Colored Citizenship Paul Cuffe, the son of a native African, refused in 1771 to pay a Massachusetts collector a personal tax, unless he were allowed to enjoy the whole rights of citizenship. The matter reached the Legislature, and declaration went forth previous to the adoption of the Constitution, securing to ‘black men’ all the privileges belonging to other citizens, and they have enjoyed them ever since.
(Liberator, April 24, 1857, pg 1)
