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The Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy
The Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy
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A two-story brick building with dormer windows and white trim sits on a quiet street corner, surrounded by other brick structures. Trees line the sidewalk and a traffic light is visible in the background.

Autographs of the Delegates to the Pennsylvania Convention to Revise the Constitution

On ViewFreedom & Slavery in Pennsylvania

Dated1837

DescriptionThe 1837–1838 Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention was a turning point in the state’s political history—and a deeply consequential moment for civil rights. At this convention, delegates voted to strip free Black men of a right they had long exercised in Pennsylvania: the right to vote. Black men did not regain voting rights until the 15th Amendment was passed in 1870. This bound manuscript contains the signatures of 74 delegates to the convention, including Thaddeus Stevens.