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قراءة كتاب Reconstruction and the Constitution 1866-1876

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Reconstruction and the Constitution 1866-1876

Reconstruction and the Constitution 1866-1876

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
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class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">The Proviso in this Plan—Seward's Idea of Reconstruction and the Views of Congress and the JudiciaryTen Per Centum "State" GovernmentsReconstruction in Louisiana under Mr. Lincoln's PlanThe New Orleans Convention—The Election of a Governor—The Constitutional Convention of April, 1864, and the Constitution Framed by it and Adopted by the Voters—Reconstruction in ArkansasThe Beginning of Resistance in Congress to the President's Plans—The Wade-Davis BillAnalysis of this MeasureThe President's Attitude toward the Bill—The President's Proclamation of July 8th, 1864The Wade-Davis Protest against the President's ProclamationThe President's Message of December 6th, 1864The Threatened Schism in the Republican Party and the Presidential Election of 1864The Refusal of Congress to Count the Electoral Vote from any "State" which had Passed the Secession OrdinanceReconstruction in TennesseeThe Twenty-second Joint RuleReconstruction in Tennessee ContinuedCivil Government Re-established in TennesseeThe Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United StatesThe Proposition of Amendment as it Came from the Judiciary Committee of the Senate—The Passage of the Proposition by the SenateThe House DraftRejection of the Senate's Draft in the HouseReconsideration of the Senate's Measure in the House, and its Final Passage.


Some of the ardent admirers of Mr. Lincoln are disposed to dispute the proposition that he had any theory of Reconstruction. It seems,
Did Mr. Lincoln
have any theory
of Reconstruction?

however, that they are unconsciously influenced in this by their desire to escape the conviction that Mr. Lincoln held an erroneous theory of Reconstruction. It does not seem that one can read impartially Mr. Lincoln's proclamation of December 8, 1863, without coming to the conclusion that Mr. Lincoln had a very decided notion on the subject. It is true that he said that it must not be understood that no other possible mode of Reconstruction than that proclaimed by him would be acceptable, but he laid down a very distinct mode, and he said it was the best he could suggest under existing impressions.


This plan recognized, in the first place, the continued existence of the "States" in rebellion as "States" of, and in, the Union. More
Mr. Lincoln's plan.

exactly, it regarded the rebellion against the United States within these "States" as the act of combinations of disloyal persons, and not as the act of the "States" at all. These combinations had subverted the loyal governments within these "States," but the "States" themselves were not disloyal, because they could not be. They were impersonal entities, incapable of committing treason or any other wrong. According to this view the work of Reconstruction consisted simply in placing the loyal element in a "State" in possession of the government of the "State."


In the second place, therefore, Mr. Lincoln's plan contained the principle that the work of Reconstruction was an executive problem. It was the work of the Executive, through the power of pardon, to create a loyal class in a "State" which had been the scene of rebellion, and it was the work of the Executive to support that class by the military power in taking possession of, organizing, and operating, the "State" government.


And so, Mr. Lincoln undertook to create such a class by constructing an oath of future loyalty and allegiance to the United States of the
Mr. Lincoln's oath
of allegiance, and
the loyal class to
be created by the
taking of this oath.

following tenor: "I, —— ——, do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the union of the States thereunder; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void, by Congress or by decision of the Supreme Court; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified by the Supreme Court. So help me God;" and by ordaining that all persons who would voluntarily take this oath, unless they had been civil or diplomatic officers of the "so-called Confederate Government," or military officers thereof above the rank of colonel in the army or lieutenant in the navy, or had left seats in the United States Congress or judicial office under the United States, or had resigned commissions in the army or navy of the

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