Edward McPherson
Published: 2015-06-16
Total Pages: 662
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Excerpt from The Political History of the United States of America During the Period of Reconstruction, From April 15, 1865, to July 15 It is hoped, however, that the coraplcteucss of the Index, both »9 to subjects, persons, and parties, will cnnblo all, without difficulty, to command ready access to tho multitude of facts which will be found in these pages. Part I contains a full statement of tho Orders and Proclamations auJ the general action of President Johnson, in the development of his policy of restor-ing the insurrectionary States to their places in the Union, by calling constitutional conventions in each, on an indicated basis, and by suggesting certain action therein as preliminary to restoration. It also contains the legislation of those organizations respecting tho colored population recently freed, and tho various Messages, Speeches, Letters, and Proclamations of the President in vindication of his policy and in resistance to that of Congress. This part will also bo found to contain tho full text of the majority and minority reports of tho Joint Congressional Committee on Reconstruction, with the text of the Fourteenth Amendment, as finally adopted by Congress and submitted to tho Legislatures for their action. This amendment having been rejected by tho Legislatures in the insurrectionary States, chosen under the action of President Johnson, Congress subsequently adopted tho decisive measure of dividing those States into five Military Districts, providing for their re-organization on the basis of, substantially, Universal Manhood Suffrage, and prescribing the conditions on which they would be entitled to representation in Congress. Part II contains the texts of these various measures, the Veto Messages of the President in disapproval of them, and the various Votes by which they were passed over the veto by two-thirds of each House. Part III contains all tho proceedings connected with the proposed impeachment of President Johnson by the Fortieth Congress, with tho Articles of Impeachment in full, the answer of President Johnson, the Replication of the House, and the Judgment of the Scuato thereon. It also contains a digest of the Orders of tho Military Commanders and their general action undor the various Reconstruction acts, with an abstract of tho Constitutions prcparod by the Conventions called under them. Parts IV and V contain tho remaining record of Reconstruction, the fiun! votes in Congress upon tho adoption of tho Fifteenth Constitutional Amendment, President Grant's action thereon, tho votes of the various State Legisla-tu res, and tho final certificate of tho Secretary of Stato announcing its ratification as an amendment to thoConstitution. Resides thcso great moasures, tho intorest in which will scarcely abato as long as our present system of government remains, in this volumo will bo found all tho Decisions of tho Supremo Court of the United Slates during this period, on tho inoro important public questions which came beforo it, such as tho Habeas Corpus, tho Legal-Tender, and tho Test-Oath eases; the right of States to tax National Banks; tho right of the United About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.