Blogging about suffrage history
& suffrage centennial events
"Equality Before the Law" is set to the same tune as "Yankee Doodle" with words by lyrical lawyer Experience Estabrook, who also wrote the lyrics to "Keep Woman in Her Sphere" which I addressed in my previous post. Verse 2, to oversimplify, refers to the 14th & 15th Amendments granting citizenship to freed slaves, & granting the right to vote to black men respectively. Verse 3 plays into the stereotype of the ignorant, criminal immigrant, that is, unfortunately, still used to divide us today. Equality Before the Law (1882) Tune "Yankee Doodle", Lyrics by E. Estabrook Verse 1 Equality before the law, Fit motto for the nation, Was on our state's great seal inscribed As through by inspiration. And where shall any man be found, If he be but true man, Who dare maintain that this was meant For him and not for woman. Verse 2 Equality before the law! The thought inspired devotion! The black man heard the sweet refrain 'Mid was and wild commotion. The slave transformed by freedom's power At once became a new man, And what the nation gave to him, Shall we withhold from woman? Verse 3 Equality before the law! The lesson is resounding Throughout the world from pole to pole' Old dynasties confounding. A foreign pauper, stained with crime, Comes here a full-fledged yeoman, And we, while giving him a vote, Deny it to a woman. *As always, listen to me singing the song by clicking on the orange title of the song. This post was originally published on Medium & my Suffrage newsletter, October 30, 2019.
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