There were two other considerations which moved the Republicans in Congress to assume this attitude in regard to Reconstruction. One was
Legislation of the
reconstructed "States"
concerning the status
of the freedmen, and
the Freedmen's Bureau.
There is no question that this was a most humane measure. It would have been a moral outrage for the Government of the United States to have taken the slaves away from the support and protection accorded them by their masters, and to have thrown them upon their own resources
The administration
of the Freedmen's
Bureau.
When, now, the newly reorganized "States" came to assume jurisdiction over matters concerning the freedmen, they found themselves driven to
Vagrancy, apprenticeship
and civil rights in the
reconstructed "States."
It must be remembered, however, that at the time of the passage of the Stevens resolution by the House of Representatives, only two of Mr. Johnson's reconstructed "States" had passed any laws upon these
Examination of these
vagrancy acts, etc.