CHAPTER XXXII.

AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. GRANT.

HERE was joy, with thanksgiving, over the

THER

greater part of the nation, when the news of Lee's surrender came over the telegraphic wires, and it was known that the weary war had ended. Five days after (April 14, 1865), the same wires sent far and wide another message, turning joy into mourning. It was the news that President Lincoln had been shot while sitting in the theatre at Washington, by an assassin, Wilkes Booth. A similar attempt was made upon the life of Mr. Seward, the secretary of state; and there was evidence of a plot to remove all the leading members of the government. It does not appear that the plot extended far, or that any of the Confederate leaders were responsible for it. But no one knew, at the time, how far it might reach; and so the excitement was very great, apart from the lamentation.

No

President Lincoln had greatly endeared himself to the nation during his difficult term of office. president since Washington had been put to so severe a test; and no president, unless it were Washington, had so thoroughly won the confidence of the people. His simplicity, honesty, and fidelity, his fearless purpose, sympathetic heart, and quaint humor, had never

failed in the darkest hours of the war; and he had been elected by an overwhelming vote to a second term of office. Every one felt that great and difficult problems were before the nation, now that peace had come; and everybody looked to the future with more confidence, from having Abraham Lincoln as Chief Magistrate. When the news of his death came, the mourning extended through all parties, and to all regions of the country, even to the States lately in insurrection. The colored people, especially, felt that they had lost more than a father. And when the funeral procession of the president passed slowly, by railway, with frequent pauses, from Washington to his former home in Springfield, Ill., it found every railway station filled with mourners, and draped with signs of grief. But it showed the strength of republican government, that even this sudden death of the head of the nation produced no confusion, and no new rebellion. VicePresident Andrew Johnson of Tennessee at once took the place of Mr. Lincoln; and the wheels of government went on. The new president found difficult duties awaiting him. To be sure, some things that had seemed likely to be hard proved easy. It had been predicted that the volunteer army of a million men, drawn from the people, would not easily be merged into the people again, but would retain warlike habits, and be dangerous to the peace of the country. This fear proved groundless: soldiers and officers were alike glad to lay down their arms, and to return to the peaceful pursuits whence they came. But there was a vast debt to be provided for; and loans and taxes had to be planned for this purpose. Then all the region lately

in rebellion had to be re-organized into a peaceful community; and opinions varied greatly as to the best way of doing this. Some thought that the seceding States had a right to come back whenever they would, with their former power, and without any new conditions. Others thought, that, by seceding, they had forfeited all rights as States, and had again become Territories, with which the United States Government might do as it would. But neither of these views was fully adopted.

To begin with, the President issued a proclamation granting amnesty, or pardon, to most of those engaged in the Rebellion. Then Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau, an organization to provide for the loyal and suffering classes, black or white, of the Southern States. Slavery was then formally abolished by an amendment to the United States Constitution ; and another amendment was passed, looking toward the enfranchisement of the colored people. "Reconstruction acts" were passed, restoring the seceded States to their places in the Union, on condition that they should annul their acts of secession, declare void all debts incurred in fighting for the Rebellion, and adopt the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. The new president was very much opposed to making any of these conditions, as he held that the seceded States had a right to come back at any time, unrestrained. He, therefore, vetoed several of these measures; and, though they were passed over his veto, it led to an increasing hostility between him and Congress. Finally, there was an attempt made to "impeach" him, and cause his removal from office. For the first time in

the history of the government, a president of the United States was put on trial before the Senate, sitting as a court of impeachment, with the chief justice of the Supreme Court presiding. In such a trial, a vote of two-thirds of the Senate is needed for conviction; and, as one vote was wanting to this number, Mr. Johnson was not removed. He was not, however, reelected as president.

During his and his predecessor's terms, there had happened events more important than any since the United States had existed. A great civil war had been fought and ended; and slavery had been abolished, first by presidential proclamation, and then by constitutional amendment, - an event which the most farsighted philanthropist had scarcely expected to live to see. For other events, three States had been added to the Union. One of these, West Virginia, had been separated from the "Old Dominion," and admitted as a separate State, in 1863; this being done by request of the inhabitants, who were loyal throughout the war. The other two States were Nevada (1864), formed out of territory ceded by Mexico, and named from the Sierra Nevada, or Snowy Mountains; and Nebraska (1867), formed out of the Louisiana Purchase, and named from an Indian word meaning "Shallow River." The great region called Alaska had been also purchased from the Russian Government, in 1867, for more than seven million dollars ($7,200,000); and, though not likely to be largely inhabited by any but an Esquimau population, it was expected to be of great value for its furs. Its area was about half a million square miles (577,390), and brought the whole area of the

nation to about three and a half million square miles (3,559,091), instead of the original eight hundred thousand (820,680). Instead of the original thirteen States, with three millions of people, there are now thirty-seven States and twelve Territories, with a population (in 1870) of more than thirty-eight millions (38,558,371).

The next president of the United States was Ulysses S. Grant of Illinois, whose great services during the civil war had won for him the gratitude of the nation. He was first inaugurated in 1869, and entered on a second term in 1873; but the events of his administration are yet too recent to be fully or fairly described. Much has, however, taken place since he entered upon his term of office. All the seceded States have been finally restored to the Union. The successive steps by which the great increase of territory was brought about will be found marked on the map which is prefixed to this volume. The enormous debt incurred during the war has been greatly diminished; more than one-fifth of it (six hundred million dollars) having been paid. An amendment to the Constitution (the Fifteenth), providing that the right of suffrage shall not be withheld from any citizen of the United States, “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude," was declared adopted March 30, 1870, having been proposed by Congress, and ratified by three-fourths of the States. A treaty was made with Great Britain (May 8, 1871), providing for an international tribunal to be held at Geneva, which should decide all claims of the United States for damages done by those Confederate privateers which had been built or refitted in English ports. This tribunal awarded fifteen and a