Vicksburg (July 1st-3rd, 1863; see p. 321). For this he was sent to command the army of Rosecrans, then besieged by Bragg at Chattanooga (p. 342). Again success attended him and, in Nov., he stormed Lookout Mountain, defeated Bragg in the famous 'Battle above the Clouds' (p. 342), and drove him in disorder through the mountains. For these signal victories he was raised to the rank of Lieutenant-General (in 1864) and placed in command of the Armies of the United States. That year is memorable for the great march of Sherman to the E. from Chattanooga to the sea (p. 351), for the victories of Sheridan in the Valley of the Shenandoah (p. 338), for the Wilderness Campaign of Grant (p. 326), the shutting up of Lee in Richmond, and by the re-election of Lincoln. His competitor was General McClellan, whom the northern Democrats put foward on the platform that the war was a failure and that peace should be made with the South. In the spring of 1865 came the retreat of Lee from Richmond, and on April 9th, his surrender at Appomattox Court House (p. 333). On April 15th, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated (p. 261), and Andrew Johnson became President. With the succession of Johnson the era of Reconstruction, political and social, begins. The outcome of political reconstruction was the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, and a long list of acts to protect and assist the Freedmen of the South. The outcome of social reconstruction was the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the passage and use of the Force Act, and the dreadful condition of affairs which ruined the South for a decade. In the North the effect of such measures was to split the Republican party and put seven Presidential candidates in the field in 1872. One represented the Temperance party; another the Labour party, denouncing Chinese labour and the non-taxation of Government land; a third was the Liberal Republican, demanding union, amnesty, and civil rights, accusing Grant of packing the Supreme Court in the interests of corporations, and calling for a repeal of the Ku Klux Laws. The Liberal Republicans having chosen Horace Greeley as their candidate, the Democrats accepted and endorsed him. But he pleased neither party and the discontented Liberals and the discontented Democrats each chose a candidate of their own. The Republicans nominated Grant and elected him. His second term (1873-1877) was the nadir of our politics, both State and National, and ended with the disputed election and the rise of the Independent or 'Greenback Party', demanding the repeal of the Act for the resumption of specie payments and the issue of United States 'greenback' notes, convertible into bonds, as the currency of the country. Double returns and doubtful returns from the S. States put the votes of thirteen electors in dispute. As the House was Democratic and the Senate Republican, the joint rule under which the Electoral votes had been counted since 1865 could not be adopted. A compromise was necessary and on Jan. 29th, 1877, the Electoral Commission of five Senators, five Representatives, and five Judges of the Supreme Court was created to decide on the doubtful returns. Of the fifteen eight were Republicans and seven Democrats, and by a strict party vote the thirteen Electoral votes were given to the Republicans and Rutherford B. Hayes declared elected. The memorable events of his term (1877-1881) were the resumption of specie payments on Jan. 1st, 1879; the passage of the Bland Silver Bill, restoring the silver dollar to the list of coins, making it legal tender, and providing for the coinage of not less than 2,000,000 nor more than 4,000,000 each month; and the rapid growth of the National or Greenback-Labour party. Hayes was followed in 1881 by James A. Garfield, whose contest with the Senators from New York over the distribution of patronage led to his assassination by the hand of a crazy applicant for office. Chester A. Arthur then became President, was followed in 1885 by Grover Cleveland, who was succeeded in 1889 by Benjamin Harrison, who was in turn succeeded in 1893 by Grover Cleveland. Thus for the first time in thirtysix years the Democratic party is again in control of the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. Presidents of the United States. 1. George Washington 1789-97. 2. John Adams 1797-1801. 3. Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809. 4. James Madison 1809-17. 5. James Monroe 1817-25. 6. John Quincy Adams 1825-29. 7. Andrew Jackson 1829-37. 8. Martin Van Buren 1837-41. 9. William H. Harrison 1841. 10. John Tyler 1841-45. 11. James K. Polk 1845-49. 12. Zachary Taylor 1849-50. 13. Millard Fillmore 1850-53. X. Constitution and Government of the United States Author of "The American Commonwealth'. The United States form a Federal Republic that is to say, a Republic created by the union of a number of separate commonwealths, each of which retains some powers of government though it has yielded others to the Federation as a whole. The circumstances under which this Union took place have been already described in the historical sketch. It was established by the adoption of an instrument called the Constitution drafted by a Convention which met at Philadelphia in 1787, accepted and ratified by the (then 13) States in the years 1788-91. The Constitution prescribes (1) the structure of the Federal Government and the respective functions of its several parts, (2) the powers of the Federal Government and restrictions imposed upon it, (3) the relations of the Federal Government to the States and of the States to one another, (4) certain restrictions imposed upon the States. It does not specify the powers of the States, because these are assumed as pre-existing; the States when they created the Federal Government having retained for themselves most of the powers which they previously enjoyed. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, binding everywhere upon all authorities and persons. It can be altered in either of two ways: (a) The Federal Legislature may by a two-thirds vote in each of the two Houses prepare amendments and send them to the States. If ratified by the State Legislatures or by Conventions (i.e. assemblies elected by the people for the purpose) in threefourths of the States, they take effect and become part of the Constitution. (b) The legislatures of two-thirds of the States may require the Federal Legislature to call a Constitutional Convention to prepare amendments to the Constitution. These amendments when ratified by three-fourths of the State Legislatures or State Conventions (as the case may be), take effect as parts of the Constitution. Fifteen amendments have been actually made, all drafted by the Federal Legislature and ratified by the State Legislatures. As the States created the Federation and as they still exercise most of the ordinary functions of government, it is convenient to describe them first. The States and their Government. There are now 44 States in the Union. Although differing very greatly in size, population, and character, they have all of them the same frame of government. In all of them this frame is regulated by a constitution which each State has enacted for itself and which, being the direct expression of the popular will, is the supreme law of the State, binding all authorities and persons therein. Such a constitution always contains a so-called Bill of Rights, declaring the general principles of the government and the primordial rights of the citizen, and usually contains also a great number of administrative and financial regulations belonging to the sphere of ordinary law. The habit has grown up of late years of dealing, by means of these instruments, with most of the current questions on which public opinion calls for legislation. These constitutions are frequently changed by amendments which (in most States) are passed by the Legislature by certain prescribed majorities and then submitted to the vote of the people. When it is desired to make an entirely new constitution a special body called a Convention is elected for the purpose, and the instrument drafted by it is almost invariably submitted to the people to be voted upon. State Governments. The Legislature. In every State the Legislature consists of two bodies, both alike elected by the people, though in districts of different sizes. The smaller body (whose members are elected in the larger districts) is called the Senate and varies in number from 9 to 51. The larger body is usually called the Assembly or House of Representatives and varies in number from 21 to 321. The suffrage has now everywhere been extended to all adult males who have resided in a certain (usually a short) period within the State. In one State (Wyoming) it is enjoyed by women also and in several women vote at municipal or school committee elections. The Senate is usually elected for four years - sometimes, however, for three, two, or even one. The House is usually elected for two years. Both Houses have similar powers, save that in most States Money Bills must originate in the House of Representatives. The powers of these Legislatures are limited, and in the case of the newer constitutions very strictly limited, by the State Constitution. If they pass any statute contravening its provisions, or infringing any of the restrictions it has imposed, such a statute is void. All members of State Legislatures are paid, usually at the rate of about $5 a day. They are generally required by law and almost invariably required by custom to be resident in the district from which they are chosen. These legislative bodies are not greatly respected, nor is a seat in them greatly desired by the better class of citizens. In a few States, such as New York, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana, there is a pretty large proportion of corrupt members. The State Executive. In every State the head of the Executive is the Governor, elected by popular vote for a term of (rarely one) usually two, three, or even four years. He receives a salary of from $1000 to $10,000. He is responsible for the execution of the laws and the maintenance of order in the State, whose militia he commands. He has, except in four States, the right to veto any bill passed by the Legislature, but the bill may be re-passed over his veto by a majority (usually two-thirds) in both Houses. He is assisted by a Secretary of State and several other officials, who, however, are not named by him but elected directly by the people. The State Judiciary. In eight States the Judges are appointed by the governor; in all the rest they are elected either by the people or (in five States) by the State Legislature for terms varying, for the Superior judges, from two to twenty-one years, eight to ten years being the average. In four, however, they hold for life. Their salaries range from $2000 to $10,000 per annum, but in most states do not exceed $5000. Such salaries, coupled with the uncertainty of reelection, have been found too small to attract the best legal talent, and complaints are often made that the Bench is not as strong as the Bar which practises before it. Corruption, however, is rare, especially among the judges of the higher courts. There have not been more than three or four States in which it has been proved to exist, and in some of these it does not exist now. It is, of course, the function of the Courts to determine, when a case comes before them, the validity or invalidity of a State Statute which is alleged to transgress any provision of the State Constitution. Very frequently they are obliged to declare such statutes to be unconstitutional; and in this way the Legislature is effectively restrained from destroying the securities which the Constitution provides. Local Government, Rural and Urban. The organization of local government is within the province of State Legislation and there are many differences between the systems in force in different States. As regards the cities (the term applied in America to any municipality) the scheme of government is usually as follows. There is always a Mayor, the head of the executive, elected for one, two, or three years, receiving a substantial salary, and charged with the maintenance of order and general oversight of municipal affairs. There is always a legislature, consisting either of one or of two representative bodies elected for short terms, generally in wards, and (in most cases) receiving salaries. The other officials, including the police justices and local civil judges, are either elected by the people or appointed by the Mayor, with or without the concurrence of the Legislature. The tendency of late years has been to vest larger and larger powers in the Mayor. In some cities there is a distinct, board of Police Commissioners (sometimes appointed by the State), and in most the management of the Public Schools is kept distinct from the rest of the municipal government and given to a separately elected School Committee. As regards Rural Government two systems may be distinguished, |