanding clause. Delegates from the

western part of the state, decrying the "miasma, peanuts and politics of
Eastern Virginia," worried that, Thom's assurances notwithstanding, it would
disenfranchise illiterate whites. Others, like W. Gordon Robertson, worried
that it wouldn't disenfranchise illiterate whites:

Here is a body of one hundred Virginians in Constitution Convention

assembled and this is the poor, pitiful result that we present to the
world. The best thing that we can do to get around the Fifteenth
Amendment is to appoint men in every county who will use favoritism
towards the white man as against the black man. There are thousands
upon thousands of white men in our mountains who can neither read nor
understand this Constitution, whom these gentlemen are willing to have
vote, and who would not be eligible to vote under the provisions of this
Constitution, if this temporary understanding clause is properly
administered.

In the end, the constitution that emerged from these debates placed severe
new restrictions on voter eligibility. It required payment of a $1.50 poll tax,
to be paid six months in advance of any election. Not only that, but the law
stipulated that payment be up-to-date for the previous three years. The
double-vote plan was rejected, but the convention did adopt the
understanding clause, making it a temporary measure for the years 1903 and
1904. In order to avoid the appearance of discrimination against poor whites,
the convention also elected to choose the registrars who would enforce voter
laws during the first two years following the implementation of the
constitution. An additional law that took effect after 1903 required a written
application for registration, completed without assistance. Finally, all Civil
War veterans, North and South, and their sons were exempted from all of the
above requirements.

The delegates chose not to submit their new constitution to Virginia voters for
ratification, concluding that the electorate would not willingly choose to
disenfranchise itself. Following various court challenges, the Virginia Supreme
Court of Appeals ruled in Taylor v. Commonwealth (1903) that the constitution
had become law on July 10, 1902.

Legacy of the 1902 Constitution

Once implemented, the 1902 Constitution achieved its intended purpose of
drastically reducing the number of eligible voters. Voting rates dropped
correspondingly, with 88,000 fewer ballots cast in the 1905 gubernatorial
election than in the previous election in 1901. The number of voters in
presidential elections similarly dropped between 1888 and 1928. Although as
many as 15,000 African Americans managed to vote after 1902, they were
significantly disempowered politically. Efforts by some African Americans to
pursue lawsuits against the constitution were dismissed by the courts, the last
in 1908. At the same time, the disenfranchisement provisions failed to
address the issue of corruption genuinely, as the reduction in voters led to The Constitution of the
officeholders beholden to the political organizations that had brought them State of Virginia Adopted by the
Convention of 19012.
into power. Other legal changes brought about by the convention included the
abolition of the county court system in favor of granting the Democratic-
dominated General Assembly the authority to choose judges and other local
officials.

The 1902 Constitution created a new legal enforcement of Jim Crow and
further solidified its social enforcement. Despite that dark legacy, the
convention did enact some genuine reforms, including a commission to
regulate the railroads, provisions regarding workmen's compensation, and a
State Corporation Commission that addressed issues of industrialization and
helped create a certain degree of economic stability within Virginia. The 1902
Constitution remained in effect throughout most of the twentieth century
until a new state constitutional commission sought to revise it, resulting in
the significant legal advances of the Virginia Constitution of 1971.

Time Line
1869 - John C. Underwood, a Republican judge who dominated the year's constitutional convention in
the absence of boycotting Democrats, helps to draft a constitution for Virginia that includes full
suffrage for all males twenty-one years or older, including African Americans.
March 6, 1894 - The General Assembly narrowly passes the controversial Walton Act, which mandates
what is known as the "Australian ballot," or a uniform ballot issued by the state and not by a political
party. The law institutes secret voting and appoints a special constable who is the ballot reader for the
physically disqualified and the illiterate.
May 24, 1900 - Virginia voters approve a proposed constitutional convention by state referendum.
June 12, 1901June 26, 1902 - An elected body of 100 delegates convenes in Richmond for a
constitutional convention, and debates for almost a year.
July 10, 1902 - Virginia's Constitution of 1902 becomes law, disfranchising thousands of poor whites
and nearly eliminating the state's African American electorate. It replaces Virginia's 1869
Reconstruction-era constitution, which had a universal male suffrage clause. The new constitution also
creates the State Corporation Commission to regulate the railroads.
November 7, 1905 - Largely because of the voting restrictions implemented by the Constitution of
1902, 88,000 fewer ballots are cast in the gubernatorial election than in the previous election in 1901.
July 1, 1971 - The Constitution of 1971 becomes law and ends the rules and regulations instituted by
the Constitution of 1902.
Categories Twentieth Century History (19012000) African American History Conventions,
State and Constitutional Political Issues and Controversies State Government

References
Further Reading
Dinan, John J. The Virginia State Constitution: A Reference Guide. New York:
Greenwood Publishing Co., 2006.
Holt, Wythe W. Virginia's Constitutional Convention of 1902. New York: Garland
Publishing, Inc., 1990.
McDanel, Ralph Clipman. The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 190102.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1928.

External Links
Virginia Center for Digital History: Constitutional Convention of 1902

Cite This Entry

APA Citation:
Breitzer, S. Virginia Constitutional Convention (19011902). (2015, May 20). In
Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from
http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Constitutional_Convention_Virginia_1901-
1902.

MLA Citation:
Breitzer, Susan. "Virginia Constitutional Convention (19011902)." Encyclopedia
Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 20 May. 2015. Web. 25 Sept.
2017.

First published: November 7, 2008 | Last modified: May 20, 2015

Contributed by Susan Breitzer, an adjunct assistant professor of history at

Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She completed her
PhD from the University of Iowa in 2007.

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities 145 Ednam Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629 Phone 434.924.3296 Fax 434.296.4714