Chapter XX: Reconstruction

President’s Speech at Philadelphia--Philadelphia Fair--
Correspondence with Committee of National Convention--Proclamation
of Martial Law in Kentucky--Question of Reconstruction--
President’s Proclamation on the subject--Congressional Plan.

On the 16th of June, the President was present at a Fair held in Philadelphia in aid of that noble organization, the United States Sanitary Commission, which was productive of so much good during the war, placing as it did, the arrangements for the care and comfort of our brave boys on a basis which no nation--not France, not England, though experienced in war, and generally of admirable promptitude in availing themselves of all facilities to its successful prosecution--had ever before been able to secure.

On the occasion of this visit, Philadelphia witnessed one of her largest crowds. Not less than fifteen thousand people were straining to get a glimpse of their beloved President at one and the same moment.

After the customary hand-shaking, borne by the victim with contagious good humor, a collation was served, at the close of which, in acknowledgment of a toast to his health, drank with the heartiest sincerity by all present, the President said:

“I suppose that this toast is intended to open the way for me to
say something. War at the best is terrible; and this of ours in its
magnitude and duration is one of the most terrible the world has
ever known. It has deranged business totally in many places, and
perhaps in all.

“It has destroyed property, destroyed life, and ruined homes.
It has produced a national debt and a degree of taxation
unprecedented in the history of this country. It has caused
mourning among us until the heavens may almost be said to be hung
in black. And yet it continues. It has had accompaniments not
before known in the history of the world.

“I mean the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, with their labors
for the relief of the soldiers, and the Volunteer Refreshment
Saloon, understood better by those who hear me than by myself.
These Fairs, too, first began at Chicago, then held in Boston,
Cincinnati, and other cities.

“The motive and object which lies at the bottom of them is worthy
of the most that we can do for the soldier who goes to fight the
battles of his country. By the fair and tender hand of woman is
much, very much, done for the soldier, continually reminding him of
the care and thought of him at home. The knowledge that he is not
forgotten is grateful to his heart.

“And the view of these institutions is worthy of thought. They are
voluntary contributions, giving proof that the national resources
are not at all exhausted, and that the national patriotism will
sustain us through all. It is a pertinent question--when is this
war to end?

“I do not wish to name a day when it will end, lest the end should
not come at the given time. We accepted this war, and did not
begin it. We accepted it for an object; and when that object is
accomplished, the war will end; and I hope to God it will never end
until that object is accomplished.

“We are going through with our task, so far as I am concerned, if
it takes us three years longer. I have not been in the habit of
making predictions, but I am almost tempted now to hazard one. I
will. It is that Grant is this evening in a position, with Meade
and Hancock of Pennsylvania, where he can never be dislodged by the
enemy until Richmond is taken.

“If I shall discover that General Grant may be facilitated in the
capture of Richmond by rapidly pouring to him a large number of
armed men at the briefest notice, will you go? [Cries of ‘Yes.’]
Will you march on with him? [Cries of ‘Yes, yes.’]

“Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary.”

The following correspondence passed between Mr. Lincoln and the Committee of the National Convention relative to his nomination:

“New York, June 14, 1864.

“HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN:

“SIR:--The National Union Convention, which assembled in Baltimore
on June 7, 1864, has instructed us to inform you that you were
nominated with enthusiastic unanimity, for the Presidency of the
United States for four years from the 4th of March next.

“The resolutions of the Convention, which we have already had the
honor of placing in your hands, are a full and clear statement of
the principles which inspired its action, and which, as we believe,
the great body of Union men in the country heartily approve.
Whether those resolutions express the national gratitude to our
soldiers and sailors, or the national scorn of compromise with
rebels, and consequent dishonor; or the patriotic duty of Union and
success; whether they approve the Proclamation of Emancipation, the
Constitutional amendment, the employment of former slaves as Union
soldiers, or the solemn obligation of the Government promptly to
redress the wrongs of every soldier of the Union, of whatever color
or race; whether they declare the inviolability of the pledged
faith of the nation, or offer the national hospitality to the
oppressed of every land, or urge the union, by railroad, of the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans; whether they recommend public economy
and a vigorous taxation, or assert the fixed popular opposition
to the establishment of avowed force of foreign monarchies in the
immediate neighborhood of the United States, or declare that those
only are worthy of official trust who approve unreservedly the
views and policy indicated in the resolutions--they were equally
hailed with the heartiness of profound conviction.

“Believing with you, sir, that this is the people’s war for the
maintenance of a government which you have justly described as ‘of
the people, by the people, for the people,’ we are very sure that
you will be glad to know, not only from the resolutions themselves,
but from the singular harmony and enthusiasm with which they were
adopted, how warm is the popular welcome of every measure in
the prosecution of the war, which is as vigorous, unmistakable,
and unfaltering as the National purpose itself. No right, for
instance, is so precious and sacred to the American heart as that
of personal liberty. Its violation is regarded with just, instant,
and universal jealousy. Yet in this hour of peril every faithful
citizen concedes that, for the sake of National existence and
the common welfare, individual liberty may, as the Constitution
provides in case of rebellion, be sometimes summarily constrained,
asking only with painful anxiety that in every instance, and to the
least detail, that absolutely necessary power shall not be hastily
or unwisely exercised.

“We believe, sir, that the honest will of the Union men of the
country was never more truly represented than in this Convention.
Their purpose we believe to be the overthrow of armed rebels in the
field, and the security of permanent peace and Union by liberty
and justice under the Constitution. That these results are to
be achieved amid cruel perplexities, they are fully aware. That
they are to be reached only by cordial unanimity of counsel, is
undeniable. That good men may sometimes differ as to the means and
the time, they know. That in the conduct of all human affairs the
highest duty is to determine, in the angry conflict of passion,
how much good may be practically accomplished, is their sincere
persuasion. They have watched your official course, therefore, with
unflagging attention; and amid the bitter taunts of eager friends
and the fierce denunciations of enemies, now moving too fast for
some, now too slowly for others, they have seen you throughout this
tremendous contest patient, sagacious, faithful, just, leaning upon
the heart of the great mass of the people, and satisfied to be
moved by its mighty pulsation.

“It is for this reason that, long before the Convention met, the
popular instincts had plainly indicated you as its candidate;
and the Convention, therefore, merely recorded the popular will.
Your character and career proves your unswerving fidelity to
the cardinal principles of American Liberty and of the American
Constitution. In the name of that Liberty and Constitution, sir, we
earnestly request your acceptance of this nomination; reverently
commending our beloved country, and you, its Chief Magistrate, with
all its brave sons who, on sea and land, are faithfully defending
the good old American cause of equal rights, to the blessings of
Almighty God, we are, sir, very respectfully, your friends and
fellow-citizens.

“WILLIAM DENNISON, _Ohio_, Chairman.

“_And signed by the Committee._”

* * * * *

“_Executive Mansion_, Washington, June 27th, 1863.

“Hon. WILLIAM DENNISON and others:

“_A Committee of the National Union Convention_:

“GENTLEMEN:--Your letter of the 14th inst., formally notifying
me that I had been nominated by the Convention you represent for
the Presidency of the United States for four years from the 4th
of March next, has been received. The nomination is gratefully
accepted, as the Resolutions of the Convention--called the
Platform--are heartily approved.

“While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of Republican
Government upon the Western Continent is fully concurred in, there
might be misunderstanding were I not to say that the position of
the Government in relation to the action of France in Mexico,
as assumed through the State Department and endorsed by the
Convention, among the measures and acts of the Executive, will be
faithfully maintained so long as the state of facts shall leave
that position pertinent and applicable.

“I am especially gratified that the soldiers and seamen were not
forgotten by the Convention, as they forever must and will be
remembered by the grateful country for whose salvation they devote
their lives.

“Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in which you
have communicated the nomination and other proceedings of the
Convention, I subscribe myself,

“Your obedient servant, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”

On the 5th of July, appeared the following proclamation, ordering martial law in Kentucky:

“WHEREAS, By a proclamation, which was issued on the 15th day of
April, 1861, the President of the United States announced and
declared that the laws of the United States had been for some time
past, and then were, opposed and the execution thereof obstructed,
in certain States therein mentioned, by combinations too powerful
to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or
by the power vested in the marshals by law; and,

“WHEREAS, Immediately after the issuing of the said proclamation,
the land and naval force of the United States were put into
activity to suppress the said insurrection and rebellion; and,

“WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States, by an act approved on
the 3d day of March, 1863, did enact that during the said rebellion
the President of the United States, whenever in his judgment
the public safety may require it, is authorized to suspend the
privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ in any case throughout
the United States, or any part thereof; and,

“WHEREAS, The said insurrection and rebellion still continues,
endangering the existence of the Constitution and Government of the
United States; and,

“WHEREAS, The military forces of the United States are now actively
engaged in suppressing the said insurrection and rebellion in
various parts of the States where the said rebellion has been
successful in obstructing the laws and public authorities,
especially in the States of Virginia and Georgia; and,

“WHEREAS, On the 15th day of September last, the President of the
United States duly issued his proclamation, wherein he declared
that the privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ should be
suspended throughout the United States, in cases where, by the
authority of the President of the United States, the military,
naval, and civil officers of the United States, or any of them,
hold persons under their command or in their custody either as
prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or
officers, soldiers, or seamen, enrolled, or drafted, or mustered,
or enlisted in, or belonging to, the land or naval forces of the
United States, or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable
to military law or the rules and articles of war, or the rules
and regulations prescribed for the military or naval service by
authority of the President of the United States, or for resisting
a draft, or for any other offence against the military or naval
service; and,

“WHEREAS, Many citizens of the State of Kentucky have joined the
forces of the insurgents, have on several occasions entered the
said State of Kentucky in large force, and not without aid and
comfort furnished by disaffected and disloyal citizens of the
United States residing therein, have not only greatly disturbed the
public peace, but have overborne the civil authorities and made
flagrant civil war, destroying property and life in various parts
of the State; and,

“WHEREAS, It has been made known to the President of the United
States by the officers commanding the National armies, that
combinations have been formed in the said State of Kentucky, with a
purpose of inciting the rebel forces to renew the said operations
of civil war within the said State, and thereby to embarrass the
United States armies now operating in the said States of Virginia
and Georgia, and even to endanger their safety;

“Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United
States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution
and laws, do hereby declare, that in my judgment the public safety
especially requires that the suspension of the privilege of the
writ of _habeas corpus_, so proclaimed in the said proclamation of
the fifteenth of September, 1863, be made effectual, and be duly
enforced in and throughout the said State of Kentucky, and that
martial law be for the present ordered therein. I do therefore
hereby require of the military officers in the said State that the
privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ be effectually suspended
within the said State, according to the aforesaid proclamation, and
that martial law be established therein, to take effect from the
date of this proclamation, the said suspension and establishment of
martial law to continue until this proclamation shall be revoked or
modified, but not beyond the period when the said rebellion shall
have been suppressed or come to an end. And I do hereby require
and command as well military officers as all civil officers and
authorities existing or found within the said State of Kentucky,
to take notice of this proclamation and to give full effect to the
same. The martial law herein proclaimed, and the things in that
respect herein ordered, will not be deemed or taken to interfere
with the holding of elections, or with the proceedings of the
Constitutional Legislature of Kentucky, or with the administration
of justice in the courts of law existing therein between citizens
of the United States in suits or proceedings which do not affect
the military operations or the constituted authorities of the
Government of the United States.

“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.

“Done at the City of Washington, this fifth day of July, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of
the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

“By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

The question as to what principles should be adopted in reconstructing the rebel States, as fast as the insurrection within their limits should be suppressed, had already, as remarked upon a former page, presented itself as one to be met and disposed of. Congress having, at almost the last moment of its session, passed a bill intended to meet this case, the President issued the following proclamation, on the 9th of July, practically approving the same and accepting its spirit, but making exception in the case of Louisiana and Arkansas, which States had been reorganized according to the spirit and intent of a previous proclamation, making the will of one-tenth of the voters of a State sufficient for its return to allegiance--the bill under notice requiring the votes of a majority:

“WHEREAS, At the last session, Congress passed a bill to guarantee
to certain States whose Governments have been usurped or
overthrown, a republican form of government, a copy of which is
hereunto annexed; and,

“WHEREAS, The said bill was presented to the President of the
United States for his approval, less than one hour before the _sine
die_ adjournment of said session, and was not signed by him; and,

“WHEREAS, The said bill contains, among other things, a plan for
restoring the States in rebellion to the proper practical relation
in the Union, which plan presents the sense of Congress upon that
subject, and which plan it is now thought fit to lay before the
people for their consideration:

“Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United
States, do proclaim, declare, and make known, that, while I am, as
I was in December last, when by proclamation I propounded a plan
for restoration, unprepared, by a formal approval of this bill,
to be inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration,
and while I am also unprepared to declare that the Free State
Constitutions and Governments already adopted and installed in
Arkansas and Louisiana shall be set aside and held for naught,
thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who have set
up the same, as to further effort, or to declare a constitutional
competency in Congress to establish slavery in States, but am at
the same time sincerely hoping and expecting that a constitutional
amendment abolishing slavery throughout the nation may be adopted;
nevertheless I am fully satisfied with the system of restoration
contained in the bill as one very proper plan for the loyal people
of any State choosing to adopt it, and that I am and at all times
shall be prepared to give the Executive aid and assistance to any
such people, so soon as the military resistance to the United
States shall have been suppressed in any such State, and the people
thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the
Constitution and the laws of the United States, in which cases
military Governors will be appointed, with directions to proceed
according to the bill.

“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.

“Done at the City of Washington, this eighth day of July, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

“By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

“WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

The following is the bill, a copy of which was annexed to the proclamation:

“A BILL to guarantee to certain States whose Governments have been
overthrown or usurped, a Republican form of Government.

“_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America, in Congress assembled_, That in
the States declared in rebellion against the United States, the
President shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
appoint for each a Provisional Governor, whose pay and emoluments
shall not exceed those of a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, who
shall be charged with the civil administration of such State, until
a State Government therein shall be recognized as hereinafter
provided.

“SECTION 2. _And be it further enacted_, That so soon as the
military resistance to the United States shall have been suppressed
in any such State, and the people thereof shall have sufficiently
returned to their obedience to the Constitution and laws of the
United States, the Provisional Governor shall direct the Marshal
of the United States, as speedily as may be, to name a sufficient
number of deputies, and to enroll all white male citizens of
the United States, resident in the State, in their respective
counties, and to require each one to take the oath to support
the Constitution of the United States, and in his enrollment
to designate those who take and those who refuse to take that
oath, which rolls shall be forthwith returned to the Provisional
Governor; and if the persons taking that oath shall amount to
a majority of the persons enrolled in the State, he shall, by
proclamation, invite the loyal people of the State to elect
delegates to a Convention, charged to declare the will of the
people of the State, relative to the reëstablishment of a State
Government subject to, and in conformity with the Constitution of
the United States.

“SECTION 3. That the Convention shall consist of as many members
as both Houses of the last Constitutional State Legislature,
apportioned by the Provisional Governor among the counties,
parishes, or districts of the State, in proportion to the white
population returned as electors by the Marshal, in compliance with
the provisions of this Act. The Provisional Governor shall, by
proclamation, declare the number of delegates to be elected by each
county, parish, or election district; name a day of election not
less than thirty days thereafter; designate the place of voting in
each county, parish, or election district, conforming as nearly as
may be convenient, to the places used in the State elections next
preceding the rebellion; appoint one or more Commissioners to hold
the election at each place of voting, and provide an adequate force
to keep the peace during the election.

“SECTION 4. That the delegates shall be elected by the loyal white
male citizens of the United States, of the age of twenty-one
years, and resident at the time in the county, parish, or election
district in which they shall offer to vote, and enrolled as
aforesaid, or absent in the military service of the United States,
and who shall take and subscribe the oath of allegiance to the
United States in the form contained in the Act of Congress of
July 2, 1862; and all such citizens of the United States who are
in the military service of the United States, shall vote at the
head-quarters of their respective commands, under such regulations
as may be prescribed by the Provisional Governor for the taking and
return of their votes; but no person who has held or exercised any
office, civil or military, State or Confederate, under the rebel
usurpation, or who has voluntarily borne arms against the United
States, shall vote or be eligible to be elected as delegate at such
election.

“SECTION 5. That the said Commissioners, or either of them, shall
hold the election in conformity with this Act, and so far as may
be consistent therewith, shall proceed in the manner used in the
State prior to the rebellion. The oath of allegiance shall be taken
and subscribed on the poll-book in the form above described, but
every person known by or proved to the Commissioners to have held
or exercised any office, civil or military, State or Confederate,
under the rebel usurpation, or to have voluntarily borne arms
against the United States, shall be excluded, though he offer to
take the oath; and in case any person who shall have borne arms
against the United States shall offer to vote, he shall be deemed
to have borne arms voluntarily, unless he shall prove the contrary
by the testimony of a qualified voter. The poll-book, showing the
name and oath of each voter, shall be returned to the Provisional
Governor by the Commissioner of elections, or the one acting, and
the Provisional Governor shall canvass such return, and declare the
person having the highest number of votes elected.

“SECTION 6. That the Provisional Governor shall, by proclamation,
convene the delegates elected as aforesaid, at the Capital of the
State, on a day not more than three months after the election,
fixing at least thirty days’ notice of such day. In case the
said Capital shall in his judgment be unfit, he shall in his
proclamation appoint another place. He shall preside over the
deliberations of the Convention, and administer to each delegate,
before taking his seat in the Convention, the oath of allegiance to
the United States in the form above prescribed.

“SECTION 7. That the Convention shall declare, on behalf of the
people of the State, their submission to the Constitution and laws
of the United States, and shall adopt the following provisions,
hereby prescribed by the United States in the execution of the
Constitutional duty to guarantee a republican form of government to
every State, and incorporate them in the Constitution of the State;
that is to say:

“_First._ No person who has held or exercised any office, civil or
military, except offices merely ministerial, and military offices
below the grade of Colonel, State or corporate, under the usurping
power, shall vote for, or be a member of the Legislature, or
Governor.

“_Second._ Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the
freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State.

“_Third._ No debt, State or corporate, created by or under the
sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the
State.

“SECTION 8. That when the Convention shall have adopted these
provisions, it shall proceed to reëstablish a republican form of
Government, and ordain a Constitution containing these provisions,
which, when adopted, the Convention shall, by ordinance, provide
for submitting to the people of the State entitled to vote under
this law, at an election to be held in the manner prescribed by
the Act for the election of delegates, but at a time and place
named by the Convention, at which Election the said Electors, and
none others, shall vote directly for or against such Constitution
and form of State government; and the returns of said election
shall be made to the Provisional Governor, who shall canvass the
same in the presence of the electors, and if a majority of the
votes cast shall be for the Constitution and form of government,
he shall certify the same, with a copy thereof, to the President
of the United States, who, after obtaining the assent of Congress
shall, by proclamation, recognize the government so established,
and none other, as the Constitutional Government of the State, and
from the date of such recognition, and not before, Senators, and
Representatives, and Electors for President and Vice-President may
be elected in such State, according to the laws of the State and of
the United States.

“SECTION 9. That if the Convention shall refuse to reëstablish
the State Government on the conditions aforesaid, the Provisional
Governor shall declare it dissolved; but it shall be the duty
of the President, whenever he shall have reason to believe
that a sufficient number of the people of the State entitled
to vote under this Act, in number not less than a majority of
those enrolled, as aforesaid, are willing to reëstablish a State
Government on the conditions aforesaid, to direct the Provisional
Governor to order another election of delegates to a Convention
for the purpose and in the manner prescribed in this Act, and
to proceed in all respects as hereinbefore provided, either to
dissolve the Convention, or to certify the State Government
reëstablished by it to the President.

“SECTION 10. That, until the United States shall have recognized
a republican form of State Government, the Provisional Governor
in each of said States shall see that this Act, and the laws of
the United States, and other laws of the State in force when the
State Government was overthrown by the rebellion, are faithfully
executed within the State; but no law or usage whereby any person
was heretofore held in involuntary servitude shall be recognized
or enforced by any Court or officer in such State, and the laws
for the trial and punishment of white persons shall extend to all
persons, and jurors shall have the qualifications of voters under
this law for delegates to the Convention. The President shall
appoint such officers provided for by the laws of the State when
its government was overthrown as he may find necessary to the civil
administration of the State, all which officers shall be entitled
to receive the fees and emoluments provided by the State laws for
such officers.

“SECTION 11. That, until the recognition of a State Government, as
aforesaid, the Provisional Governor shall, under such regulations
as he may prescribe, cause to be assessed, levied, and collected,
for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and every year
thereafter, the taxes provided by the laws of such State to be
levied during the fiscal year preceding the overthrow of the
State Government thereof, in the manner prescribed by the laws of
the State, as nearly as may be; and the officers appointed, as
aforesaid, are vested with all powers of levying and collecting
such taxes, by distress or sale, as were vested in any officers
or tribunal of the State Government aforesaid for those purposes.
The proceeds of such taxes shall be accounted for to the
Provisional Governor, and be by him applied to the expenses of the
administration of the laws in such State, subject to the direction
of the President, and the surplus shall be deposited in the
Treasury of the United States, to the credit of such State, to be
paid to the State upon an appropriation therefor, to be made when
a republican form of government shall be recognized therein by the
United States.

“SECTION 12. That all persons held to involuntary servitude
or labor in the States aforesaid, are hereby emancipated and
discharged therefrom, and they and their posterity shall be
forever free. And if any such persons or their posterity shall
be restrained of liberty, under pretence of any claim to such
service or labor, the Courts of the United States shall, on _habeas
corpus_, discharge them.

“SECTION 13. That if any person declared free by this Act, or any
law of the United States, or any proclamation of the President,
be restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in or reduced to
involuntary servitude or labor, the person convicted before a Court
of competent jurisdiction of such Act, shall be punished by fine of
not less than one thousand five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned
for not less than five or more than twenty years.

“SECTION 14. That every person who shall hereafter hold or exercise
any office, civil or military, except offices merely ministerial,
and military offices below the grade of Colonel, in the rebel
service, State or Corporate, is hereby declared not to be a citizen
of the United States.”