“guarantee clause” had no application. Congress had unrestricted power over them, as simple territories of the federal government. On May 2, 1864, during the discussion of the bill to guarantee republican forms of government to the rebellious States, he declared that the rebellious States “were entitled to no rights under the Constitution and laws, which as to them were abrogated; that they could invoke the aid of neither in their behalf; that they could claim to be treated during the war as belligerents according to the laws of war and the law of nations; that they could claim no other rights than a foreign nation with whom we might be at war; and that they were subject to all the liabilities of such foreign belligerent,” and that “the property of the morally and politically guilty should be taken for public use.”[37]

CHAPTER II.

JOHNSON’S THEORY: THE EXPERIMENT, AND ITS RESULTS.

1. We have briefly reviewed the theories that obtained greater or less consideration during the progress of the war, and have seen that plan had been agreed upon by which the Southern States might resume their normal relations with the rest of the Union. Two or three States had, it is true, been nominally reconstructed under the provisions of the proclamation of December 8, 1863, but their good faith was strongly suspected, and their representatives were not able to secure recognition in Congress. The high personal esteem in which President Lincoln was held had prevented general demonstrations against his policy, but there was a wide-spread suspicion that he was inclined to deal too leniently with a people who had brought so much expense and misery upon the nation. The indignation of the North had increased with the progress of the war, and the belief that the South could be held in check only by the most stringent regulations and requirements was held by many.

2. So long as armed rebellion existed the question of reconstruction was a minor one, the attention of all being chiefly directed to the problem: “How can this rebellion be crushed out, and the South made thoroughly to realize that resistance is useless?” But when Andrew Johnson took the oath of office the rebellion was virtually a thing of the past, and the giant problem for the nation to solve during his administration was: “How shall we treat these conquered States lying helpless, awaiting whatever fate may be allotted them?” No other issue of importance served to offset it. The whole nation was debating the question, and all were waiting to see in what way the Executive would grapple with it.[38]

3. Those who feared that Lincoln had lacked sufficient firmness and had been too tender hearted, believed that in Johnson the nation had as its Executive a man with correct convictions and a strength of character which ensured both the proper treatment of the South and the stability of the Union. Johnson had an excellent record as military governor of Tennessee, where his fearlessness and vigorous administration had given him a reputation which brought to him the nomination of vice-president. From his severity to the rebels while governor of Tennessee it was reasoned that he would still remain severe and unyielding in his treatment of them as President of the United States. He himself was always fond of alluding to his past record as indicating his future course. Thus, only six days after he took the oath of office, he said while addressing a delegation of citizens of Indiana:[39] “In reference to what my administration will be, while I occupy my present position, I must refer you to the past. You may look back to it as evidence of what my course will be; * * * mine has been but one straightforward and unswerving course, and I see no reason now why I should depart from it. * * * My past is a better foreshadowing of my future course than any other statement on paper that might be made.” Moreover, an examination of the speeches made by him during the war shows the grounds on which the people were justified in expecting a severe policy. An extract from an address delivered in Nashville, June 9, 1864, shows his views at that time as to who should carry on the work of reconstruction.[40] “In calling a convention to restore the State, who shall restore and re-establish it? Shall the man who gave his influence and his means to destroy the government * * * participate in the great work of reorganization? * * * Traitors should take a back seat in the work of restoration. If there be but five thousand men in Tennessee loyal to the Constitution, loyal to freedom, loyal to justice, these true and faithful men should control the work of reorganization and reformation absolutely.” Later on in the same speech he said, referring to the traitor “born and reared among us:” “My judgment is that he should be subjected to a severe ordeal before he is restored to citizenship. A fellow who takes the oath merely to save his property, and denies the validity of the oath, is a perjured man, and not to be trusted.”

4. Emphatic statements such as these, often repeated, insisting that the government of the States must be carefully kept in the hands of those whose loyalty was above suspicion, and advocating severe ordeals for those considered traitors, warranted the people of the nation in their faith in his extreme devotion to a strong Union. Yet soon after his inauguration a change in his attitude could be noticed. In his numerous speeches and interviews he shifts his ground, very gradually at first, but soon meeting the issue squarely, pledging himself to a policy which he faithfully carried into execution, and which the candid student must recognize as being thoroughly believed in by the President. Clemency towards the masses, but severity towards the leaders of the rebellion, was his attitude in his speech of April 21, above alluded to. He expressed his views as follows:[41] “It is not promulgating anything I have not heretofore said, to say that traitors must be made odious, that treason must be made odious, that traitors must be punished and impoverished. They must not only be punished, but their social power must be destroyed. If not, they will still maintain an ascendency, and may again become numerous and powerful; for, in the words of a former senator of the United States, ‘when traitors become numerous enough, treason becomes respectable.’ And I say that, after making treason odious, every Union man and the Government should be remunerated out of the pockets of those who have inflicted this great suffering upon the country. But do not understand me as saying this in a spirit of anger, for, if I understand my own heart, the reverse is the case; and while I say that the penalties of the law, in a stern and inflexible manner, should be executed upon conscious, intelligent and influential traitors—the leaders, who have deceived thousands upon