The Struggle Between President Johnson And Congress Over Reconstruction Part 3

1. "That the States lately in rebellion were at the close of the war disorganized communities, without civil government, and without const.i.tutions or other forms by virtue of which political relations could legally exist between them and the Federal Government.

2. "That Congress cannot be expected to recognize as valid the election of representatives from disorganized communities, which, from the very nature of the case, were unable to present their claim to representation under those established and recognized rules, the observance of which has been hitherto required.

3. "That Congress would not be justified in admitting such communities to a partic.i.p.ation in the government of the country without first providing such const.i.tutional or other guaranties as will tend to secure the civil rights of all citizens of the Republic; a just equality of representation; protection against claims founded in rebellion and crime; a temporary restoration of the right of suffrage to those who have not actively partic.i.p.ated in the efforts to destroy the Union and overthrow the government; and the exclusion from positions of public trust of at least a portion of those whose crimes have proved them to be enemies to the Union, and unworthy of public confidence."

In addition, the report contained an enumerated statement of "general facts and principles" which it was claimed were "applicable to all the States recently in rebellion." In this statement it was a.s.serted that from the time war was declared the great majority of the Southerners "became and were insurgents, rebels, traitors; and all of them a.s.sumed the political, legal, and practical relation of enemies of the United States."

The States did not desist from war till "every vestige of State and Confederate government" was obliterated, "their people reduced to the condition of enemies conquered in war, ent.i.tled only by public law to such rights, privileges and conditions as might be vouchsafed by the conqueror." They thus had "no right to complain of temporary exclusion from Congress," until they could "show that they are qualified to resume federal relations. * * * They must prove that they have established _with the consent of the people_, republican forms of government in harmony with the Const.i.tution and laws of the United States, that all hostile purposes have ceased, and should give adequate guaranties against future treason and rebellion--guaranties which shall prove satisfactory to the Government against which they rebelled, and by whose arms they were subdued." The rebels "were conquered by the people of the United States acting through all the co-ordinate branches of the Government, and not by the Executive alone. * * * The authority to restore rebels to political power in the Federal Government can be exercised only with the concurrence of all the departments in which political power is vested," and the proclamations of the President could only be regarded as provisional permission "to do certain acts, the effect and validity whereof is to be determined by the const.i.tutional government, and not solely by the executive power." If the President had the power to "qualify persons to appoint Senators and elect Representatives, and empower others to appoint and elect them, he thereby practically controls the organization of the legislative department and destroys the const.i.tutional form of government."[110]

The report of the dissenting members of the committee, Messrs. Johnson, Rogers and Grider, was an ably prepared doc.u.ment embodying at length the doctrines of the minority in Congress, composed of the Democrats and the few Republicans who still sustained the President. As a matter of course the argument was built upon the premise that the so-called Confederate States were never legally separated from the Union, but were bound by all the obligations and ent.i.tled to all the privileges of other States. "In its nature the government is formed of and by States possessing equal rights and powers." A State cannot be held to have forfeited its rights.

"To concede that by the illegal conduct of her own citizens she can be withdrawn from the Union, is virtually to concede the right of secession."

Were the States out of the Union, the minority continued, the submission to them of the proposed const.i.tutional amendment would be absurd; and such submission virtually conceded that the condition of the States remained unchanged. The const.i.tutional power to suppress insurrection is for the preservation, not the subjugation of the State. "The continuance of the Union of all the States is necessary to the intended existence of the Government," and a different principle leads to disintegration. The war power, as such, cannot be used to extinguish the States; the Government only seeks to suppress the insurrection, achieving which all the States resume their normal relations. The States now have organized governments, republican in form, and the manner in which they were formed is no concern of Congress. "Congress may admit new States, but a State once admitted ceases to be within its control and can never again be brought within it."

There is nothing in the political condition of these States justifying their exclusion from representation in Congress. The proposed amendment would degrade the Southern States, as it would compel them to accept either a lessened representation or negro suffrage. Further, it interfered with the right of every State to regulate the franchise; and, by joining several subjects and requiring them to be voted on as a whole, deprived the people of the opportunity of pa.s.sing on this important question separately.

8. The Joint Committee on Reconstruction had already reported two bills and one joint resolution which in its report of June 18 were declared to be the fruit of its labors. These were introduced in the House by Mr.

Stevens, April 30. The resolution proposed an amendment to the Const.i.tution, which, as finally amended, became the 14th Amendment.[111]

The two accompanying bills were ent.i.tled respectively: (1) "A Bill to provide for restoring the States lately in insurrection to their full political rights." (2) "A Bill declaring certain persons ineligible to office under the Government of the United States."

The first of these bills prescribed the conditions on which a State lately in insurrection might secure representation in Congress, as well as a ten years' postponement of the exaction of any unpaid part of the direct tax of 1861. It provided that representation might be secured after the proposed amendment should have become a part of the Const.i.tution, and the State seeking representation should have ratified such amendment.

Postponement of the tax might be secured by ratifying the amendment. This bill served as a basis for general discussion of the best method of restoring to the States their political rights; but, no action was taken on it during this session, and it went over as unfinished business to the following December.

The second bill declared as ineligible to office: the President, Vice-President, and foreign agents of the Confederate States; "heads of departments of the United States, officers of the army and navy of the United States, and all persons educated at the Military or Naval Academy of the United States," federal judges and members of the 36th Congress, who had given aid or comfort to the rebellion; Confederate officers above the rank of colonel in the army or master in the navy; governors of the Confederate States, and "those who have treated officers or soldiers or sailors of the army or navy of the United States, captured during the late war, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war." This bill was less fortunate than the first, since it failed even to receive consideration during the session.

The proposed const.i.tutional amendment, however, fared better. It had been well demonstrated by the discussions during the session that an amendment to the Const.i.tution would be submitted to the States, if a resolution could be framed which would satisfy the heterogeneous elements of the reconstruction party. But the framing of such a resolution had proved a very difficult matter. Stevens, and those most influenced by him, were especially radical in their doctrines, not hesitating to express their desire for the confiscation of rebels' property and for other extreme measures. Some believed that there should be nothing short of complete disfranchis.e.m.e.nt, for a term of years, of all who had aided the rebellion in any way--they had acted deliberately, and they must suffer the consequences. Others cared only for the disfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the more prominent offenders, and for the establishment of negro suffrage. Still another faction wished liberal terms to be offered to the States--limitations, but no interference.

The radicals recognized that their extreme ideas could not obtain congressional sanction, and made no effort to embody them in the plans submitted. From the beginning of the session various propositions were under discussion. Among these, the most attention was attracted by the various propositions to modify the existing basis of apportionment of representatives in Congress. Emanc.i.p.ation had rendered this necessary. The "three-fifths clause" of the Const.i.tution having become inoperative, the increased representation resulting from the freeing of the slaves necessitated a change. The first plan was "to apportion Representatives according to the number of voters in the several States."[112] It was then proposed to exclude from the basis of representation all whose political rights were denied or abridged by any State on account of race or color.

This plan, supported by Blaine and Conkling,[113] pa.s.sed the House on January 31, 1866,[114] but was defeated in the Senate. Many felt that the measure was too stringent. The object was virtually to force upon the Southern States the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the negro.[115]

The Committee on Reconstruction hesitated for over a month after the defeat of this resolution in the Senate. It was finally decided that the only way in which the submission of the desired amendment could be effected, was to concede something to the conservative element of the Senate. Accordingly the draft of April 30 was presented as the recommendation of the committee. This pa.s.sed the House without difficulty,[116] but encountered fierce opposition in the Senate. The House resolution contained a provision which would have summarily and unconditionally excluded from the franchise all partic.i.p.ating in the rebellion, until July 4, 1870. This was virtually a complete disfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the Southern people, and although only temporary, it was felt to be contrary to the spirit of our inst.i.tutions and too indiscriminate a punishment. It was accordingly stricken out by a unanimous vote.[117] In its place Senator Howard proposed a clause which forms section 3 of the 14th Amendment as it now stands. This clause, while it withheld certain privileges of citizens.h.i.+p from partic.i.p.ants in the rebellion who had previously held civil or military office and had taken an oath to support the Const.i.tution of the United States, did not affect the vast majority of Southerners; and it provided that Congress might, by a two-thirds vote of each house, remove the disability of those who were excepted from the restoration of privileges. Moreover, in place of the plan supported by Blaine and Conkling for reducing the basis of representation, the Committee on Reconstruction presented a proposition which better satisfied the conservative element, and which stands to-day as section 2 of the 14th Amendment. It provided that in case the right of any male inhabitant of a State to vote was denied or abridged for any reason "except for partic.i.p.ation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state." It was argued that in this way fairness was a.s.sured, as a State could have no right to claim representation for that portion of her population which was denied the franchise.

On June 8, 1866, the final touches were put on the resolution. Five days later the House concurred in the Senate's revision, and the 14th Amendment was ready for the ratification of the States.

Johnson's followers and the Democrats bitterly opposed the submission of this amendment. The more extreme of them a.s.serted that the Republican majority acted from purely partisan motives. Fearful for the continuance of its supremacy, it desired to place before the States a measure so distasteful to the South as to ensure its rejection. In that way there would be an excuse for additional legislation to prevent the States from obtaining representation, and to preserve Republican control.[118] The composite character of the amendment provoked severe criticism. It was claimed that the sections should be submitted to the States as separate articles, to give opportunity for the rejection of some and the ratification of others. Senator Doolittle moved an amendment to this effect,[119] but the solid reconstruction majority could not be shaken, and the five sections were submitted to the States to stand or fall together. Technical objections were deemed unworthy of consideration when it was supposed to be necessary for the safety of the Union that all the sections should be ratified.

The inadvisability of submitting a const.i.tutional amendment while eleven of the States were not permitted a voice in legislation was strongly urged by the opposition. The President reiterated the protest in his message of June 22, affirming that the submission of the proposed amendment to the States through the executive department was a purely ministerial duty, in no way committing the department to an approval of the action. The first section of the amendment was condemned as a subtle plan eventually to force negro suffrage upon the people as an incident of negro citizens.h.i.+p.

It was claimed that the second discriminated too severely against the Southern States with their large preponderance of colored population, and that the third virtually forced them to insult their most respected citizens--a humiliation which would drive them to renewed insurrection.

The validity of some of the objections was proved by subsequent history; some have proved groundless; others still remain among the unsettled questions.

The reconstruction legislation of the first session of the 39th Congress closed with the restoration of Tennessee to the Union. Other measures were under consideration, but were not acted upon until the following session.

The att.i.tude of Tennessee, since her re-organization under the provisions of the proclamation of 1863, had been the most consistent of any of the Southern States.[120] From March 3, 1862, until March 3, 1865, Johnson, as military governor, had preserved law and order to a great extent. The formal reorganization of the State was undertaken by a convention of the loyal citizens convened January 8, 1865, acting upon the recommendation and personal approval of Johnson. This convention proposed the amendments to the const.i.tution of the State, made necessary by the changes brought about by the war, and they were adopted by the loyal voters of the State on February 22. On March 4 a governor and legislature were elected, who a.s.sumed their duties on April 3. The work of the legislature was characterized by an apparent eagerness to do all that should be done by a State loyal to the Union.

The popular ratification of the amendments to the Const.i.tution distinguished the action of Tennessee from that of the other Southern States, and this fact, united to her uniformly consistent att.i.tude, formed the ground for the recommendation of the Committee on Reconstruction that this State should be restored to her former rights and privileges. This recommendation, in the form of a joint resolution, was reported from the committee by Mr. Bingham on March 5,[121] but no action was taken until July 20. Tennessee's prompt action in ratifying the 14th Amendment[122]

was taken as good evidence that her government was thoroughly reconstructed, and the State ent.i.tled to representation. Accordingly a subst.i.tute resolution, noting these facts, was introduced and pa.s.sed, the Senate amending and pa.s.sing it three days later. This declared Tennessee to be restored to her former relations to the Union, and ent.i.tled to representation in Congress,[123] but the preamble was used as a vehicle for the a.s.sertion of the sole power of Congress to restore State governments. President Johnson, while approving the resolution, explained in his message that his approval was "not to be construed as an acknowledgment of the right of Congress to pa.s.s laws preliminary to the admission of duly qualified representatives from any of the States," nor as committing him "to all the statements made in the preamble."

The session had proved far from fruitless, although nothing but the preliminary steps had been taken. The Freedmen's Bureau and civil rights bills const.i.tuted a temporary protection to the freedmen; the right of _habeas corpus_ still remained suspended and military authority prevailed throughout the conquered region. The 14th Amendment was before the people, to be a rallying point for the autumn campaign. The lines between the presidential and congressional parties were now closely drawn. Each knew the strong and the weak points of its opponent. The issue must now be turned over to the people as final judges of its merits. The congressional elections of the fall would decide the issue, and also the future method of reconstruction.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1866.

1. The four months following the adjournment of the first session of the 39th Congress were full of excitement. The public was thoroughly aroused, and all incidents were considered in the light they threw upon the question of the hour. The President's uncompromising hostility to the 14th Amendment brought about a crisis in the Cabinet.[124] William Dennison, Postmaster-General, was the first to declare the impossibility of maintaining cabinet relations with the President. He resigned on July 11, and A. W. Randall, of Wisconsin, First a.s.sistant Postmaster-General, was appointed in his place. Mr. Randall was a devoted adherent of the administration, and president of the National Union Club which called the convention of August 14. The second resignation was that of James Speed, Attorney-General, on July 18. Coming from Kentucky, Mr. Speed had had the reputation of being quite conservative in his views regarding reconstruction, and his formal notice of separation from the President created no little excitement. His intimate connection with the administration gave unusual force to his denunciation of its policy, made at the time of taking the chair as permanent president of the convention of Southern loyalists. Henry Stanbery of Ohio was appointed as his successor, and retained his position until he resigned to a.s.sist in the defense of the President in the impeachment trial. A few days after Mr.

Speed's withdrawal, the Secretary of the Interior, James Harlan, tendered his resignation, and O. H. Browning, of Illinois, was appointed to fill the vacancy.

It is altogether probable that these resignations would have been made earlier than they were, had it not been feared that the control of these important administrative departments would fall into the hands of those who would use their powers in opposition to Congress. But the time had come when the inc.u.mbents considered that by the retention of the offices they were being forced to share the odium attached to the President, and deemed total separation from him as the best method of justification.

The laws discriminating against the colored man, and the numerous instances of cruelty which had been reported to the North, were an important factor in creating and sustaining the common feeling of hostility to the administration. But the New Orleans riots, occurring on July 30, did more to rouse the people of the North, and convince them that stern measures were necessary, than all that had preceded. The ma.s.sacre stood out vividly against the background of "black laws," and furnished an argument of the most effective kind to be used in the campaign.

2. The riots were of a peculiarly exasperating character. The const.i.tutional convention of 1864, summoned by the proclamation of Major General Banks, had pa.s.sed resolutions giving the president of the convention power "to reconvoke the convention for any cause." A majority of the members came to the conclusion, in the spring of 1866, that the State const.i.tution should be amended, to place it in harmony with the congressional policy.[125] They determined to have the convention reconvoked for this purpose. The president, Judge E. H. Durell, declined to take advantage of his prerogative, but the delegates, not to be thwarted in this way, proceeded to elect a president _pro tem._ who was willing to issue the desired proclamation. The governor of the State, J.

M. Wells, concurred in this rather questionable procedure, and issued a proclamation for an election to fill existing vacancies.

It being well understood that negro suffrage was one of the ultimate objects desired by the supporters of the proposed const.i.tutional convention, active hostility to the movement rapidly developed. The proclamation of the president _pro tem._ called for the a.s.sembling of the delegates on July 30; and though the only object of this meeting was to determine officially the existing vacancies to be filled in the fall elections, the enemies to the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the freedmen determined to crush the movement in its incipient stage. It is an easy matter to stir up the pa.s.sions and prejudices of the people, and the indiscreet speeches of certain of the delegates only added to the popular excitement. A negro procession organized in honor of the convention was attacked by a mob in front of Mechanics' Hall, where the convention was in session. The attack was soon extended to the hall itself, the police of the city joining hands with the a.s.sailants. When the riot was over nearly two hundred persons were found to have been killed or wounded, the greatest sufferers being the negroes, who were shot down in front of the hall without mercy.

The flagrancy of the act, the connivance of the city authorities, and the fact that, while legal steps were taken against the delegates and innocent spectators, the actual murderers were in no way molested, furnished to the people of the incensed North ample proof of the inability of the South to maintain local government, and of the advisability of refusing to restore these States to their former position in the Union. New Orleans was taken as a fair example of what might happen at any place in the South. There was no satisfactory justification for these acts of violence, and there was little inclination in the North to consider the legal technicalities involved in the attempt to amend the const.i.tution of Louisiana. They simply took cognizance of the fact that about fifty loyal citizens had been murdered in cold blood, with the city authorities silently acquiescing. In the face of such a fact, the solicitude of the President to preserve the "inherent rights of the States" did not appeal to the ma.s.ses, and Johnson was forced to begin his campaign badly handicapped.

But, in addition to the blow given to the theory of the administration, Johnson was forced to labor against a certain amount of personal censure, brought about by his supposed att.i.tude before the riots and his known att.i.tude after them. It was freely charged that he was in full sympathy with the determination of the Mayor of New Orleans, and the Lieutenant-Governor and Attorney-General of Louisiana, to prevent the convention from accomplis.h.i.+ng its plans. In support of the charge, his answer to the inquiry as to whether the military power would interfere with the attempt to arrest the members of the convention upon criminal process was cited. His reply was as follows:[126] "The military will be expected to sustain, and not to obstruct or interfere with the proceedings of the court." While this may have indicated too great confidence in the civil authorities of Louisiana, it certainly did not imply any connivance in or sympathy with the summary proceeding of July 30. Possibly the well-known opposition of Johnson to negro suffrage may have stimulated the rioters to bolder defiance of Northern sentiment, but censure of him can extend no farther. But, in his political canva.s.s in the fall,[127] while endeavoring in every way to discredit the 39th Congress in the eyes of the people, he committed a grave error by an indirect defense of the rioters, attacking the members of the convention as traitors who incited the negro population to rioting, and throwing the responsibility of the whole affair back upon Congress as having originated and fostered the plan to force negro suffrage upon Louisiana.[128]

3. The fall campaign was formally opened by the supporters of the presidential policy, who had immediately accepted the report of the Committee on Reconstruction as the platform of the Republican anti-administration faction, and had determined to appeal on that issue to the people. Their hope was that the conservative element of the population, thoroughly worn out by the struggle, would uphold the speedy restoration of the Southern States, and that thereby a coalition might be made between the Democrats and the administration Republicans strong enough to unseat many of the radical members, reverse the majority, and so give the administration control in the 40th Congress.

The first steps were promptly taken. The executive committee of the National Union Club, a political organization established in Was.h.i.+ngton by supporters of the administration, issued on June 25, just one week after the submission of the report of the Committee on Reconstruction, a call for a national convention to be held in Philadelphia on August 14.[129]

Delegates to this convention were to be chosen by those supporting the administration and agreeing to certain "fundamental propositions" which formed the platform of the conservatives. These propositions maintained the absolute indissolubility of the Union, the universal supremacy of the Const.i.tution and acts of Congress in pursuance thereof, the const.i.tutional guarantee to maintain the rights, dignity and equality of the States, and the right of each State to prescribe the qualifications of electors, without any federal interference. They declared that the usurpation and centralization of powers infringing upon the rights of the States "would be a revolution, dangerous to republican government, and destructive of liberty;" that the exclusion of loyal senators and representatives, properly chosen and qualified under the Const.i.tution and laws, was unjust and revolutionary; that as the war was at an end, "war measures should also cease, and should be followed by measures of peaceful administration;" and that the restoration of the rights and privileges of the States was necessary for the prosperity of the Union. This formal call was approved, and its principles endorsed by the Democratic congressmen, who issued an address to the "People of the United States" on July 4, urging them to act promptly in the selection of delegates to the convention.

In accordance with the call, every State and Territory was represented in the convention. A glance at the list of delegates shows that they included many of the prominent Democrats of the country, re-enforced by a number of the prominent Republicans[130] who were in sympathy with the administration. The enthusiastic manner in which the summons was answered seemed to the friends of the administration to indicate an unquestionable overthrow of the radicals. They thought that harmony was soon to reign over all portions of the Union, which was once more being drawn closely together by the watchword "National Union."

Reverdy Johnson, who had submitted in the Senate the minority report of the Committee on Reconstruction, was chosen chairman, and Senator Cowan, of Pennsylvania, chairman of the committee on resolutions. The resolutions were reported on August 17, and unanimously adopted by the convention.

They re-affirmed the fundamental principles set forth in the call of June 25, and appealed to the people of the United States to elect none to Congress but those who "will receive to seats therein loyal representatives from every State in allegiance to the United States." They reiterated the claim that in the ratification of const.i.tutional amendments all the States "have an equal and an indefeasible right to a voice and vote thereon." In concession to Northern sentiment, they declared that the South had no desire to re-establish slavery; that the civil rights of the freedmen were to be respected, the rebel debt repudiated, the national debt declared sacred and inviolable, and the duty of the government to recognize the services of the federal soldiers and sailors admitted. A final resolution commended the President in the highest terms, as worthy of the nation, "having faith una.s.sailable in the people and in the principles of free government."[131]

These views were fully elaborated in an address prepared by Henry J.

Raymond, and read before the convention. Little attempt was made to qualify or render less offensive the argument that the Southern States must be allowed their representation in Congress, whether or not such action was for the best interest of the Union. Referring to this the address declared that "we have no right, for such reasons, to deny to any portion of the States or people rights expressly conferred upon them by the Const.i.tution of the United States." We should trust to the ability of our people "to protect and defend, under all contingencies and by whatever means may be required, its honor and welfare."[132]

A committee of the convention hastened formally to present its proceedings to President Johnson, who had taken the keenest interest in the plans of the National Union party. In his remarks to the committee he feelingly referred to the somewhat theatrical entrance of the delegates of South Carolina and Ma.s.sachusetts, "arm in arm, marching into that vast a.s.semblage, and thus giving evidence that the two extremes had come together again, and that for the future they were united, as they had been in the past, for the preservation of the Union." Speaking to a sympathetic audience, who applauded him to the echo, and believing that the people were now endorsing his opposition to Congress, he saw no necessity for tempering his statements, and cast aside his discretion. His characterization of Congress was as follows: "We have witnessed, in one department of the government, every endeavor to prevent the restoration of peace, harmony and union. We have seen hanging upon the verge of the Government, as it were, a body called, or which a.s.sumes to be, the Congress of the United States, while in fact it is a Congress of only a part of the States. We have seen this Congress pretend to be for the Union, when its every step and act tended to perpetuate disunion and make a disruption of the States inevitable. Instead of promoting reconciliation and harmony, its legislation has partaken of the character of penalties, retaliation and revenge. This has been the course and policy of one portion of the Government."[133] Again, to show the disinterestedness of his own course, he said: "If I had wanted authority, or if I had wished to perpetuate my own power, how easily could I have held and wielded that power which was placed in my hands by the measure called the Freedmen's Bureau bill (laughter and applause). With an army, which it placed at my discretion, I could have remained at the capital of the nation, and with fifty or sixty millions of appropriations at my disposal, with the machinery to be unlocked by my own hands, with my satraps and dependents in every town and village, with the Civil Rights bill following as an auxiliary (laughter), and with the patronage and other appliances of the Government, I could have proclaimed myself dictator." ("That's true!" and applause.)[134]

But his indiscretions did not end with speeches before his sympathizers.

Two weeks later he started on a trip, nominally to a.s.sist in the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the Douglas monument in Chicago.[135] As a matter of fact, however, he was merely taking advantage of an opportunity to defend his policy publicly. Johnson was of too impa.s.sioned a nature to be able to judge as to how far the President of the United States could afford to adopt the methods of the stump speaker. All constraint was thrown away, and he acted at many times the part most natural to him, that of a popular orator addressing the ma.s.ses. His speeches at no time lacked clearness. All could see where he stood, and nothing was left for speculation.

His first important effort while on his journey was at New York on August 29, where he responded to a toast proposed by the mayor of the city. In this speech he defined the issue as follows: "The rebellion has been suppressed, and in the suppression of the rebellion it [the government]

has * * * established the great fact that these States have not the power, and it denied their right, by forcible or peaceable means, to separate themselves from the Union. (Cheers, 'Good!') That having been determined and settled by the Government of the United States in the field and in one of the departments of the government--the executive department of the government--there is an open issue; there is another department of your government which has declared by its official acts, and by the position of the Government, notwithstanding the rebellion was suppressed for the purpose of preserving the Union of the States and establis.h.i.+ng the doctrine that the States could not secede, yet they have practically a.s.sumed and declared and carried up to the present point, that the Government was dissolved and the States were out of the Union. (Cheers.) We who contended for the opposite doctrine years ago contended that even the States had not the right to peaceably secede; and one of the means and modes of possible secession was that the States of the Union might withdraw their representatives from the Congress of the United States, and that would be practical dissolution. We denied that they had any such right. (Cheers.) And now, when the doctrine is established that they have no right to withdraw, and the rebellion is at an end * * * we find that in violation of the Const.i.tution, in express terms as well as in spirit, that these States of the Union have been and still are denied their representation in the Senate and in the House of Representatives."[136]

Then, speaking of the people of the South: "* * Do we want to humiliate them and degrade them and drag them in the dust? ('No, no!' Cheers.) I say this, and I repeat it here to-night, I do not want them to come back to this Union a degraded and debased people. (Loud cheers.) They are not fit to be a part of this great American family if they are degraded and treated with ignominy and contempt. I want them when they come back to become a part of this great country, an honored portion of the American people."[137]

Another representative speech was the one which he made in Cleveland on September 3: "I tell you, my countrymen, I have been fighting the South, and they have been whipped and crushed, and they acknowledge their defeat and accept the terms of the Const.i.tution; and now, as I go around the circle, having fought traitors at the South, I am prepared to fight traitors at the North. (Cheers.) G.o.d willing, with your help we will do it. (Cries of 'We won't.') It will be crushed North and South, and this glorious Union of ours will be preserved. (Cheers.) I do not come here as the Chief Magistrate of twenty-five States out of thirty-six. (Cheers.) I came here to-night with the flag of my country and the Const.i.tution of thirty-six States untarnished. Are you for dividing this country? (Cries of 'No.') Then I am President, and I am President of the whole United States. (Cheers.)"[138]

Speeches of this nature, coming at a time when the outrages in the South had so greatly incensed the North, had a most depressing influence upon the fortunes of the National Union party, and failed utterly in the object for which they were intended. The trip proved to be a grave political mistake. The undignified spectacle of a President receiving coa.r.s.e personal abuse and retorting in scarcely less coa.r.s.e expressions was quickly taken advantage of by his opponents; and the phrase "swinging around the circle" has a.s.sumed historic dignity as a description of his journey.

4. The "off year" national convention plan adopted by the National Union Club was immediately accepted by the congressional party, which was no less active in preparations for the struggle. On July 4, the same day on which the Democratic congressmen issued their address to the people, representative Southern Unionists,[139] supporters of Congress, issued a call to "the Loyal Unionists of the South," for a convention to be held in Philadelphia on September 3.[140] The call stated that the convention was "for the purpose of bringing the loyal Unionists of the South" into conjunction with the true friends of republican government in the North.

"* * The time has come when the restructure of Southern State government must be laid on const.i.tutional principles. * * * We maintain that no State, either by its organic law or legislation, can make transgression on the rights of the citizen legitimate. * * * Under the doctrine of 'State sovereignty,' with rebels in the foreground, controlling Southern legislatures, and embittered by disappointment in their schemes to destroy the Union, there will be no safety for the loyal element of the South. Our reliance for protection is now on Congress, and the great Union party that has stood and is standing by our nationality, by the const.i.tutional rights of the citizen, and by the beneficent principles of the government."