Date Approved

5-18-2026

Embargo Period

5-18-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. History

Department

History

College

College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Advisor

William Carrigan, Ph.D.

Committee Member 1

Melissa Klapper, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Emily Blanck, Ph.D.

Keywords

amendments;debates;partisanship;politics

Abstract

On March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson cast a historic vote in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, becoming the first African American in the United States to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment. His vote occurred in a state that had resisted the very constitutional changes that made it possible. New Jersey and Reconstruction, 1863–1873 examines this contradiction, exploring how a loyal Union state became one of Reconstruction’s most reluctant participants before ultimately accepting its reforms. This thesis argues that New Jersey reflected broader Northern divisions during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Despite supporting the Union, the state resisted Abraham Lincoln’s leadership and rejected the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. Through legislative debates, newspapers, political speeches, and archival sources, this study reveals a political culture shaped by racial prejudice, constitutional conservatism, and competing visions of citizenship and suffrage. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen’s leadership highlights the struggle between resistance and reform, culminating in Peterson’s historic vote. Drawing on extensive archival research, this study challenges the idea of a unified Republican North and demonstrates that Reconstruction was a national contest over the meaning of democracy, not solely a Southern story.

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