145.9–10 Wade Hampton] A wealthy plantation owner, Hampton (1818–1902) had served in the Confederate army throughout the war and risen to the rank of lieutenant general. In the election for governor held on October 18, 1865, Hampton had been narrowly defeated by James L. Orr, 9,928–9,185. He later served as governor of South Carolina, 1877–79, and in the Senate, 1879–91.
145.12–13 letter . . . people of the State] The letter was printed in the Columbia Daily Phoenix, November 15, 1865.
152.26–28 “All men’s . . . across the land,”] Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), “The Golden Year” (1846).
153.3–4 Carl Schurz . . . of the South] Schurz returned to his home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in October 1865 and began writing an extensive report on his southern tour. He submitted the document to President Johnson on November 22 and asked permission to publish it, but apparently received no reply. When the Senate reconvened in December, Charles Sumner, aware that Schurz’s report was highly critical of the president’s policy, called for its release. On December 18 Johnson sent the report to the Senate, along with a much shorter letter from General Ulysses S. Grant (see pp. 158–61 in this volume). Schurz’s report ran to forty-five printed pages and was accompanied by forty-four documents, most of them written by army officers on occupation duty. Printed by order of the Senate, the report circulated in tens of thousands of copies.
158.3 Ulysses S. Grant to Andrew Johnson] In the fall of 1865 President Johnson urged Grant to make an inspection tour of the South. Grant left Washington on November 27 and visited Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee before returning to the capital on December 11. Johnson then asked him to submit a report on his trip, hoping that it would offset the critical appraisal of southern conditions contained in the Schurz report. On December 18, 1865, Johnson sent both documents to the Senate, along with a message in which the president expressed satisfaction with the prospects for “a harmonious restoration” of the Union. “The people throughout the entire south evince a laudable desire to renew their allegiance to the government,” Johnson wrote, “and to repair the devastations of war by a prompt and cheerful return to peaceful pursuits.”
158.10 resolution of the 12th instant] The resolution, introduced by Charles Sumner, asked the president to transmit the Schurz report to the Senate.
162.3 Lewis Hayden . . . Masons] In the summer and fall of 1865 Hayden had traveled to Virginia and the Carolinas to help establish Masonic lodges. He reported on his trip in a speech given to the Prince Hall Grand Lodge in Boston on December 27, 1865.
162.10–11 Ishmael . . . against them] See Genesis 16:11–12.
163.3–6 “Truth, crushed . . . his worshippers.”] William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), “The Battle-Field” (1839), lines 33–36.
163.23–24 Andrew Johnson . . . our Moses] See note 26.32–34.
163.32 Pittsburg Landing] Northern name for the battle of Shiloh, April 6–7, 1862.
163.33 Milliken’s Bend] Black troops helped defend the Union supply depot at Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana, against a Confederate attack on June 7, 1863.
164.2–3 make treason . . . punish the traitor.] Speaking to a delegation from Illinois on April 18, 1865, Johnson said: “The American people must be taught—if they do not already feel—that treason is a crime and must be punished; that the government will not always bear with its enemies; that it is strong not only to protect, but to punish.”
165.6 Your letter] Jacobs was answering a letter sent by the New York Society of Friends.
165.13 the Bluff ] Yamacraw Bluff, on the south bank of the Savannah River.
166.24 Ham Island] An island in the Savannah River.
166.33 Colonel Sickles] Colonel Hiram F. Sickles (1818–1892), the subassistant commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau at Savannah.
167.3 James Johnson] Major James Johnson was the Freedmen’s Bureau superintendent for the tenth district of Virginia.
169.3–6 Andrew Johnson . . . Colored Delegation] Johnson met in the White House on February 7, 1866, with a “delegation of colored representatives from different States of the country, now in Washington to urge the interests of the colored people before the Government.” The account of their meeting, and the delegation’s written reply to the president, appeared in the Washington Morning Chronicle on February 8, 1866.
169.8 George T. Downing] A successful entrepreneur and active abolitionist, George T. Downing (1819–1903) owned a restaurant and hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, and a catering business in Providence. From 1855 to 1866 Downing led an ultimately successful campaign to desegregate the public schools in Rhode Island.
178.25–26 The President . . . what is right.] On February 8, 1866, Philip Ripley (c. 1827–1896), a correspondent for the New York World, spoke with one of Johnson’s private secretaries about the previous day’s meeting. In a letter written the same day to Manton Marble (1834–1917), the editor of the World, Ripley quoted the unnamed secretary as saying: “The President no more expected that darkey delegation yesterday than he did the cholera.” Ripley then wrote that after the meeting, Johnson had told the secretary: “Those d—d sons of b—s thought they had me in a trap! I know that d—d Douglass; he’s just like any other nigger, & he would sooner cut a white man’s throat than not.”
178.33 the undersigned] The letter was signed by George T. Downing, John Jones, William Whipper, Frederick Douglass, Lewis H. Douglass, and “others.” Jones (1817–1879) was a successful tailor in Chicago who had campaigned against the discriminatory “Black Laws” in Illinois; Whipper (1804–1876) was a Pennsylvania lumber merchant and moral reformer; Lewis H. Douglass (1840–1908), the oldest son of Frederick Douglass, had served as the sergeant major of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.
181.7 Act now before Congress] The Freedmen’s Bureau bill was drafted by Illinois Republican Lyman Trumbull (1813–1896), the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee. It was passed by the Senate, 37–10, on January 25, 1866, and by the House, 136–33, on February 6.
184.31 Asst. Commr. . . . North Carolina] Brevet Brigadier General Eliphalet Whittlesey (1821–1909) was the Freedmen’s Bureau assistant commissioner for North Carolina, July 1865–May 1866.
188.2–3 Veto of the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill ] In preparing his veto message, Johnson used drafts written by Secretary of State William H. Seward, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, Senator James R. Doolittle (1815–1897), a Republican from Wisconsin, and Senator Edgar Cowan (1815–1885), a Republican from Pennsylvania, as well as the letter sent to him by Joseph Fullerton on February 9, 1866 (pp. 181–87 in this volume).
188.15–18 The act to establish . . . not yet expired.] The Freedmen’s Bureau Act, passed on March 3, 1865, provided that the Bureau would “continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year afterward.”
190.35–36 the rebellion is in fact at an end.] Johnson would issue a proclamation on April 2, 1866, declaring a formal end to the insurrection in all of the former Confederate states except Texas. A second proclamation, issued on August 20, 1866, declared an end to the insurrection in Texas and stated that “peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States of America.”
197.14–15 I return the bill to the Senate] The Senate failed to override the veto in a 30–18 vote on February 20. A revised version of the bill, which extended the operations of the Freedmen’s Bureau for two years instead of indefinitely, was passed by Congress on July 3, 1866. Johnson vetoed the bill on July 16, but his veto was overridden the same day by the House, 103–33, and by the Senate, 33–12.
198.2–3 Speech on Washington’s Birthday] The text printed here is taken from The New York Times, February 23, 1866.
198.8–10 your Committee . . . city to-day.] A public meeting held in Washington on February 22, 1866, adopted a series of resolutions sup
porting the readmission of the southern states to Congress, opposing black suffrage, and endorsing Johnson’s veto of the Freedmen’s Bureau bill.
198.37 completion of the monument] Construction of the Washington Monument began in 1848 but was halted in 1854 by a lack of funds. In 1876 Congress made the monument a public project, and construction was completed in 1884 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
199.16 since 1796] The year Tennessee became a state.
199.24–25 illustrious JACKSON . . . be preserved.”] The toast offered by President Andrew Jackson at a banquet held in Washington on April 13, 1830, to celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday.
199.36–39 In 1833 . . . crushed the serpent] A South Carolina convention passed a nullification ordinance on November 24, 1832, prohibiting the collection of the federal tariffs authorized in 1828 and 1832 and threatening secession if the federal government responded with force. Jackson issued a proclamation on December 10 asserting federal supremacy and denouncing nullification as illegal. On March 2, 1833, he signed a force bill, authorizing the military to enforce the revenue laws, as well as a compromise tariff law lowering rates. The South Carolina convention then met on March 11 and rescinded the nullification ordinance, ending the crisis.
203.21–22 a committee] The Congressional Joint Committee on Reconstruction; see Chronology, December 13, 1865.
204.19 Slidells] John Slidell (1793–1871) was a congressman from Louisiana, 1843–45, a senator, 1853–61, and a Confederate envoy to France, 1861–65.
204.40 Forney.”] John W. Forney (1817–1881), publisher and editor of the Philadelphia Press and the Washington Chronicle, served as secretary of the U.S. Senate, July 1861–June 1868. Forney initially supported the Johnson administration, but broke with the president when he vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau bill. In a letter published in the Philadelphia Press on February 20, Forney described Johnson as “callous and treacherous” and criticized his “ill-digested, incoherent and illogical harangues.”
205.17–19 a conversation . . . amendments to the Constitution] On January 22, 1866, Thaddeus Stevens introduced in the House of Representatives a proposed constitutional amendment, framed by the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, that apportioned representation in the House among the states “according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State.” Under its provisions, if any state “denied or abridged” the elective franchise “on account of race or color, all persons therein of such race or color shall be excluded from the basis of representation.” While the House was considering the amendment, Johnson met at the White House on January 28 with Senator James Dixon (1814–1873), a conservative Republican from Connecticut who supported the administration. An account of their conversation appeared in the Washington Chronicle the next day, in which Dixon was referred to as “a distinguished Senator.” It reported that Johnson opposed making further amendments to the Constitution, and that if an amendment were to be adopted to change the basis for representation, it should apportion representation among the states according to the number of qualified voters. Johnson was also quoted as opposing “agitation on the negro franchise question,” which he predicted would lead to a war between the races. The House approved the proposed amendment, 120–46, on January 31, but it was rejected by the Senate, 25–22, on March 9, 1866.
205.25–26 it was charged . . . a king his head] During a debate on the representation amendment in the House on January 31, 1866, Thaddeus Stevens referred to the Washington Chronicle story as “the command” of the president, “made, in my judgment, in violation of the privileges of this House; made in such a way that centuries ago, had it been made to Parliament by a British king, it would have cost him his head.”
206.17–18 I have been denounced for “whitewashing.”] In remarks made in the Senate on December 19, 1865, Charles Sumner compared the message transmitted by President Johnson the previous day (see note 158.3) to “the whitewashing message” on the civil strife in Kansas Territory sent to Congress by President Franklin Pierce on January 24, 1856.
207.6–7 I am not afraid . . . attack another?] In the text of the speech printed in the New-York Daily Tribune on February 24, 1866, this sentence read: “No, no, I am not afraid of assassins attacking me where a brave and courageous man would attack another.”
207.10 “willing to wound yet afraid to strike.”] Alexander Pope (1688–1744), Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot (1735).
207.18–19 the blood of . . . seed of the Church.] Tertullian (c. 155–c. 225), Apologeticus (197).
207.27–28 I had a conversation with Mr. LINCOLN] No evidence has been found corroborating the conversation described by Johnson.
214.2 Veto of the Civil Rights Bill ] Johnson prepared this veto message using drafts written by William H. Seward, Gideon Welles, and Henry Stanbery (1803–1881), an attorney from Ohio who later served as attorney general in the Johnson administration, July 1866–March 1868, and as lead defense counsel in the president’s Senate impeachment trial.
214.5–7 the bill . . . their civil rights] The bill, drafted by Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull, was passed by the Senate, 33–5, on February 2, 1866, and by the House, 111–38, on March 13.
215.37–40 “of good moral . . . happiness of the same.”] From the Naturalization Act of 1795.
216.20–26 Chancellor Kent . . . public decorum.] James Kent (1763–1847), Commentaries on American Law, volume II, part IV, lecture XXXII (1832 edition). Kent served as chief justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature, 1804–14, and as chancellor of New York, 1814–23.
224.30 return the bill to the Senate] Johnson’s veto was overridden in the Senate, 33–15, on April 6, and in the House, 122–41, April 9, 1866.
CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION, 1866–1869
229.21 your advocacy of Woman Suffrage in Congress.] During a debate in the House on January 31, 1866, Ohio Republican Robert Schenck (1809–1890) suggested changing the proposed representation amendment (see note 205.17–19) so as to make the number of qualified male voters over twenty-one in each state the basis for apportioning representatives. Stevens objected on several grounds, and at one point asked: “Why has he put in that word ‘male?’ It was never in the Constitution of the United States before. Why make a crusade against women in the Constitution of the nation?”
229.22–23 “Keep back no . . . thy speech.”] James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), “Above and Below” (1848).
231.10–11 Dr. JOHNSON . . . EDMUND BURKE] Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) defended the American policy of Lord North’s government in his pamphlet Taxation No Tyranny, published in March 1775. Edmund Burke criticized the government in his speeches in Parliament on American taxation, April 19, 1774, and on conciliation with the colonies, March 11, 1775.
232.30 National Union party] The name adopted by the coalition of Republicans and War Democrats who met in Baltimore in June 1864 to nominate Lincoln for a second term.
234.32–36 words of ANDREW JOHNSON . . . for all time.”] From a speech Johnson made in Nashville on June 10, 1864, after his nomination for vice president by the National Union Convention in Baltimore.
235.3–4 Speech . . . Fourteenth Amendment] The proposed amendment was framed by the Joint Committee on Reconstruction on April 28, 1866, and reported to the House by Stevens two days later.
237.2 rebel vice president and the commander-in-chief ] Alexander H. Stephens testified before the Joint Committee on April 11, 1866, and Robert E. Lee on February 17, 1866.
237.12–13 amendment repudiating the rebel debt] The amendment was passed by the House, 151–11, on December 19, 1865, but was never acted upon by the Senate.
237.21–26 it was denounced . . . whole African race;”] Stevens quotes or paraphrases from a speech made by Charles Sumner in the Senate on March 7, 1866, opposing the representation amendment.
237.30 Lindley Murray] Born in Pennsy
lvania, Murray (1745–1826) was a successful English author of books on grammar and spelling.
238.2 fought the beasts at Ephesus] 1 Corinthians 15:38.
238.6–10 The first section . . . of the laws.] The first section was drafted by Congressman John Bingham (1815–1900), an Ohio Republican who served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. At the time of Stevens’s speech, the section did not include the definition of United States citizenship subsequently added in the Senate by Michigan Republican Jacob M. Howard (1805–1871).
239.8 The second section] In the version of the amendment reported to the House on April 30, 1866, the section read: “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But whenever, in any State, the elective franchise shall be denied to any portion of its male citizens not less than twenty-one years of age, or in any way abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation in such State shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens not less than twenty-one years of age.”
240.13 The third section] As reported on April 30, the third section read: “Until the 4th day of July, in the year 1870, all persons who voluntarily adhered to the late insurrection, giving it aid and comfort, shall be excluded from the right to vote for representatives in Congress and for electors for president and Vice-President of the United States.”
240.36 the fourth section] In the version of the amendment reported on April 30, the fourth section read: “Neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation already incurred, or which may hereafter be incurred, in aid of insurrection or of war against the United States, or any claim for compensation for loss of involuntary service or labor.” The clause securing the validity of the public debt of the United States was added in the Senate.
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