Johnson's reconstruction policy. practical relation with the Union," and the sole object of those in authority should be "to again get them into that proper practical relation." He believed that it was possible to restore such relation "without deciding or even considering whether those states have ever been out of the Union." Acting on these ideas, he had previously (December, 1863) issued a proclamation offering pardon to all persons, except certain classes, who should take an oath to support the Constitution and the laws and proclamations as to the emancipation of slaves. He further promised that as soon as one tenth of the voters in any one state should take this oath and set up a republican form of government in that state, the federal government would recognize it as the legal state government. The question of admission of the senators and representatives from such a state, however, was necessarily reserved to Congress. Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee were reorganized on this basis in 1864; but Congress refused to receive the electoral votes of Louisiana and Tennessee in the autumn of that year. 379. Johnson's Reconstruction Policy, 1865. — President Johnson now (1865) proceeded to reorganize the other states on the above lines, and had succeeded in every case when Congress came together in December, 1865. The new state governments had adopted the Thirteenth Amendment, and it was declared in force (June); slavery was extinct in the United States, even in Kentucky and Delaware. These states had not been affected by the Emancipation Proclamation, had not adopted any plan of emancipation, and had refused to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. The legislatures of the reorganized Southern states had not, however, merely ratified the amendment and formed state constitutions, especially Missouri and South Carolina, they had also passed many laws which went far toward neutralizing the effects of emancipation. These provided that negroes who would not work should be regarded as vagrants" and compelled to labor. In fact, had these laws been carried out, forced labor would have been practically re-established. 66 1865]* The Freedmen's Bureau 563 Orations, IV, 129-180. The new Congress met in December, 1865; the Southern Congress states were omitted from the roll call, and it soon became and reconstruction, evident that there was a radical difference of opinion be- 1865-66. tween the Republicans who held control of Congress and Johnston's the President on the matter of reconstruction. The feeling of the Northern congressmen toward the South was largely determined by the action of the new Southern legislatures toward the negroes. The Republicans held a two-thirds majority in both houses, and were therefore able, when united, to override the veto of the President. The theory soon adopted by the ruling party was that the insurrection in the South had suspended for them all the body of federal law, and they could only be readmitted to the enjoyment of the privileges of states by Congress, in other words, they were practically in the situation of territories. Johnson, instead of trying to calm the rising spirit of hostility to his measures, lost no opportunity to denounce Congress, declaring that it was no Congress, as the Southern members were not allowed to take their places. The elections of the next year (1866) returned a large Republican majority to Congress; and it thus fell out that through the whole of Johnson's term his veto amounted to little, as in almost every case a two-thirds majority in both houses was able and willing to pass its original measure over the President's opposition. men's Bureau, 1865. 380. The Freedmen's Bureau. · In March, 1865, Congress The Freedhad established, under the supervision of the War Department, a bureau to provide for sick and helpless freedmen for the term of one year. The officers of the bureau also did what they could to settle disputes between the employers of labor in the South and their former slaves. In this way the bureau did much to mitigate the severity of the operation of the forced labor laws. In February, 1866, Congress passed a bill continuing it for two years, and greatly enlarging its functions. This was opposed to the President's reconstruction policy; Johnson vetoed it, and enough members of Congress still remained friendly to him to make it impos Fourteenth 1866. sible to pass it over his veto. The breach between the President and the Republican party now rapidly widened, mainly owing to Johnson's intemperate language. In July, 1866, another bill was passed, continuing the bureau for two years, providing for the education of the blacks, giving the proceeds of confiscated lands for that purpose, and also providing that the rights of the freedmen should be enforced by the army. Johnson promptly vetoed this measure, and it was at once passed over his veto. The Freedmen's Bureau was not finally abolished until 1870. 381. The Fourteenth Amendment. In March, 1866, after Johnson's first veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, Congress passed a Civil Rights Bill for the protection of the emancipated negroes. This gave jurisdiction in cases arising under it to the federal courts alone. Johnson vetoed this measure on the ground, among others, that it was unconstitutional. Congress passed the bill over the President's veto. The question of the constitutionality of the measure was set at rest by the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. Section 1 of this amendment provided that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." This was aimed at the opinion expressed by the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case (p. 474). The first section also prohibited the states to abridge in any way the rights of the citizens. Section 2 provided that representation in Congress should be apportioned among the states according to their respective numbers. Whenever any state should deny the franchise to any citizens, except for "participation in rebellion or other crime," the representation of that state should be diminished accordingly. The third section excluded from the national services all persons who, "having previously taken an oath . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same." Congress, however, by a two-thirds vote of each house, might remove this disability. Section 4 guaranteed 1867] The Reconstruction Acts 565 the validity of the federal debt, and declared all debts incurred in support of "insurrection or rebellion against the United States" to be null and void. Congress proposed this amendment to the states in June, 1866. Tennessee, which had already agreed to the Thirteenth Amendment, accepted this one also; the other Southern states rejected it. Acts, 1867. 382. The Reconstruction Acts, 1867. When Congress The Reconmet in December, 1866, it was known that the Southern struction states had rejected the Fourteenth Amendment. It was Johnston's also certain that the Northern states, by returning a strong Orations, IV, Republican majority to Congress in the preceding Novem- 181-188, ber, had given a strong approval to the congressional plan of reconstruction. Inspired by the action of the Northern and Southern states, Congress hastened to complete this work with or without President Johnson's consent. The Tenure of Office Act limited the President's power of removal of government officials; another act established universal manhood suffrage as the condition of the admission of Nebraska. Both were passed over the President's veto, as was the Reconstruction Act, which became law on March 2, 1867. According to this last act and supplemental acts enacted by the new Congress, the states which had passed ordinances of secession, save Tennessee, were formed into ten military districts. Each district was placed under the rule of an army officer assigned to that duty by the President. These military commanders were to exercise Process of wide discretion; they were to respect such state laws only as were not hostile to the rights of the freedmen. Furthermore, they were to register as voters all men of twenty-one years and upwards, save those who would be excluded from the franchise by the proposed Fourteenth Amendment, and those who had committed crime other than participation in rebellion. The requirement of residence in any one state to acquire the franchise was fixed at one year, which was the usual condition in Northern states. These conditions practically excluded from the franchise the old white popu reconstruc tion. lation of the South, and gave it to the blacks and to white immigrants from the North. The latter came in large numbers, bent on making fortunes on easy terms. They had no intention of permanently residing in the South, and were not overburdened with much in the way of baggage. Indeed, one carpet-bag frequently sufficed to hold the belongings of each of these Northern immigrants, and they were hence termed "the carpet-baggers." Some of them were high-minded men of ability; but, for the most part, they were designing persons, whose previous careers had not been successful. They soon acquired a complete ascendency over the freedmen, and, for a time, misruled the South to their own advantage. The voting list having been made up as described in the preceding paragraph, the process of reconstruction might be proceeded with. (1) The voters in any one state should elect delegates to a constitutional convention, who (2) should frame a state constitution on the basis of manhood suffrage - excepting those excluded by the proposed amendment. (3) The constitution should then be submitted to the registered voters for ratification; (4) the constitution being accepted, it then became the duty of the voters to elect a legislature, which (5) should ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. All these steps being accomplished to the satisfaction of the federal government, the representatives of the state would be admitted to Congress, and the process of reconstruction would be complete. The government reserved the right, however, to interfere with this process at any stage, and compel the proceedings to be gone through with again from the beginning. Under the provisions of this act, all the Southern states which had seceded in 1860-61 reentered the Union, with the exception of Tennessee, which was already admitted, Georgia, which had been refused. admission when her legislature declared negroes ineligible to office, and Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, because they had declined to accept constitutions conferring the suffrage on the blacks. |