Reconstruction

by Brooks D. Simpson

  360.30 Snake Hill] A hill in what is now Secaucus, New Jersey.

  361.12–13 Hester Vaughan . . . sentence of death] Vaughan had immigrated to the United States from England in 1863 intending to marry her suitor, only to discover that he already had a wife and child. While working as a servant near Philadelphia she was allegedly raped by a member of the household and then dismissed after she became pregnant. In February 1868 Vaughan was discovered lying next to a dead newborn child in a Philadelphia boardinghouse. After she was convicted of murder in July and sentenced to death, her case was taken up by a number of women, including the physicians Susan A. Smith (1818–­1883) and Clemence Lozier (1813–­1888), the journalist Eleanor Kirk (1831–­1908), the popular lecturer Anna Dickinson (1842–­1932), and Stanton and Anthony, who protested against her trial by an all-­male court. John W. Geary (1819–­1873), the governor of Pennsylvania, pardoned Vaughan in May 1869 on the condition that she immediately return to England.

  361.20–21 Generals Cole and Sickles . . . paramours dead] Brevet Major General George W. Cole (1827–­1875), a businessman from Syracuse, New York, shot and killed his longtime neighbor and attorney, L. Harris Hiscock (1824–­1867), in the lobby of an Albany hotel on June 4, 1867, shortly after learning that Hiscock had “dishonored” his wife, Mary Barto Cole (1832–­1910). After his first trial ended in a hung jury, Cole was acquitted on December 7, 1868, by a jury that professed doubt as to his sanity at the moment of the shooting. Daniel E. Sickles (1819–­1914), a Democratic congressman from New York, 1857–­61, shot and killed Philip Barton Key (1818–­1859), U.S. attorney for Washington and the son of Francis Scott Key, on February 25, 1859, shortly after learning that Key was having an affair with his wife, Teresa Bagioli Sickles (1836–­1867). Sickles was acquitted of murder in April 1859, becoming the first defendant to successfully use the defense of temporary insanity in an American court. He later became a major general in the Union army, lost a leg at Gettysburg, and served in the Carolinas during Reconstruction (see note 318.19–­20).

  362.37–38 elections of ’67 . . . against Negro Suffrage] see Chronology, October–­November 1867.

  364.2–3 Joint Resolution Proposing the Fifteenth Amendment] The final version of the resolution was approved by the House, 144–­44, on February 25, 1869, and by the Senate, 39–­13, on February 26. An earlier version of the amendment, prohibiting the denial of suffrage on account of “race, color, nativity, property, education, or creed,” was approved by the Senate, 31–­27, but was rejected by the House, 133–­37.

  “LET US HAVE PEACE,” 1869–­1873

  372.3–4 Frederick Douglass . . . on Suffrage] Douglass and Anthony spoke on the first day of the third annual meeting of the American Equal Rights Association, held at Steinway Hall in New York City on May 12, 1869. The AERA had been founded in May 1866 for the purpose of securing “equal rights to all American citizens, especially the right of suffrage, irrespective of race, color, or sex.” The remarks made by Douglass are taken from the New York World, while Anthony’s remarks are taken from a shorthand reporter’s transcription preserved in the Susan B. Anthony Papers in the Library of Congress.

  372.11–12 Rev. Mr. Frothingham . . . the President.] Octavius Brooks Frothingham (1822–­1895), a former Unitarian minister, was the founder of the Independent Liberal Church in New York City. In the absence of Lucretia Mott (1793–­1880), the president of the AERA since its founding, the meeting was presided over by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the first vice president of the Association. In her address, Stanton referred to “the daughters of Adams, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry”; protested against making American women “the political inferiors of unlettered and unwashed ditch-­diggers, boot-­blacks, butchers and barbers, fresh from the slave plantations of the South”; and said: “Think of Patrick and Sambo and Hans and Yung Tung, who do not know the difference between a monarchy and a republic, who cannot read the Declaration of Independence or Webster’s spelling book, making laws for Lucretia Mott, Ernestine L. Rose, Susan B. Anthony or Anna E. Dickinson.”

  372.24–25 fifteen States of the Union.] The fifteen states where slavery existed at the beginning of the Civil War.

  373.2 convention in Boston] The women’s rights convention held in Boston, November 18–­19, 1868, that founded the New England Woman Suffrage Association. Howe was chosen as the Association’s first president.

  373.26–27 Tilton, Powell, & Phillips] Theodore Tilton (1835–­1907), editor of the New York weekly newspaper The Independent; Aaron Macy Powell (1832–­1899), editor of the National Anti-­Slavery Standard; and Wendell Phillips.

  373.28 the Constitutional Convention] The New York constitutional convention, held in Albany, June 1867–­February 1868.

  374.22–24 Alexander Hamilton . . . whole being.”] Cf. The Federalist No. 79, May 28, 1788: “In the general course of human nature, a power over a man’s subsistence amounts to a power over his will.”

  375.5 our working women’s meetings] The Working Women’s Association, founded by Anthony in September 1868.

  375.7 Mr Croly] David Goodman Croly (1829–­1899), managing editor of the New York World.

  375.28–29 the business of this association] Anthony and Stanton broke away from the American Equal Rights Association in May 1869 and founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, which opposed ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. The AERA dissolved, and in November 1869 Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Henry Brown Blackwell (1825–­1909) founded the American Woman Suffrage Association, which supported the Fifteenth Amendment. The two organizations merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

  377.4 November 3, 1869.] Clemenceau wrote this article after his return to France from the United States.

  381.8–9 my proclamation . . . the reasons] The proclamation referred to several recent crimes committed in Alamance County, including the murder in Graham of Wyatt Outlaw (c. 1820–­1870). A carpenter, former Union soldier, active Republican, and the first African American to serve as the town constable, Outlaw was taken from his home on the night of February 26, 1870, by several dozen Klansmen and hanged from a tree near the county courthouse. In December 1871 Judge Albion W. Tourgée convened a grand jury that indicted eighteen men for Outlaw’s murder, but the indictments were dismissed after the state legislature passed a bill in 1873 extending amnesty to all crimes committed by members of secret organizations.

  381.36–37 commanding general of this department] Brigadier General Edward R. S. Canby (1817–­1873) commanded the Department of Virginia, April 1869–­April 1870. At the direction of Secretary of War William W. Belknap (1829–­1890), Canby sent two infantry companies to Alamance County, where they remained until May 1870.

  382.4 the State law] The law gave the governor the power to proclaim a state of insurrection, summon the militia, and request federal assistance. It was passed on January 29, 1870.

  382.5–7 pamphlet . . . Lenoir County prisoners] Testimony of the witnesses in the preliminary examination of the Lenoir County prisoners: the secrets of the Ku-­Klux-­Klan, &c., &c., &c. (1869) recorded the testimony given in New Bern, North Carolina, August 31–­September 3, 1869, by several Klansmen charged with murder, arson, and conspiracy.

  383.16–20 “at the time . . . bound to respect”] A paraphrase of Chief Justice Taney’s opinion in the Dred Scott case.

  383.33 The Father . . . Farewell Address] President Washington published his farewell address on September 19, 1796.

  384.3–4 first annual message . . . eighth message.] Washington delivered his first annual message to Congress on January 8, 1790, and his eighth on December 7, 1796.

  385.2 Albion W. Tourgée to Joseph C. Abbott] For Abbott, see note 28.8–­9. Tourgée’s letter was printed in the New-­York Tribune on August 3, 1870.

  385.5–6 John W. Stephens] A native of North Carolina, Stephens (1834–­1870) was a tobacco trader who had briefly served in the Co
nfederate army. He later became an agent for the Freedmen’s Bureau, joined the Republican Party, and was elected to the North Carolina senate in 1868.

  385.7–8 the Court House] The Caswell County Courthouse in Yanceyville, North Carolina.

  385.17 stabbed . . . hanged on a hook] John G. Lea (1843–­1935), a former Klansman, confessed to his role in Stephens’ murder in a document signed and witnessed on July 2, 1919. His statement, made at the request of the North Carolina Historical Commission, was made public only after Lea’s death in 1935. Lea described how Stephens was lured to his death by Frank Wiley (c. 1825–­1888), a Democrat who had served as county sheriff before the Civil War: “A democratic convention was in session in the court room on the second floor of the courthouse in Yanceyville, to nominate county officers and members of the Legislature. Mr. Wiley, who was in the convention, brought Stevens down to a rear room on the ground floor, then used for the storage of wood for the courthouse. I had ordered all the Ku Klux Klan in the county to meet at Yanceyville that day, with their uniforms under their saddles, and they were present. Mr. Wiley came to me and suggested that it would be a better plan, as Stevens had approached him to run on the republican ticket for sheriff and he had told him that he would let him know that day, to fool him down stairs, and so just before the convention closed, Wiley beckoned to Stevens and carried him down stairs, and Captain Mitchell, James Denny and Joe Fowler went into the room and Wiley came out. Mitchell proceeded to disarm him (he had three pistols on his body). He soon came out and left Jim Denny with a pistol at his head and went to Wiley and told him that he couldn’t kill him himself. Wiley came to me and said, ‘You must do something; I am exposed unless you do.’ Immediately I rushed into the room with eight or ten men, found him sitting flat on the floor. He arose and approached me and we went and sat down where the wood had been taken away, in an opening in the wood on the wood-­pile, and he asked me not to let them kill him. Captain Mitchell rushed at him with a rope, drew it around his neck, put his feet against his chest and by that time about a half dozen men rushed up: Tom Oliver, Pink Morgan, Dr. Richmond and Joe Fowler. Stevens was then stabbed in the breast and also in the neck by Tom Oliver, and the knife was thrown at his feet and the rope left around his neck. We all came out, closed the door and locked it on the outside and took the key and threw it into County Line Creek.”

  385.32 election in August next] The election, held on August 4, 1870, resulted in the Conservative Party winning control of the state legislature.

  387.39 Four thousand or 5,000 houses] Tourgée later asserted that this figure appeared in the Tribune in error, and that in his original letter he had estimated that the Klan had broken into four or five hundred houses.

  389.21 en masque] In disguise.

  391.4 an Election] In the election held in South Carolina on October 19, 1870, the Republicans reelected Governor Scott, retained control of the state legislature, and were victorious in all four congressional races.

  392.34–35 Senator Robertson and Col Patterson] A native of the state, Thomas J. Robertson (1823–­1897) was a Republican senator from South Carolina, 1868–­77. Born in Pennsylvania, John J. Patterson (1830–­1912) moved to South Carolina in 1869 and served as a Republican senator, 1873–­79. Patterson was indicted for bribery and corruption in 1877, but the charges were later dropped.

  394.23 Tuesday] Tuesday, March 14, 1871.

  395.15 Gen. Farnsworth] John F. Farnsworth (1820–­1897) was a Republican congressman from Illinois, 1857–­61 and 1863–­73. He served as an officer in the Union army, 1861–­63, and was promoted to brigadier general.

  395.35–36 Mr. Beck of Kentucky] James B. Beck (1822–­1890) was a Democratic congressman from Kentucky, 1867–­75, and a senator, 1877–­90.

  398.10–11 “A hunted seeker . . . sake.”] John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–­1892), “The Exiles” (1840), lines 39–­40.

  403.3–4 possible chance of the doctor’s recovery.] John Winsmith (1802–­1888) recovered and testified on July 11, 1871, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, before a select congressional committee investigating Klan violence.

  403.11 represented the people in the Legislature] Winsmith served in the state legislature 1830–­32, 1852–­62, and 1865–­66.

  404.11–12 “A tale unfold . . . thy soul.”] Hamlet, I.v.15–­16.

  405.30 Mr. SHELLABARGER] Samuel Shellabarger (1817–­1896) was a Republican congressman from Ohio, 1861–­63, 1865–­69, and 1871–­73. He had introduced the proposed enforcement bill on March 28, 1871.

  408.9 “we are not . . . not stone,”] Cf. Julius Caesar, III.ii.142.

  408.17 “Bloody treason . . . us.”] Julius Caesar, III.ii.192.

  408.18–19 “and if we perish, we perish!”] See 2 Kings 7:4.

  409.26–31 Madison . . . in war.”] The passage Garfield cites is an observation regarding the United Netherlands, the subject of The Federalist No. 20, published on December 11, 1787. Madison examined the history of the Amphictyonic and Achæan Leagues in The Federalist No. 18, December 7, 1787.

  410.17 Sedan] Napoleon III surrendered to the Prussian army at Sedan on September 2, 1870, and was deposed on September 4 when the revolutionary Government of National Defense assumed power in Paris.

  410.24–25 fearful reaction from despotism.] An insurrection in Paris on March 18, 1871, led to the formation of the revolutionary Commune on March 28.

  412.5 President . . . recent message] Grant sent a special message to Congress on March 23, 1871, asking for the passage of legislation that would “effectually secure life, liberty, and property and the enforcement of law in all parts of the United States.”

  415.32 Judge Advocate General] Joseph Holt (1807–­1894), judge advocate general of the U.S. Army, 1862–­75.

  415.38–416.1 Petition of Right . . . Charles II.] The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679.

  416.1–3 lord chief justice . . . a grand jury] In 1865 Edward Eyre (1815–­1901), the British governor of Jamaica, brutally repressed a rebellion by black farm laborers in Morant Bay. Eyre believed that George William Gordon (1820–­65), a mixed-race member of the colonial assembly, had planned the uprising, and ordered that Gordon be arrested in Kingston, where martial law was not in effect, and taken to Morant Bay, where he was tried for high treason before a military tribunal and hanged. An attempt to prosecute Eyre for abuse of office failed in 1868 when a grand jury refused to indict him after being charged by Sir Colin Blackburn (1813–­1896), a justice of the Queen’s Bench. In June 1868 Sir Alexander Cockburn (1802–­1880), the lord chief justice of England, 1859–­1880, publicly disagreed with the interpretation of the law presented to the grand jury by Blackburn.

  416.5–6 same judge . . . Queen vs. Nelson] Cockburn had charged a grand jury in Regina v. Nelson and Brand, an attempt in 1867 to prosecute Colonel Alexander Nelson, who had established the tribunal that tried George William Gordon, and Lieutenant Herbert Brand, the naval officer who had presided over the tribunal. The grand jury declined to indict either officer.

  416.9–10 The Nation . . . Mr. Mulford] The Nation: The Foundations of Civil Order and Political Life in the United States (1871) by Elisha Mulford (1833–­1885), an Episcopal priest. Mulford later published The Republic of God, an Institute of Theology (1881).

  416.34 Mr. Justice Davis] David Davis (1815–­1886) was an Illinois circuit judge, 1848–­62, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1862–­77, and an independent senator from Illinois, 1877–­83.

  417.32 The Chief Justice] Salmon P. Chase.

  418.16 “cry havoc . . . dogs of war?”] Julius Caesar, III.i.273.

  418.28 House will grant general amnesty] On April 10, 1871, the House approved, 134–­45, an amnesty bill similar to the one eventually enacted in 1872; see note 425.34–­36.

  418.34–36 called upon . . . actual necessity] Congressman Shellabarger modified the bill to meet the objections of Republican moderates such as Garfield, and
an amended version was approved by the House, 118–­91, on April 6. The final version was passed on April 19 by the House, 93–­74, with Garfield voting in favor, and by the Senate, 36–­13. As enacted, the law did not authorize the president to declare martial law, and his power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus expired with the end of the next session of Congress (in effect, in June 1872). The second section of the Enforcement Act of 1871 was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Harris (1883), which ruled that while the federal government could protect citizens against the denial of their constitutional rights by state action, it lacked the power to punish the denial of rights by private individuals.

  419.6 the CHAIRMAN] The Joint Select Committee on the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States was formed by Congress on April 20, 1871, to investigate the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. The committee submitted its majority and minority reports on February 19, 1872, along with twelve volumes of testimony taken in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Horace Maynard (1814–­1882), a Republican from Tennessee, was the chairman of the subcommittee that examined witnesses in Georgia in the fall of 1871. Maynard served in Congress, 1857–­63 and 1866–­75, as attorney general of Tennessee, 1863–­65, as minister to Turkey, 1875–­80, and as postmaster general, 1880–­81.

  419.16 John Walthall] Maria Carter was one of several witnesses who testified about the murder of John Walthall, including his widow, Tilda Walthall, and her husband, Jasper Carter.

  422.14 Mr. BAYARD] Thomas F. Bayard (1828–­1898) was a Democratic senator from Delaware, 1869–­85, who later served as secretary of state, 1885–­89, and ambassador to Great Britain, 1893–­97.

  425.2–3 Horace Greeley . . . Liberal Republican Convention] see Chronology, May 1–­3, 1872.

  425.34–36 political rights and franchises . . . reestablished] The House had passed a general amnesty bill on May 13, 1872, that removed the disabilities imposed by Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment from all persons, “except Senators and Representatives of the Thirty-­Sixth and Thirty-­Seventh Congresses, officers in the judicial, military, and naval service of the United States, heads of Departments, and foreign ministers of the United States.” The bill was passed by the Senate on May 21, 1872, and signed into law the next day.