Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/205

Rh the final restoration of that state until 1870. The adoption of the fourteenth amendment was proclaimed on July 28, 1868. On Feb. 25, 1869, a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution, known as the fifteenth amendment, passed the house of representatives by a vote of 144 to 44, and on the following day was approved by the senate by a vote of 39 to 13. Its adoption was proclaimed on March 30, 1870. The amendment is as follows: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”—The second election of Lincoln had taken place before the close of the war, and just previous to the election Nevada had been admitted into the Union. The national republican convention assembled at Baltimore on June 7, 1864, and nominated President Lincoln for reëlection, and for vice president Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. The platform adopted contained the following resolutions: “That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union, and the paramount authority of the constitution and laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it. That, as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength of the rebellion, and as it must be, always and everywhere, hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the republic; and that, while we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the government in its own defence has aimed a death blow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor furthermore of such an amendment to the constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and for ever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States.” The national democratic convention assembled at Chicago on Aug. 29, and nominated Gen. George B. McClellan for president, and for vice president George H. Pendleton of Ohio. The platform declared adherence to the Union under the constitution, and contained the following resolution: “That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of a military necessity, or war power higher than the constitution, the constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the states, or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the federal union of the states.” The election took place on Nov. 8, the eleven seceded states not participating. McClellan and Pendleton received the electoral votes of New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky, 21; Lincoln and Johnson received those of all the other states, 212, and were elected. The popular vote was 2,213,665 for Lincoln, and 1,802,237 for McClellan. On March 4, 1865, Lincoln's second inauguration took place. On April 14 he was assassinated (see ), and on the following day Vice President Johnson entered upon the duties of the presidency. In July, 1866, Postmaster General Dennison, Attorney General Speed, and Secretary of the Interior Harlan resigned, and were succeeded by Alexander W. Randall of Wisconsin, Henry Stanbery of Ohio, and Orville H. Browning of Illinois. The difference between the president and congress on the question of reconstruction led to his separation from the republican party, and to the passage on March 2, 1867, over his veto, of the “tenure of office” act, which took from the president the power to remove without the consent of the senate such civil officers as are appointed by the president with the consent of the senate. In August, 1867, Gen. Grant was appointed secretary of war ad interim in place of Mr. Stanton, suspended. When congress assembled in December, the president sent to the senate his reasons for the suspension, which that body did not approve; and thereupon in January, 1868, Gen. Grant surrendered the office to Mr. Stanton. On Feb. 21 the president issued an order removing Mr. Stanton from office and designating Gen. Lorenzo Thomas secretary of war ad interim; but as the senate had passed a resolution that the president did not possess the power of removal, Mr. Stanton refused to surrender the office. On the 24th a resolution for the impeachment of President Johnson was adopted by the house of representatives, and articles were subsequently drawn up charging him with high misdemeanors in office in the removal of Stanton and appointment of Thomas, and in attempting to bring congress into contempt and reproach. He was tried before the senate and acquitted in May, there being a majority against him, but not the necessary two-thirds vote. (See .) Secretary Stanton thereupon resigned, and was succeeded by Gen. John M. Schofield. In July Mr. Stanbery was succeeded by William M. Evarts of New York as attorney general. One new state, Nebraska, was admitted during Mr. Johnson's administration, in February, 1867; and in the same year Alaska was purchased of Russia. On Feb.