Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/304

288 of lieutenant, governors, judges of courts, West Point officers, all civil officers of the Confederate government, and all citizens worth over $20,000. A fair estimate is that this exclusion fell upon at least 120,000 men in the South. The excluded persons were required to make application for pardon. Each voter had to take an oath as follows:

I, ——, do solemnly swear or affirm in presence of Almighty God that I will hereafter faithfully support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by faithfully and support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves. So help me God.

Similar proclamations were issued for the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Texas. In all the proclamations, the feature mainly noted was that voters were qualified by the laws of the State in force at the time they seceded, and these voters were to restore the State to the Union.

Without any reservation, every citizen and former soldier determined to make the reconstruction plan of President Johnson a success ; even those who were excluded from amnesty by proclamation, gave their moral support and advice for every one who could take part to do so, and as soon as possible, restore civil law and get from under military rule. Every one was anxious to see order come from the confusion then existing, so that a beginning could be made in restoring prosperity, building up waste places, and with brave hearts, removing the scars of war evident in every spot in the South. There was great unanimity in all the States in expediting the process. The provisional governors quickly issued their proclamations, generally restoring civil and local law as far as possible by continuing in office all persons who had been holding State and county offices, till others could be regularly appointed or elected. In the confusion and