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قراءة كتاب Charles Sumner; his complete works, volume 13 (of 20)
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Charles Sumner; his complete works, volume 13 (of 20)
against persons of African descent, or against persons not of such descent, shall be ground of challenge, and, being established by proof, to the satisfaction of the judge, shall exclude the juror. And upon any such trial, inability to read or write shall be ground of challenge, and, the fact being found by the judge, shall exclude the juror.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
December 13th, it was read a second time, and, on motion of Mr. Sumner, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Towards the end of the session, July 7, 1866, it was reported adversely by Mr. Trumbull, and, on his motion, indefinitely postponed.
This effort to secure recognition of colored persons on juries was suggested by the ancient jury de Medietate Linguæ, first given by the statute of 28th Edward III., cap. 13, and used in cases where one party was a foreigner and the other a denizen. There were other cases where an analogous jury was impanelled, as in a criminal trial in the University courts, where the jury was half freeholders of the county, and half matriculated laymen of the University.[3]
OATH TO MAINTAIN A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN THE REBEL STATES.
Bill in the Senate, December 4, 1865.
A Bill prescribing an oath to maintain a Republican form of Government in the Rebel States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter every person in any State lately declared to be in rebellion, before he shall be allowed to vote at any election, State or National, or before he shall enter upon the duties of any office, State or National, or become entitled to the salary or other emoluments thereof, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to maintain a republican form of government, as follows: “I do hereby swear (or affirm) that I will at all times hereafter use my best endeavors to maintain a republican form of government in the State of which I am an inhabitant, and in the Union of the United States; that I will at all times recognize the indissoluble unity of the Republic, and will always discountenance and resist any endeavor to break away or secede from the Union; that I will give my influence and vote at all times to strengthen and sustain the national credit; that I will always discountenance and resist any attempt, directly or indirectly, to repudiate or postpone, in any part or in any way, either the debt contracted by the United States in subduing the late Rebellion or the obligation assumed to the Union soldiers; that I will always discountenance and resist any laws making any distinction of race or color; and that in all ways I will strive to maintain a State government completely loyal to the Union, where all men shall enjoy equal protection and equal rights”: which, so taken and subscribed, shall be preserved in the proper office or department, according to regulations made by the President of the United States. Any person who shall falsely take such oath shall be guilty of perjury, and, on conviction, in addition to the penalties now prescribed for that offence, shall be deprived of his office, and rendered incapable forever after of holding any office under the United States.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed. The same oath appears in the Scheme of Reconstruction.[4]
PART EXECUTION OF THE GUARANTY OF A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
Bill in the Senate, December 4, 1865.
A Bill in part execution of the guaranty of a Republican form of Government in the Constitution of the United States.
Whereas it is declared in the Constitution that the United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government; and whereas certain States have allowed their governments to be subverted by rebellion, so that the duty is now cast upon Congress of executing this guaranty: Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all States lately declared to be in rebellion there shall be no oligarchy invested with peculiar privileges and powers, and there shall be no denial of rights, civil or political, on account of race or color; but all persons shall be equal before the law, whether in the court-room or at the ballot-box. And this statute, made in pursuance of the Constitution, shall be the supreme law of the land, anything in the Constitution or laws of any such State to the contrary notwithstanding.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
The same bill, in another form, was introduced by Mr. Sumner, February 2, 1866, and afterwards moved as a substitute for the Constitutional Amendment on Representation.[5]
EQUAL RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS TO BE PROTECTED BY THE NATIONAL COURTS.
Bill in the Senate, to enforce the Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery, December 4, 1865.
A Bill supplying appropriate legislation to enforce the Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting Slavery.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, if any person shall attempt to control, or shall by act or word claim any right to control, the services of any other person, contrary to the provisions of the foregoing section, the person so offending shall, upon indictment and conviction in the District Court of the United States for the district where the crime was committed, be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a