Pierce Butler Quotes
Ought not every man who pays a tax, to vote for the representative who is to levy and dispose of his money.
Pierce Butler, 1744-1822, Delegate to Constitutional Convention (SC), Debate, Constitutional Convention, August 7, 1787
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Also in a letter to a newspaper, June 13, 1836
Hunt gave as an example Mary Smith of Stanmore. This quotation is very interesting in the history of women’s suffrage. Hunt was a strong advocate for Universal Suffrage (See {616653}.) At the time, even men had to be a taxpayer and own a sufficient amount of property to vote. Less than 20% of the population of Britain were allowed to vote. The argument at the time was that the husband would represent the family’s interest at the ballot box and there was no need for women to vote. But by facing parliament with the logical inconsistency of its position, he was able to make his point, although there were very few women like Mary Smith who were single and had the economic resources to qualify. Most widows remarried so even if they had economic resources, there was a man who could assume the then perceived role of head of the household.
Pierce Butler was an Irish-American South Carolina rice planter, slaveholder, politician, an officer in the Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as a state legislator, a member of the Congress of the Confederation, a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and a member of the United States Senate.
