A School History of the United States Part 50

Following out this plan, the people of Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana made reconstructed state governments which Lincoln recognized.

But here Congress stepped in, refused to seat the senators from these states, and made a plan of its own, which Lincoln vetoed.

%481. Johnson's "My Policy" Plan of Reconstruction.%--So the matter stood when Lee and Johnston surrendered, when Davis was captured, and the Confederacy fell to pieces. All the laws enacted by the Confederate Congress at once became null and void. Taxes were no longer collected; letters were no longer delivered; Confederate money had no longer any value. Even the state governments ceased to have any authority. Bands of Union cavalry scoured the country, capturing such governors, political leaders, and prominent men as could be found, and striking terror into others who fled to places of safety. In the midst of this confusion all civil government ended. To reestablish it under the Const.i.tution and laws of the United States was, therefore, the first duty of the President, and he began to do so at once. First he raised the blockade, and opened the ports of the South to trade; then he ordered the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Interior, the Postmaster-general, the Attorney-general, to see that the taxes were collected, that letters were delivered, that the courts of the United States were opened, and the laws enforced in all the Southern States; finally, he placed over each of the unreconstructed states a temporary or provisional governor. These governors called conventions of delegates elected by such white men as were allowed to vote, and these conventions did four things: 1. They declared the ordinances of secession null and void. 2. They repudiated every debt incurred in supporting the Confederacy, and promised never to pay one of them. 3. They abolished slavery within their own bounds. 4. They ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the Const.i.tution, which abolished slavery forever in the United States.

%482. The Thirteenth Amendment%.--This amendment was sent out to the states by Congress in February, 1865, and was necessary to complete the work begun by the Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation. That proclamation merely set free the slaves in certain parts of the country, and left the right to buy more untouched. Again, certain slave states (Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri) had not seceded, and in them slavery still existed. In order, therefore, to abolish the inst.i.tution of slavery in every state in the Union, an amendment to the Const.i.tution was necessary, as many of the states could not be relied on to abolish it within their bounds by their own act. The amendment was formally proclaimed a part of the Const.i.tution on December 18, 1865.[1]

[Footnote 1: Before an amendment proposed by Congress can become a part of the Const.i.tution, it must be accepted or ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of all the states. In 1865 there were thirty-six states in the Union, and of these, sixteen free, and eleven slave states ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, and so made it part of the Const.i.tution. When an amendment has been ratified by the necessary number of states, the President states the fact in a proclamation.]

%483. Treatment of the Freedmen in the South%.--Had the Southern legislatures stopped here, all would have been well. But they went on, and pa.s.sed a series of laws concerning vagrants, apprentices, and paupers, which kept the negroes in a state of involuntary servitude, if not in actual slavery.

To the men of the South, who feared that the ignorant negroes would refuse to work, these laws seemed to be necessary. But by the men of the North they were regarded as signs of a determination on the part of Southern men not to accept the abolition of slavery. When, therefore, Congress met in December, 1865, the members were very angry because the President had reconstructed the late Confederate states in his own way without consulting Congress, and because these states had made such severe laws against the negroes.

%484. Congressional Plan of Reconstruction%.--As soon as the two houses were organized, the President and his work were ignored, the senators and representatives from the eleven states that had seceded were refused seats in Congress, and a series of acts were pa.s.sed to protect the freedmen.

One of these, enacted in March, 1866, was the "Civil Rights" Bill, which gave negroes all the rights of citizens.h.i.+p and permitted them to sue for any of these rights (when deprived of them) in the United States courts.

This was vetoed; but Congress pa.s.sed the bill over the veto. Now, a law enacted by one Congress can, of course, be repealed by another, and lest this should be done, and the freedmen be deprived of their civil rights, Congress (June, 1866) pa.s.sed the Fourteenth Amendment to the Const.i.tution, and made the ratification of it by the Southern States a condition of readmittance to Congress.

Finally, a Freedmen's Bureau Bill, ordering the sale of government land to negroes on easy terms, and giving them military protection for their rights, was pa.s.sed over the President's veto, just before Congress adjourned.

%485. The President abuses Congress%.--During the summer, Johnson made speeches at Western cities, in which, in very coa.r.s.e language, he abused Congress, calling it a Congress of only part of the states; "a factious, domineering, tyrannical Congress," "a Congress violent in breaking up the Union." These attacks, coupled with the fact that some of the Southern States, encouraged by the President's conduct, rejected the Fourteenth Amendment, made Congress, when it met in December, 1866, more determined than ever. By one act it gave negroes the right to vote in the territories and in the District of Columbia. By another it compelled the President to issue his orders to the army through General Grant, for Congress feared that he would recall the troops stationed in the South to protect the freedmen. But the two important acts were the "Tenure of Office Act" and "Reconstruction Act" (March 2, 1867).

%486. The Reconstruction Act%.--The Reconstruction Act marked out the ten unreconstructed states (Tennessee had been admitted to Congress in March, 1866) into five districts, with an army officer in command of each, and required the people of each state to make a new const.i.tution giving negroes the right to vote, and send the const.i.tution to Congress.

If Congress accepted it, and if the legislature a.s.sembled under it ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, they might send senators and representatives to Congress, and not before.

To these terms six states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas) submitted, and in June, 1868, they were readmitted to Congress. Their ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment made it a part of the Const.i.tution, and in July, 1868, it was declared in force.

%487. "Tenure of Office Act"; Johnson impeached%--By this time the quarrel between the President and Congress had reached such a crisis that the Republican, leaders feared he would obstruct the execution of the reconstruction law by removing important officials chiefly responsible for its administration, and putting in their places men who would not enforce it. To prevent this, Congress, in 1867, pa.s.sed the "Tenure of Office Act." Hitherto a President could remove almost any Federal office holder at pleasure. Henceforth he could only suspend while the Senate examined into the cause of suspension. If it approved, the man was removed; if it disapproved, the man was reinstated. Johnson denied the right of Congress to make such a law, and very soon disobeyed it.

In August, 1867, he asked Secretary of War Stanton to resign, and when the Secretary refused, suspended him and made General Grant temporary Secretary. All this was legal, but when Congress met, and the Senate disapproved of the suspension, General Grant gave the office back again to Stanton. Johnson then appointed General Lorenzo Thomas Secretary of War, and ordered him to seize the office. For this, and for his abusive speeches about Congress, the House of Representatives impeached him, and the Senate tried him "for high crimes and misdemeanors," but failed by one vote to find him guilty. Stanton then resigned his office.

SUMMARY

1. In 1864 the Republican party was split, and one part, taking the name of National Union party, renominated Lincoln. The other or radical wing, which wanted a more vigorous war policy, nominated Fremont and Cochrane.

The Democrats declared the war a failure, demanded peace, and nominated McClellan and Pendleton.

2. The gradual conquest of the South brought up the question of the relation to the Federal government of a state which had seceded.

3. Lincoln marked out his own plan of reconstruction in an amnesty proclamation. Congress thought he had no right to do this, and adopted a plan which Lincoln vetoed. His death left the question for Johnson to settle.

4. Johnson adopted a plan of his own and soon came into conflict with Congress.

5. Congress began by refusing seats to congressmen from states reconstructed on Johnson's plan. It then pa.s.sed, over Johnson's veto, a series of bills to protect the freedmen and give them civil rights.

6. Six states accepted the terms of reconstruction offered, and their senators and representatives were admitted to Congress (1868).

7. Johnson, in 1866, traveled about the West abusing Congress. For this, and chiefly for his disregard of the Tenure of Office Act, he was impeached by the House and tried and acquitted by the Senate.

RECONSTRUCTON.

Lincoln's plan ...

States cannot secede; only some of their people were in insurrection.

Amnesty proclamation.

Recognizes Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

Thirteenth Amendment.

Johnson's plan ...

Provisional governors.

Ratify Thirteenth Amendment.

New state const.i.tutions made.

Congressmen chosen.

Congressional plan ...

Congress refuses them seats.

Civil Rights Bill.

Freedmen's Bureau Bill.

Tenure of Office Act.

Reconstruction Act.

Fourteenth Amendment.

Johnson _vs._ Congress ...

Vetoes Civil Rights Bill.

Freedmen's Bureau Bill.

Denounces Congress.

Violates Tenure of Office Act.

Impeached.

CHAPTER x.x.xI

THE NEW WEST (1860-1870)

%488. Discovery of Gold near Pikes Peak.%--In the summer of 1858 news reached the Missouri that gold had been found on the eastern slope of the Rockies, and at once a wild rush set in for the foot of Pikes Peak, in what was then Kansas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Crossing the plains]

During 1858 a party from the gold mines of Georgia pitched a camp on Cherry Creek and called the place Aurania. Later, in the winter, they were joined by General Larimer with a party from Leavenworth, Kan., and by them the rude camp at Aurania was renamed Denver, in honor of the governor of Kansas. In another six months emigrants came pouring in from every point along the frontier. Some, providing themselves with great white-covered wagons, drawn by horses, oxen, or mules, joined forces for better protection against the Indians, and set out together, making long wagon trains or caravans. All were accompanied by men fully armed.

Such as could not afford a "prairie schooner," as the canvas-covered wagon was called, put their worldly goods into handcarts.