Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/856

* BECONSTBUCTION. 756 RECONSTRUCTION. ilay 29l,h issued a proclamation of amnesty and pardon to all persons who had neglected to avail themselves of the benefits extended by the amnesty proclamation of President Lin- coln. His proclamation of amnesty differed from that of President Lincoln only in the en- largement of the classes of excepted persons. Be- sides those who had held high rank in the Con- federate military and civil service and those who had resigned positions in the service of the United States to enter the rebellion, and a few other classes, President Johnson excluded all who had voluntarily taken part in any capacitj' in the Confederate service and who were the owners of taxable property of the value of more than .$20.- 000. Persons excluded from the benefits of the amnesty were allowed to make special application to the President, who promised that such clem- ency would be extended as a])peared to be con- sistent with the facts of the case and the peace and dignity of the United States. By suljsequent proclamations the President appointed provi- .sional Governors for the States of North Caro- lina, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, South Caro- lina, and Florida, and directed them to call con- stitutional conventions in their respective States for the purpose of restoring the said States to their constitutional relations with the United States. The heads of the several executive de- partments were at the same time directed to put the laws of the United States into operation in these States, and the United States judges were lequircd to open the courts and to [jroceed with the business on their dockets. President Johnson regarded the States of Virginia, Louisiana, Ar- kansas, and Tennessee as already reconstructed, and therefore provisional Governors were not ap- pointed for those States. During the summer and autumn of 18G5 conventions were held in all the States not yet reconstructed, except Texas; and when Congress assembled in Decem- ber of that year they had all passed ordinances either 're])ealing' the ordinances of secession or pronouncing them null and void ab initio; they had all abolished slavery by constitutional amend- n'.ent ; and with one or two exceptions all had passed ordinances repudiating State debts in- curred in aid of the rebellion. They had, more- over, held elections for members of the Legisla- tui'e, for State officers, and for members of Con- gress, and the Legislatures had met and with two or three exceptions had chosen United States Senators and ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. When, therefore. Congress met in Decemlicr. the Presi- dent was able to inform that body that all the States except Te.xas, whose convention did not meet until March, 1860, "had been reconstructed and were ready to resume their places in the. two branches of the National Legislature." Congress, however, did not accept the view of the President, but appointed a joint committee of nine Representatives and six Senators to inquire into the condition of the .seceded States and to report by bill or otherwise whether any of them were en- titled to representation in Congress. Pending the report of the committee and the action of Con- gress thereon, it was resolved that no member should be received into cither House from any State lately in arms against the ITnited States. The chief reason for the rejection of the Presi- dent's plan was the character of the police legis- lation passed by several of the Southern Legisla- tures in the autumn of 1865. On account of the general demoralization of the freedmen after emancipation, together with their habits of im- providence and shiftlessness, all the Southern States passed stringent police measures to pre- vent disorder and pauperism among them. One of the cliief objections urged against these laws was that in most cases they applied only to the negro race. In Mississippi, for instance, negroes were prohibited from renting or leasing land in incorporated towns and they were allowed to be competent witnesses only in cases at law in which they were parties. The Republicans in Congi'ess professed to see in these measures an attempt to reenslave the freedmen of the South. In the meantime the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, had .secured the ratification of the requisite number of States and had been pro- mulgated by the Secretary of State as the law of the land. In March, 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill (q. v.) conferring the rights of citizenship ujion the freedmen. Tliis act estab- lished complete equality in the enjoyment of civil rights for all citizens without respect to color or race. On March 27th President Johnson vetoed the bill, but early in April Congress passed it over his veto. About the same time Congress passed a measure to enlarge the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau (q.v.). It too was vetoed, and was not passed over the veto. In July another measure for the same purpose was passed, was vetoed by the President, and passed over his veto. In the meantime Congress was debating a proposition to amend the Constitution so as to place beyond the reach of any subse- quent Congress the provisions of the Civil Rights Bill. In June the proposed amendment secured the necessary two-thirds majority of both Houses and was sent to the State Legislatures for ratifi- cation. In the same month the Joint Conmiittee on Reconstruction made its report declaring that the seceding States had deliberately abolished their State governments and Constitutions so far as these connected them with the Union, and were consequently disorganized communities ; and that guarantees of future securit.y should be required as an essential condition of restoration to normal relations with the Union. The committee recom- mended denial of representation to these com- munities until "sufficient guarantees were pro- vided which would tend to secure the civil rights' of all citizens, temporary restoration of suffrage to those not guilty of participation in the rebel- lion, and the disqualification from office of at least a jiortion of those whose crimes have proved them to be the enemies of the Union and un- worthy of public confidence." During the period intervening between the report of the joint com- mittee and the reassembling of Congress a riot had occurred between the white and black races in New Orleans, resulting in the death of 40 or 50 persons and the wounding of 1 60 others ; and the President in the course of a journey to Chicago had used indiscreet language in his criticism of Congress. When Congress met in December, 1866, it made an unsuccessful effort to impeach the President, and then, in order that the President might be prevented from carrying out his policy of reconstruction, enacted a law requiring the new Congress, which contained a large majority opposed to the executive policy, to meet on March 4, 1867. Next it passed the