THE CONGRESSIONAL PLAN (Continued)
[The Freedmen Codes in the South]—[The Reports of Grant and Schurz in Regard to the Status in the South]—[The Freedmen's Bureau Bill of 1866]—[The President's 22d of February Speech]—[The Civil Rights Bill]—[The Veto of the Bill]—[The Veto Overridden]—[The Fourteenth Amendment]—[The Discussion of the Propositions in Congress]—[The President's Attitude toward the Proposed Amendment]—[Mr. Seward's Acts in Regard to Ratification]—[The Requirement that the Ratification of the Proposed Amendment should be the Condition of the Admission of the Senators- and Representatives-elect to Seats in Congress]—[The Tennessee Precedent].
We have reviewed the acts of the new legislature of Mississippi concerning the civil status of the freedmen. It is sufficient to say
The Freedmen codes
in the South.
The President had sent General Grant and General Carl Schurz on tours of inspection and inquiry through the South, during the late summer and
The reports of Grant
and Schurz in regard to
the status in the South.
Mr. Schurz, on the other hand, reported that his conclusions from his observations were that there was no loyalty among the leaders and the mass of the people in the South, except such as consisted in submission to necessity; that they were consciously attempting in their new legislation to establish a new form of slavery, distinct only from the old chattel slavery; and that this could be prevented only by national law and national control, at least for many years to come.
General Grant's visit had been a flying one, and his inquiries upon the subject were secondary only to his other business. On the other hand, General Schurz had journeyed deliberately, and his inquiries were the chief, if not the sole, purpose of his visit. Moreover, General Schurz was a keener observer in regard to such matters than General Grant, and a much better reasoner.