The policy and personal disputes between Johnson and Stevens helped frame the Reconstruction era, mirroring the divisions present in the nation as a whole. of contract, or of managing the ordinary business of life. . The [members of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction] are not ignorant of the fact that there has been some impatience at the delay in making this report . Congress insists on changing the basis of representation so as to put white voters on an equality in both sections, and that such change shall precede the admission of any State. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! Do you find this information helpful? The confederate States refused to negotiate with the United States, except upon the basis of independence of perfect national equality. provinces will be prepared to participate in constitutional Now they are the victims of daily murder. The 19th Amendment: How Women Won the Vote. He and his minions shall learn that this is not a Government of kings and satraps, but a Government of the people, and that Congress is the people. Twenty years ago I denounced it as a despotism. >IQ He desires that the States created by him shall be acknowledged as valid States, while at the same time he inconsistently declares that the old rebel States are in full existence, and always have been, and have equal rights with the loyal States. I need not enumerate these partial and oppressive laws. It portrayed a strident vision of the Reconstruction era, wherein the defeated Southern states were not welcomed back with open arms, and their rights would remain curtailed until Congress saw fit to restore them. Home; Service. Congress is the only power that can act in the matter. They have torn their constitutional States into atoms, and built on their foundations fabrics of a totally different character. Thaddeus Stevens on black suffrage, 1867 From speech of Thaddeus Stevens (R-Pa) in the House of Representatives, January 3, 1867. the Constitution shall have been so amended as to make it These are great advantages over their present codes. Before the end of the war, President Abraham Lincoln had issued his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, in which he outlined a generous plan that called for the readmission of any former Confederate states in which ten percent of the voters swore allegiance to the restored Union and amnesty for all but the highest-ranking Confederate military and political leaders. He focused much of his political attention on civil rights, eventually. [Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens was a Congressman from Pennsylvania and one of the primary champions of Congressional measures like the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Reconstruction Act of 1867. The leader of the Radical Republicans in the House, Stevens was a lawyer, politician, and staunch abolitionist. and whether the election and returns are according to How do you answer the principle inscribed in Our political scripture, That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed? 13 Without such consent government is a tyranny, and you exercising it are tyrants. Ooops. I desire that as early as possible, without curtailing debate, this House shall come to some conclusion as to what shall be done with the rebel States. Among the people I believe it will be the most popular of all the provisions; it prohibits rebels from voting for members of Congress and electors of President until 1870. Alert to the return to power of traditional white Southern leadership, he argued that the seceded states were in the condition of conquered provinces to which restraints of the Constitution did not apply. +(91)-9821210096 | how to say nevermind professionally in an email. This becomes more and more necessary every day; and the late decision of the Supreme Court of the United States has rendered immediate action by Congress upon the question of the establishment of governments in the rebel States absolutely indispensable. How, then, can such a State adopt the amendment? He was an early and ardent supporter of abolition of slavery. If they do not enfranchise the freedmen, it will give to the rebel States but thirty-seven Representatives. The President claims the right to exercise them. To be sure many subordinate items of the policy of each may be easily sketched. They must suffer constant persecution or be exiled. I advocated through a long life, equality of man before his creator. Whatever law punishes a white man for a crime shall punish the black man precisely in the same way and to the same degree. suffrage. Call you this a free Republic where four millions are subjects but not citizens? We have turned, or are about to turn, loose four million slaves without a hut to shelter them or a cent in their pockets. A majority of Congress desires that treason shall be made odious, not by bloody executions, but by other adequate punishments. How far their liabilities remained there was more difference of opinion. The law of nations then fixed their condition. The President is for exonerating the conquered rebels from all the expense and damages of the war, and for compelling the loyal citizens to pay the whole debt caused by the rebellion. If it be just, it should not be denied; if it be necessary, it should be adopted; if it be a punishment to traitors, they deserve it. The entire speech appears below. .I need not depict the ruin that would follow. Radical Republican congressional leader during Reconstruction (1865-77) who battled for freedmen's rights and insisted on stern requirements for readmission of Southern states into the Union after the Civil War (1861-65). Thaddeus Stevens was a Radical Republican leader and one of the most powerful members in the U.S. House of Representatives. The white Union men are in a great minority in each of those States. No said he , I claim the right to chastise the scoundrel. He followed the colored man, took out his revolver, and deliberately shot him dead in the presence of that community. True, some of those governors were illegally appointed, being civilians. Thus much I have said at the outset of my remarks, which shall not be very long. President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and both branches of Congress repeatedly declared that the belligerent States could never again intermeddle with the affairs of the Union, or claim any right as members of the United States Government until the legislative power of the Government should declare them entitled thereto. Though many Northerners were ambivalent about African American suffrage, the Black Codes turned public opinion against Johnson and his moderate approach to Reconstruction. As a leader in Congress, Stevens fought to end slavery and promote civil rights and racial equality. Thaddeus Stevens was a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who became the face of the opposition to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson's lenient approach to the South after the Civil War. That decision has taken away every protection in everyone of these rebel States from every loyal man, black or white, who resides there. Later that year, on August 11, Stevens died in Washington and was buried near his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Stevens successfully prevented the first few new state governments implemented under Lincoln and Johnson's Reconstruction plan from being recognized, refusing to seat the senators and representatives elected by those states. Congress denies it and asserts the right to belong to the legislative branch. In 1868, he led the charge to impeach Johnson, who was narrowly acquitted in the Senate. acquiring an education, understanding the common laws . . Thaddeus Stevens, "Reconstruction" Speech, September 6, 1865. Would it not be better to flank the works and march round and round and besiege, and thus secure the surrender of the enemy, though it might cost time? May I ask, without offense, will Congress have the courage to do its duty? Possibly with their aid loyal governments may be established in most of those States. Contributor: Stevens Thaddeus Congressional Globe, 39th Cong., 2nd sess., Jan. 3, 1867, pp. Admitted to the Maryland bar, he moved to Pennsylvania to practice law in 1816. How absurd that a mere executive officer should claim creative powers! It has always been observed that the larger the number of the rulers the more cruel the treatment of the subject races. By what civil weapon have we enabled them to defend themselves against oppression and injustice? In the speech below which Stevens gave in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 3, 1867 supporting the Reconstruction bill then being debated, he issued a response to those who said his call was radical and incendiary with a now famous quotation: " I am for negro suffrage in every rebel State. As a congressman, he advocated for tariff increases, opposed the fugitive slave provision of the Compromise of 1850, and later joined the newly formed Republican Party. They were subject to the controlling power of the conquerors. An Address Delivered to the Citizens of Lancaster, Sept. 6, 1865. Their government became perfectly organized, both in its civil and military departments. . In Territories Congress fixes the qualifications of Under such governments, while electing members That short delay would not be injurious. Since the conquest they have been governed by martial law. Thaddeus Stevens, "Reconstruction" Speech, September 6, 1865. Thaddeus Stevens was a Radical Republican leader and one of the most powerful members in the U.S. House of Representatives. Updates? Then Persia, with her kings and satraps, was free; then Turkey is free! "Reconstruction," Hon. Two years after moving to Pennsylvania, Stevens was admitted to the bar and began practicing in Gettysburg. An ancient philosopher, whose antagonist admitted that what he required was just but deemed it impolitic, asked him: Do you believe in Hades? I would say to those above referred to, who admit the justice of human equality before the law but doubt its policy: Do you believe in heIl?. What madness! Then, twenty million white men enchained four million black men. <> As a politician in Pennsylvania, he supported free public education and suffrage for African Americans. But the public mind has been educated in error for a century. endobj The papers of lawyer and United States representative from Pennsylvania Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) consist of 4,750 items (7,769 images) in eight containers and one oversize folder. ( Thaddeus Stevens, speech to Congress, March 19 1867). With the basis unchanged the 83 South The first two years of Congressional Reconstruction saw Southern states rewrite their Constitutions and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. That they will hardly get. He focused much of his political attention on civil rights, eventually helping to draft the 14th Amendment. Stevens was an opponent of slavery before the war and after the war sought to secure the rights of the newly freed population in the former Confederacy. We have unchained them from the stake so as to allow them locomotion, provided they do not walk in paths which are trod by white men. In 1849, Stevens was elected, as a Whig, to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Courtesy Library of Congress (LC-BH83-613), (1849) Charles Sumner, Equality Before the Law: Unconstitutionality of Separate Colored Schools in Massachusetts, (1963) Malcolm X, Message to the Grassroots, African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. Let us at least escape that condition. In monarchical Governments, where the sovereign power rests in the Crown, the king would have fixed the condition of the conquered provinces. No Government official, from the President and Chief Justice down, can do anyone act which is not prescribed and directed by the legislative power. Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives during Abraham Lincoln's presidency, fought to abolish slavery and helped draft the 14th Amendment during Reconstruction. He argued that, since the Confederate states had divorced themselves from the Union, there was no arrangement so proper for them as territorial governments. Neither the president nor the judiciary had the power to create states out of unincorporated territories before the Civil War, nor should they have the power to do so now, according to Stevens. Call you this liberty? If we fail in this great duty now, when we have the power, we shall deserve and receive the execration of history and of all future ages. They each raised more than half a million armed men. This I take to be the great question between the President and Congress. . Whether they should ever have all men of both sections, without exception, agreed would depend on the will of Congress, if the United States were victorious. Reconstruction "There was a dramatic need for another amendment" after the slavery-abolishing 13th Amendment was ratified at the end of 1865, Hetrick says. And I need hardly say that the first time that the South with their copperhead allies obtain the command of Congress it will be repealed. Though the President is Commander-in-Chief, Congress is his commander; and, God willing, he shall obey. The short time allowed by our resolution will suffice to introduce this debate. We may not aspire to fame. Lincoln had already authorized reconstructed governments in Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia, and Johnson's home state of Tennessee, and Johnson continued Lincoln's goal of quickly restoring local sovereignty to the states. Within the broad limits of those eleven States the confederate States had as perfect and absolute control as the United States had over the other twenty-five. An anti-Masonic member of the state legislature (183341), he proved himself a friend of banks, internal improvements, and public schools and a foe of Freemasons, Jacksonian Democrats, and slaveholders. States and declare when they are entitled to be represented. By 1861, as the civil war began, Stevens was responsible for its financing as chairman of the committee on ways and means. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. Impartial suffrage, both in electing the delegates and ratifying their proceedings, is now the fixed rule. If we do not furnish them with Thaddeus Stevens, Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, gave a speech before Congress that articulated his vision for the period following the Civil War, known as Reconstruction. And yet I am amazed and alarmed at the impatience of certain well-meaning Republicans at the exclusion of the rebel States until the Constitution shall be so amended as to restrain their despotic desires. In States that have never been restored since the rebellion from a state of conquest, and which are this day held in captivity under the laws of war, the military authorities, under this decision and its extension into disloyal States, dare not order the commanders of departments to enforce the laws of the country. This amendment once adopted cannot be annulled without two thirds of Congress. - wrapinknot But this step forward is an assault upon ignorance and prejudice, and timid men shrink from it. In the immediate aftermath of the war, however, Congress was not in session, and Johnson did his best to implement Lincoln's plan in Congress's absence. Instead of seeking the quick reconciliation that Lincoln and Johnson promoted, Stevens was comfortable both with the process of Southern reintegration taking years and with Congress being the final arbiter of when each Southern state could rejoin the nation. There are several good reasons for the passage of this bill. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Congress and in the Electoral college. However, he also urged colleagues to remember the crimes of the Confederacy. Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 - August 11, 1868) was a . The policy of Congress forbids him to exercise any power therein. Analytical Services; Analytical Method Development and Validation Death State: Washington, D.C. Death Country: United States, Article Title: Thaddeus Stevens Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/political-figures/thaddeus-stevens, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: May 25, 2021, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. To those white leaders, voting rights for the freedmen, as advocated by Radical Republicans, were out of the question. In the first place, it is just. The Southern territories could have non-voting representation, and it would be Congress, which would ensure that they could not exercise any power until Congress was convinced they would pose no further threat to the Union. Lincoln had called for reconciliation in his second inaugural and Gettysburg addresses, but Stevens disagreed vehemently, pushing for the punishment of the Southincluding the disenfranchisement of all Confederatesand full citizenship rights for the freed slaves. Thaddeus Stevens, Speech on reconstruction, December 18, 1865. outside or defunct States, and providing proper civil Have not loyal blacks quite as good a right to choose rulers and make laws as rebel whites? That time ought to be present now. But every other government is a despotism. It were better for the black man if he were governed by one king than by twenty million. They, with their kindred Copperheads of the North, would always elect the President and control Congress. As there are no symptoms that the people of these provinces will be prepared to participate in constitutional government for some years, I know of no arrangement so proper for them as territorial governments. Rather than making the South go through the process of territorial government, in 1867 and 1868, Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which divided the South into five military districts under the command of a general and provided clear criteria for readmission to the Union, including redrafting their state constitutions to include loyalty to the Union, ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, and guaranteeing former slaves the right to vote. if we leave them to the legislation of their late masters, In the second place, it is a necessity in order to protect the loyal white men in the seceded States. occasion for the conquered rebels and the conqueror to They would merely misrepresent their constituents. We However, his plan proved too radical for many war-weary Northerners. The By 1866, the Radical Republicans had taken significant control of Congress, due in no small part to Stevens's leadership. There is more reason why colored voters should be admitted in the rebel States than in the Territories. And yet certain of our distinguished friends propose to admit State after State before this becomes a part of the Constitution. No State could order the election of members until Congress had ordered a census and made an apportionment. We have allowed them the unwonted privilege of attending church, if they can do so without offending the sight of their former masters. In failing health, Stevens had requested to be buried in Shreiner-Concord Cemetery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because the state accepted all races. 2023 National Constitution Center. There are those who admit the justice and ultimate utility of granting impartial suffrage to all men, but they think it is impolitic. Johnson's policies allowed many former Confederates to regain political power. . The film claims that it was "Based in Part on Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln . ?]J2Tw7@F VQ"EQ[?-p_' (E*@zEg* UWQ?-]B[zel}%&H&HR[l`l6$zU~_}s:P)}zVYg7/kxQUDkzd|gno@>nN;q{DG 5%Z. . Beyond this I do not agree that the policy of the parties are defined. SUMMARY On May 8, 1866, Thaddeus Stevens delivered this speech introducing the 14thAmendment in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the meantime, the freedmen would become more enlightened, and more fit to discharge the high duties of their new condition. Start your constitutional learning journey. Now color disqualifies a man from testifying in courts, or being tried in the same way as white men. Some answer, Your civil rights bill [the Civil Rights Act of 1866] secures the same things. That is partly true, but a law is repealable by a majority. stream presenting themselves from a recognized State possess the .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}The Candidates in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race, Sen. John Fetterman Wants to Talk About Depression, 6 Key Players in Donald Trumps Indictment, The Story of President Ulysses S. Grants Arrest, Dianne Feinstein: 10 Issues She Has Worked On, What We Know About Mitch McConnells Fall. But the. It means, as understood by honest Republicans, just this much, and no more: every man, no matter what his race or color; every earthly being who has an immortal soul, has an equal right to justice, honesty, and fair play with every other man; and the law should secure him these rights. governed by martial law. what its framers intended; and so as to secure perpetual In the States they form the great mass of the loyal men. On the result of the war depended the fate and ulterior condition of the contending parties. . Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). %PDF-1.5 We have broken the material shackles of four million slaves. He desires that the traitors (having sternly executed that most important leader, Rickety Weirze,7 as a high example) should be exempt from further fine, imprisonment, forfeiture, exile, or capital punishment, and be declared entitled to all the rights of loyal citizens. Of course the rebels claimed no such rights; for whether their States were out of the Union as they declared, or were disorganized and out of their proper relations to the Government, as some subtle metaphysicians contend, their rights under the Constitution had all been renounced and abjured under oath, and could not be resumed on their own mere motion. . Link couldn't be copied to clipboard! Are such men fit to sit in the places of statesmen? If it be just, it should not be denied; if it be necessary, it should be adopted; if it be a punishment to traitors, they deserve it. Many Southern states quickly passed what became known as the Black Codesrepressive laws that governed where and when freedmen could go, the conditions under which they would work, and the limits on their gathering together. It is obvious from all this that the first duty of But this is not all that we ought to do before 20072023 Blackpast.org. In this, Stevens was zealous, but well outside of the mainstream of Northern opinion, a fact that would shape the mixed record of accomplishment and frustration that followed. Congress is to pass a law declaring the condition of these Petition to US Congress for Womens Suffrage, President Andrew Jacksons Message to Congress On Indian Removal, Canada Bans Commercial Fishing in Lakes St. Clair and Erie, Great Britain Withdraws from the Concert of Europe. If the doctrine enunciated in that decision be true, never were the people of any country anywhere, or at any time, in such terrible peril as are our loyal brethren at the South, whether they be black or white, whether they go there from the North or are natives of the rebel States. But if full justice could not be obtained at once I would not refuse to do what is possible. Image Details The Joint Committee on Reconstruction, comprising members from the House and Senate, gathered testimony on conditions in the South from 144 witnesses. We have imposed upon them the privilege of fighting our battles, of dying in defense of freedom, and of bearing their equal portion of taxes; but where have we given them the privilege of ever participating in the formation of the laws for the government of their native land? On his tombstone were carved the words he had composed, explaining that he had chosen this place so that he might illustrate in death the principle he had advocated throughout a long life; namely, Equality of man before his Creator., United States politician and military officer. Now, you must divide them between loyalists, without regard to color, and disloyalists, or you will be the perpetual vassals of the free trade, irritated, revengeful South. Delivered only seven months after the war ended and on the same day that the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, went into effect, Stevens's speech represented the view of a group in Congress known as the Radical Republicans. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Thaddeus Stevens on the Great Topic of the Hour. They were expected to suggest a plan for rebuilding a shattered nationa nation which though not dissevered was yet shaken and riven by the gigantic and persistent efforts of six million able and ardent men; of bitter rebels striving through four years of bloody war. Congressional Globe, 39th Congress, 2nd session, Jan. 3 1867. My only objection to it is that it is too lenient. Any exception to this rule has been a work of grace in Congress by passing healing acts. . In failing health, Stevens requested that he be buried among Negroes resting in a cemetery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The states of the entire southern half of the nation had seceded, but they were again under federal jurisdiction after the Union victory. A few moments may be profitably spent in seeking the meaning of each of these terms. The day before the Pennsylvania Senate had voted to repeal this act, but Stevens' speech moved the state House to vote against repeal and the Senate to take another vote in support of free public schools. War out west has begun and it seems as the US may be drawn into conflict with its southern neighbors. . In the Reformation there were men engaged as able and perhaps more learned than Martin Luther. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Image Details The Joint Committee on Reconstruction proposed a constitutional amendment to address issues in Southern states. The first of those amendments is to change the basis of representation among the States from Federal numbers to actual voters. I am now confining my arguments to negro suffrage in the rebel States. The freedom of a Government does not depend upon the quality of its laws, but upon the power that has the right to enact them. The infernal laws of slavery have prevented them from The leader of the Radical Republicans in the House, Stevens was a lawyer, politician, and staunch abolitionist. After Stevens's death in 1868, the Freedmen's Bureau was chronically underfunded, and although many African Americans held political office in the reconstructed states, the power of the former Confederates rose again through terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan. describe a time when you were treated unfairly. In rebuilding, it is necessary to clear away the rotten and defective portions of the old foundations, and to sink deep and found the repaired edifice upon the firm foundation of eternal justice. This is a bill designed to enable loyal men, so far as I could discriminate them in these States, to form governments which shall be in loyal hands, that they may protect themselves from such outrages as I have mentioned. . . 3 which possibly now, on looking at it, I might deem intemperate, but which I then deemed necessary to rouse the public attention and cast odium upon the worst institution upon earth:. actual voters. . practice justice to all men, and accustom themselves to make In either case, it is very plain that it requires the action of Congress to enable I them to form a State government and send representatives to Congress. The veto of the President and their votes on the bill are conclusive evidence of that. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Popular interest in punishing or governing the South, as well as in ensuring justice for freedmen, waned, however, as Northerners prioritized a return to prosperity.