CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| [CHAPTER I.] Theories Prior To the Close of the War. | ||
| 1. | The Problem | [7] |
| 2. | Common Belief at Opening of Hostilities: The Crittenden Resolution | [8] |
| 3. | The Democratic Theory | [10] |
| 4. | Lincoln: The Development of his Theory | [14] |
| 5. | The Congressional Policy | [18] |
| [CHAPTER II.] Johnson’s Theory: the Experiment and Its Results. | ||
| 1. | Conditions at Accession of Johnson | [28] |
| 2. | Lincoln vs. Johnson | [28] |
| 3. | Johnson’s views before Accession | [29] |
| 4. | Speeches in the Spring after his Accession | [30] |
| 5. | Secret of his Attitude | [32] |
| 6. | Development of his Theory | [34] |
| 7. | Attitude towards Enfranchisement of the Negro | [41] |
| 8. | Legislative Action in the South | [42] |
| 9. | The Defense of the South | [46] |
| 10. | Effect of the Attitude of the South upon the North | [47] |
| [CHAPTER III.] Attitude of Congress Towards the Experiment: Development of the Congressional Theory. | ||
| 1. | Attitude of Parties towards the Administration at Beginning of the Session | [49] |
| 2. | Opening Scenes in Congress | [50] |
| 3. | The Annual Message: Debate on Reconstruction | [55] |
| 4. | The Freedmen’s Bureau | [59] |
| 5. | Johnson’s Indiscreet Speeches in February, 1866 | [65] |
| 6. | Civil Rights; Other Bills | [68] |
| 7. | Report of Committee on Reconstruction | [73] |
| 8. | Authorized Measures of First Session | [80] |
| [CHAPTER IV.] The Campaign of 1866. | ||
| 1. | Crisis in the Cabinet | [87] |
| 2. | The New Orleans Riots | [88] |
| 3. | Administration Conventions | [91] |
| 4. | Anti-Administration Conventions | [98] |
| 5. | The Fall Elections | [103] |
| 6. | Action on the XIV Amendment | [104] |
| [CHAPTER V.] The Congressional Theory Fully Developed. | ||
| 1. | The Second Session Convenes; The Annual Message | [107] |
| 2. | First Reconstruction Bill | [109] |
| 3. | First Supplementary Bill | [117] |
| 4. | Second Supplementary Bill | [122] |
| 5. | State Conventions | [124] |
| 6. | Third Supplementary Bill | [125] |
| 7. | Ratification of Constitutions | [125] |
| 8. | Acts Re-admitting States to Representation in Congress | [125] |
| [CHAPTER VI.] The Impeachment of the President. | ||
| 1. | Why Congress Wished to Impeach | [127] |
| 2. | What is an Impeachable Offense | [128] |
| 3. | The Opening Attack | [129] |
| 4. | The Work of the Judiciary Committee | [131] |
| 5. | The Attack Fails | [132] |
| 6. | The Limitation of Presidential Powers | [133] |
| 7. | The Tenure-of-Office Act | [134] |
| 8. | Struggle with Secretary Stanton | [135] |
| 9. | Articles of Impeachment | [138] |
| 10. | Attitude of Conservative Republicans | [140] |
| 11. | Conclusion | [141] |
THE
Struggle Between President Johnson and Congress
OVER RECONSTRUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
THEORIES OF RECONSTRUCTION PRIOR TO THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.
1. The war of the rebellion afforded opportunity for the people of the United States to obtain a far clearer conception of the powers and limitations of the federal constitution than had previously been possible, and settled beyond possibility of further debate some of the most important questions which had arisen since its interpretation as an “instrument of evidence” had begun. Yet when General Johnston had surrendered his army on April 26, 1865, virtually bringing the war to a close, the country found that one great constitutional question, a question of the highest practical importance, still remained unsolved; and for several years the best energies of our statesmen were occupied with its solution. Eleven of the States had for four years been in armed insurrection, but now, through superior force, they lay helpless at the feet of the Union. Under these circumstances, what was their constitutional relation to the federal government?
Previous to the passage of the ordinance of secession by the convention of South Carolina in 1860, the nation never had been called upon to determine the status of a State which declared its relation to the federal government severed. Certainly if a State could establish its independence by war, the question, so far as such State was concerned, would have no significance; but as such a conclusion of the difficulty could not be considered for an instant, the status of the seceded State, both before and after the cessation of hostilities, immediately became an important subject of discussion. The gradual evolution of popular sentiment, from the belief that the dignity of a State should not be tampered with, to the belief that by an act of secession a State divested itself of all its rights and privileges as a State, and reverted to the condition of a Territory, forms an interesting chapter in the history of the unwritten constitution of the United States.
2. When the 37th Congress met on July 4, 1861, in pursuance of Lincoln’s proclamation, the war had not been in progress long enough to show to the country the extreme gravity of the situation and the wideness of the gap which had arisen between the Southern States and the rest of the Union. The common belief was that unprincipled agitators, who represented only a small minority of the legal voters in the insurrectionary States, had obtained temporary control over the governments of these States, and were waging a war against the Union, in which they were unsupported by the majority; and that the latter would joyfully resume control of their governments as soon as the opportunity should be given them, which it was confidently believed would soon happen. That is, the war was to be carried on, not against the States which claimed to have seceded, but against a certain element of the Southern population.