Rosenfeld Susan. Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents

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First. A summary of the state and condition of every

association from whom reports have been received the

preceding year, at the several dates to which such reports

refer, with an abstract of the whole amount of banking cap-

ital returned by them, of the whole amount of their debts

and liabilities, the amount of circulating notes outstanding,

and the total amount of means and resources, specifying

the amount of specie held by them at the times of their

several returns, and such other information in relation to

said associations as, in his judgment, may be useful.

Second. A statement of the associations whose busi-

ness has been closed during the year, with the amount of

their circulation redeemed, and the amount outstanding.

Third. To suggest any amendment to the laws relative

to banking by which the system may be improved, and the

security of the bill-holders and depositors may be

increased.

Fourth. To report the names and compensation of the

clerks employed by him, and the whole amount of the

expenses of the banking department during the year; and

such report shall be made by or before the first day of

December in each year, and the usual number of copies

for the use of the Senate and House, and one thousand

copies for the use of the Department, shall be printed by

the public printer and in readiness for distribution on the

first meeting of congress.

Sec. 61. And be it further enacted, That any banking

association or corporation lawfully in existence as a bank of

circulation on the first day of January, Anno Domini eigh-

teen hundred, and sixty-three, organized in any state,

either under a special act of incorporation or a general

banking law, may, at any time within—years after the pas-

sage of this act become an association under the provisions

of this act; that in such case the certificate of association

provided for by this act shall be signed by the directors of

such banking association or corporation, and in addition to

the specifications required by this act, shall specify that

such directors are authorized by the owners of two thirds

of the capital stock of such banking association or corpora-

tion, to make such certificate of association, and such cer-

tificate of association shall thereafter have the same effect,

and the same proceedings shall be had thereon, as is pro-

vided for as to other associations organized under this act.

And such association or corporation thereafter shall have

the same powers and privileges, and shall be subject to the

same duties, responsibilities, and rules, in all respects, as is

[are] prescribed in this act for other associations organized

under it, and shall be held and regarded as an association

under this act.

Sec. 62. And be it further enacted, That any bank or

banking association, authorized by any State law to engage

in the business of banking, and duly organized under such

State law at the time of the passage of this act, and which

shall be the holder and owner of United States bonds to

the amount of fifty per centum of its capital stock, may

transfer and deliver to the treasurer of the United States

such bonds, or any part thereof, in the manner provided by

this act; and upon making such transfer and delivery, such

bank or banking association shall be entitled to receive

from the comptroller of the currency, circulating notes, as

herein provided, equal in amount to eighty per centum of

the amount of the bonds so transferred and delivered.

Sec. 63. And be it further enacted, That upon the fail-

ure of any such State bank or banking association, to

redeem any of its circulating notes issued under the provi-

sions of the preceding section, the comptroller of the cur-

rency shall, when satisfied that such default has been

made, and within thirty days after notice of such default,

proceed to declare the bonds transferred and delivered to

the treasurer, forfeited to the United States, and the same

shall thereupon be forfeited accordingly. And thereupon

the circulating notes which have been issued by such bank

or banking association shall be redeemed and paid at the

treasury of the United States, in the same manner as other

circulating notes issued under the provisions of this act are

redeemed and paid.

Sec. 64. And be it further enacted, That the bonds for-

feited, as provided in the last preceding section, may be

cancelled to an amount equal to the circulating notes

redeemed and paid, or such bonds may be sold, under the

direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, and after retain-

ing out of the proceeds a sum sufficient to pay the whole

amount of circulating notes, for the redemption of which

such bonds are held, the surplus, if any remains, shall be

paid to the bank, or banking association from which such

bonds were received.

Sec. 65. And be it further enacted, That Congress

reserves the right, at any time, to amend, alter, or repeal

this act.

Source:

Statutes at Large,Vol. 12, pp. 665–682.

Charles Sumner, Speech on the

Presentation of the First Installment

of the Emancipation Petition of the

Woman’s National Loyal League, 1864

Text of a speech given by Senator Charles Sumner on February

9, 1864, to the United States Senate. In this speech, Sumner

presents a petition signed by 100,000 American citizens ask-

ing Congress to pass an act to emancipate slaves. The total

892 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

number of signatures are broken down by state and sex. The

petition had been circulated by the Women’s National Loyal

League, an organization founded by Susan B. Anthony and

Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1863 to fight slavery and work for

African-American rights.

Sumner opens his speech by pointing out the sheer size of

the petition, presented in rolls, with each roll representing the

signatures gathered in each state. He reads the text of the peti-

tion, noting that it is signed by both women and men. Declar-

ing that it asks “nothing less than universal emancipation,” he

notes that no grounds for this plea are given, because “the

prayer speaks for itself.” Sumner condemns slavery as the

cause of the Civil War and observes that Congress is the gov-

ernmental entity with the power to remedy the threat that slav-

ery poses to the nation. He concludes by noting the logic of

the petitioners’ appeal to Congress, to whom “belongs the pre-

rogative of the Roman Dictator to see that the Republic

receives no detriment.”

Soon after Sumner’s speech, on April 9, 1864, the Senate

passed the Thirteenth Amendment and abolished slavery by a

vote of 38 to 6. Although it took two attempts to pass the

House of Representatives, the amendment was ratified in

1865.

________________________

_______________________

In the Senate of the United States . . .

Mr. Sumner—Mr. President: I offer a petition which

is now lying on the desk before me. It is too bulky for me

to take up. I need not add that it is too bulky for any of the

pages of this body to carry.

This petition marks a stage of public opinion in the

history of slavery, and also in the suppression of the rebel-

lion. As it is short I will read it:

“To the Senate and House of Representatives of the

United States:

“The undersigned, women of the United States above

the age of eighteen years, earnestly pray that your honor-

able body will pass at the earliest practicable day an act

emancipating all persons of African descent held to invol-

untary service or labor in the United States.”

There is also a duplicate of this petition signed by

“men above the age of eighteen years.”

It will be perceived that the petition is in rolls. Each

roll represents a State. For instance, here is New York with

a list of seventeen thousand seven hundred and six names;

Illinois with fifteen thousand three hundred and eighty;

and Massachusetts with eleven thousand six hundred and

forty-one. These several petitions are consolidated into

one petition, being another illustration of the motto on our

coin—E pluribus unum.

This petition is signed by one hundred thousand men

and women, who unite in this unparalleled number to sup-

port its prayer. They are from all parts of the country and

from every condition of life. They are from the sea-board,

fanned by the free airs of the ocean, and from the Missis-

sippi and the prairies of the West, fanned by the free airs

which fertilize that extensive region. They are from the

families of the educated and uneducated, rich and poor, of

every profession, business, and calling in life, representing

every sentiment, thought, hope, passion, activity, intelli-

gence which inspires, strengthens, and adorns our social

system. Here they are, a mighty army, one hundred thou-

sand strong, without arms or banners; the advance-guard

of a yet larger army.

But though memorable for their numbers, these peti-

tioners are more memorable still for the prayer in which

they unite. They ask nothing less than universal emancipa-

tion; and this they ask directly at the hands of Congress.

No reason is assigned. The prayer speaks for itself. It is

simple, positive. So far as it proceeds from the women of

the country, it is naturally a petition, and not an argument.

But I need not remind the Senate that there is no reason

so strong as the reason of the heart. Do not all great

thoughts come from the heart?

It is not for me, on presenting this petition, to assign

reasons which the army of petitioners has forborne to

assign. But I may not improperly add that, naturally and

obviously, they all feel in their hearts, what reason and

knowledge confirm: not only that slavery as a unit, one and

indivisible, is the guilty origin of the rebellion, but that its

influence everywhere, even outside the rebel States, has

been hostile to the Union, always impairing loyalty, and

sometimes openly menacing the national government. It

requires no difficult logic to conclude that such a monster,

wherever it shows its head, is a national enemy, to be pur-

sued and destroyed as such, or at least a nuisance to the

national cause to be abated as such. The petitioners know

well that Congress is the depository of those supreme pow-

ers by which the rebellion, alike in its root and in its distant

offshoots, may be surely crushed, and by which unity and

peace may be permanently secured. They know well that

the action of Congress may be with the co-operation of the

slave-masters, or even without the co-operation, under the

overruling law of military necessity, or the commanding

precept of the Constitution “to guarantee to every State a

Republican form of government.” Above all, they know

well that to save the country from peril, especially to save

the national life, there is no power, in the ample arsenal of

self-defense, which Congress may not grasp; for to

Congress, under the Constitution, belongs the prerogative

of the Roman Dictator to see that the Republic receives no

detriment. Therefore to Congress these petitioners now

appeal. I ask the reference of the petition to the Select

Committee on Slavery and Freedmen.

The Civil War Years 893

*State. Men. Women. Total.

New York 6,519 11,187 17,706

Illinois 6,382 8,998 15,380

Massachusetts 4,248 7,392 11,641

Pennsylvania 2,259 6,366 8,625

Ohio 3,676 4,654 8,330

Michigan 1,741 4,441 6,182

Iowa 2,025 4,014 6,039

Maine 1,225 4,362 5,587

Wisconsin 1,639 2,391 4,030

Indiana 1,075 2,591 3,666

New Hampshire 393 2,261 2,654

New Jersey 824 1,709 2,533

Rhode Island 827 1,451 2,278

Vermont 375 1,183 1,558

Connecticut 393 1,162 1,555

Minnesota 396 1,094 1,490

West Virginia 82 100 182

Maryland 115 50 165

Kansas 84 74 158

Delaware 67 70 137

Nebraska 13 20 33

Kentucky 21 21

Louisiana

(New Orleans) 14 14

Citizens of the

U.S. living in

New Brunswick 19 17 36

34,399 65,601 100,000

See also

RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS

, 1865, 1868, 1870.

Source:

Elizabeth Frost and Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, Women’s Suffrage

in America: An Eyewitness History. New York: Facts On

File, Inc., 1992.

Nancy Emerson, Civil War Diary of a

Southern Woman, 1864

Born in 1807 in Massachusetts, Nancy Emerson lived with

her brother Luther Emerson and his family in Augusta

County, Virginia. Luther, a minister at Shemeriah Presbyterian

Church in Augusta County, Virginia, was relatively prosper-

ous. A strong supporter of the Confederacy, Nancy Emerson

believed that the Civil War was divine punishment against

Northern abolitionists. The excerpts below describe a Union

raid of the Emerson’s town on June 9 and 10, 1864. The

bracketed words were placed in the narrative by the diary’s

editor.

________________________

_______________________

July 9, [1864]

* * *

But I commenced with the intention of telling a story

about some Yankee raiders. We have often had alarms

about their coming but have been preserved by a kind

Providence until this season. Not long since, they favored

us with two visits which will not soon be forgotten in these

parts. The first day, they came in from the West, across the

mountain. A party of 40 or 50 perhaps, came riding up, dis-

mounted & rushed in. “Have you got any whiskey” said

they, “got any flour? got any bacon?”. . . “Come on boys,”

says one, “we’ll find it all.” With that, they pushed rudely

by Sister C. who was terribly alarmed, & had been from

the first news of their coming, & spread them selves nearly

all over the house. Finding their way to a fine barrel of

flour which a neighbor had given us, they proceeded to fill

their sacks & pillow cases, scattering a large percent on the

floor, till it was nearly exhausted. The last one told us, on

our remonstrating, to hide the rest.

Some went upstairs, opened every trunk & drawer &

tossed things upside down or on the floor, even my nice

bonnets, pretending to be looking for arms. They stole’s

gold sleeve buttons & pin (a present to him) his best shirt,

a good coat, & pair of shoes. The shoes, it being nearly

impossible to get shoes these days, he afterwards per-

suaded the fellow to sell him back for an Ohio ten dollar

note, as good as gold to him. He could with a much better

appetite doubtless have knocked him down, but there was

no choice in the matter.

We did not say anything to provoke them, but did not

disguise our sentiments. They went peeping under the

beds, looking for rebels as they said. told them there were

no rebels here (meaning rebel soldiers) spoke & said We

are all rebels. spoke & said “Yes, I am a rebel.” The Yan-

kee looked [up] from her drawer, which he [was] search-

ing just then, & said “That’s right.” Then said, “I am a

rebel too & I glory in it.” When Sister C. remonstrated

with them about taking the shoes, asking them why they

injured innocent persons who had taken no part in the

war, one of them replied, “You need not tell me that, I

know all the people along here have sons in the army.”

She then pointed to B & said “That is my only son.” Then

said, “I have no brothers in the army, I wish from my heart

I had.” He then said, “Now Sis, I don’t wish you had

brothers in the army. I wouldn’t like to kill one of your

brothers. I got some corn here.” (pointing to his plunder)

An officer rode up after the rest had gone having the

appearance of a gentleman, & asked civilly if he could get

some flour. Sister C. telling [him] how they had stripped

894 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

us of nearly every thing they could find, said he could go

& see what they had left, & help himself. He said no, he

never had searched a house & never would, & it was a

shame they should [do so.]

That night they camped [away] a mile or two from us,

extending along the road two or three miles, & got a fine

supper from the farms around them. Sister C. was afraid to

undress, but lay down quite exhausted two or three hours

in the night. kept watch the first part of the night, & the

last. E soon called to him, “I hear footsteps.” He went out

& saw some coming up the road with a torch. Thinking

they might be coming to burn the house, he came to our

door, saying we had better have something ready to throw

around us if we should be called out for any reason [tak-

ing care not to alarm us]. But our fears were groundless.

They started off in the night for Staunton where there

were several thousand of them. Our visitors belonged to’s

[command]

July 13, [1864] They told us that men were a great deal

worse than they, & that was true, but they were bad

enough & worse at some other places than with us. At one

of our neighbors, they took every thing they had to eat, all

the pillow cases & sheets but what were on the beds, & the

towels & some of the ladies stockings. One of them made

up a bundle of ladies clothing to take, but his comrade

shamed him out of it. They then poured out their

molasses, scattered their preserves & sugar & other things

about the floor, & mixed them all together & destroyed

things generally.

The ladies there are very amiable & genteel in their

[appearance] which makes it the more strange. Their vis-

itors as well as ours however had taken a drop too much.

This gentleman had kept some things for sale of late,

had a quantity of tobacco & some other things on hand,

all which they took to the amount of several thousand

dollars.

At another neighbors, they took all of their meat

(some 30 pieces of bacon) & nearly everything else they

had to eat, all their horses (4) & persuaded off their two

negro men. One of these was afterwards seen by one of our

men crying to come back, but was watched so closely that

he could not escape. No wonder he cried. He has been

twice on the brink of the grave with pneumonia, & was

nursed by his mistress as tenderly as if he had been a

brother, & she was always kind to him, his master also. He

will not find such treatment anywhere.

The Yankees (I give them this appellation be cause

every body else does) took off all the negro men & boys

they could, as well as all the horses, told the women they

would take them next time they came. Many sent their

horses to the woods. Some of these were found & cap-

tured. People here do their farming with horses instead of

oxen, & it is an immense loss to have them & the servants

swept off to such an extent, just as harvest is about to begin

too. Many sent off their servants in one direction &

another, some of whom were overtaken & captured & oth-

ers escaped.

The lady before mentioned has told me since that no

tongue can tell her feelings the day the Yankees were

there. In the first place, they fired on her little son &

another boy several times, as they sat on the fence watch-

ing their approach, & afterwards pretended that they took

them for confederate soldiers from their being dressed

in gray. Then her husband & oldest son were hid in the

bushes in the garden, & she was in momentary fear of

their being discovered & fired upon. The men & boys

always kept out of the way, as they were sometimes taken

off, & did not know what treat ment they might receive,

& thus the women were left to shift for themselves as best

they could. Another of our neighbors was fired upon sev-

eral times until he either dropped or lay down, it was not

known which. They said it was because he ran, but he was

passing between their pickets & ours, who were firing at

each other, & was obliged to run. We heard of the cir-

cumstance, & were very uneasy, but he providentially

escaped injury. They always fire upon those who run from

them.

July 15, 1864 Those who left their houses fared worse

than others, at least their houses did. The wife of a wor-

thy miller living near us, became so much alarmed that

went with her little children to a neighbors’. They

stripped her house completely, destroying everything, left

nothing but a straw bed & one sheet. It was a hard case,

for it was with difficulty that Mr. H. with his large family,

could get along before. Another lady who was alone, was

so much frightened by a drunken soldier who came in,

that she left the house. The Yankees destroyed every

thing there too.

We were better off than most in having Cousin S with

us. We feared they would take him, but they only inquired

if he was a soldier, & when told that he was a teacher, did

not molest him. He had a large school (upwards of 40) &

had refused many more applications. It was nearly out at

that time, & was closed abruptly because parents liked to

stay at home & keep their children with them. He was the

chief man in hiding our things. I know not wha[t] we

should have done without him. Some hid their things &

had them discovered but we were more fortunate . (Some

were betrayed by their servants) Some hid nothing, think-

ing they would not be disturbed but found themselves

woefully mistaken. Others thought they might be worse

dealt [with] if they hid anything.

The Civil War Years 895

A lady near Staunton a little time since had two Yan-

kee officers come to take tea with her. She was strong

“secesh,” but she got them a good sup per . It was served

up in very plain dishes. They perceived that she was

wealthy, & inquired if she had not hid her plate &c. She

told them she had. They asked where. She told them in the

ash heap. They said “That is not a good place. It is the first

place searched.” They then very kindly & politely showed

her a good place (in their opinion) She followed their

advice & saved her things. In another instance, some Yan-

kee officers politely showed a lady where to hide her

[illeg.] silver &c. The soldiers came & searched in vain.

Just as they were going away, a little black chap who had

followed them around says to them in a tone of triumph,

“Ah you did not find Missis things hid inside the ____”

They went & found & took them.

Source:

The American Civil War. The Diary of Nancy Emerson: An

American Civil War Woman. Available on-line. URL: www.

geocities.com/Athens/Colum/1122/CVWRDRY2.htm.

Accessed December 2003.

Wade-Davis Bill, 1864

Severe reconstruction plan passed by Congress on July 2,

1864, that provided for the governmental reorganization of a

seceded state only after a majority of white male citizens had

taken an oath of allegiance to the Union and after a constitu-

tion acceptable to the president and Congress had been

adopted. The bill was sponsored by Senator Benjamin F. Wade

of Ohio and Representative Henry W. Davis of Maryland and

was supported by other Radical Republicans, who believed

that reconstruction was a congressional function. When Lin-

coln refused to sign the bill, killing it by pocket veto on July 4,

1864, its sponsors issued the Wade-Davis Manifesto, attacking

the president’s “studied outrage” and defiance of congres-

sional authority. The manifesto, possibly the harshest criticism

of Lincoln coming from fellow Republicans, appeared in the

New York Tribune

on August 5, 1864.

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To guarantee to certain States whose governments have been

usurped or overthrown a republican form of government.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That in the States declared in rebellion against the

United States the President shall, by and with the advice

and consent of the Senate, appoint for each a provisional

governor, whose pay and emoluments shall not exceed that

of a brigadier-general of volunteers, who shall be charged

with the civil administration of such State until a State

government therein shall be recognized as hereinafter

provided.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the

military resistance to the United States shall have been

suppressed in any such State and the people thereof shall

have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Con-

stitution and the laws of the United States the provisional

governor shall direct the marshal of the United States, as

speedily as may be, to name a sufficient number of

deputies, and to enroll all white male citizens of the United

States resident in the State in their respective counties,

and to request each one to take the oath to support the

Constitution of the United States, and in his enrollment to

designate those who take and those who refuse to take that

oath, which rolls shall be forthwith returned to the provi-

sional governor; and if the persons taking that oath shall

amount to a majority of the persons enrolled in the State,

he shall, by proclamation, invite the loyal people of the

State to elect delegates to a convention charged to declare

the will of the people of the State relative to the reestab-

lishment of a State government, subject to and in confor-

mity with the Constitution of the United States.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the convention

shall consist of as many members as both houses of the last

constitutional State legislature, apportioned by the provi-

sional governor among the counties, parishes, or districts

of the State, in proportion to the white population

returned as electors by the marshal in compliance with the

provisions of this act. The provisional governor shall, by

proclamation, declare the number of delegates to be

elected by each county, parish, or election district; name a

day of election not less than thirty days thereafter; desig-

nate the places of voting in each county, parish, or district,

conforming as nearly as may be convenient to the places

used in the State elections next preceding the rebellion;

appoint one or more commissioners to hold the election at

each place of voting, and provide an adequate force to

keep the peace during the election.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the delegates

shall be elected by the loyal white male citizens of the

United States of the age of 21 years, and resident at the

time in the county, parish, or district in which they shall

offer to vote, and enrolled as aforesaid, or absent in the

military service of the United States, and who shall take

and subscribe the oath of allegiance to the United States

in the form contained in the act of Congress of July 2,

1862; and all such citizens of the United States who are

in the military service of the United States shall vote at

the headquarters of their respective commands, under

such regulations as may be prescribed by the provisional

896 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

governor for the taking and return of their votes; but no

person who has held or exercised any office, civil or mil-

itary, State or Confederate, under the rebel usurpation,

or who has voluntarily borne arms against the United

States, shall vote or be eligible to be elected as delegate

at such election.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said com-

missioners, or either of them, shall hold the election in

conformity with this act, and, so far as may be consistent

therewith, shall proceed in the manner used in the State

prior to the rebellion. The oath of allegiance shall be

taken and subscribed on the poll book by every voter in

the form above prescribed, but every person known by or

proved to the commissioners to have held or exercised any

office, civil or military, State or Confederate, under the

rebel usurpation, or to have voluntarily borne arms

against the United States, shall be excluded though he

offer to take the oath; and in case any person who shall

have borne arms against the United States shall offer to

vote, he shall be deemed to have borne arms voluntarily

unless he shall prove the contrary by the testimony of a

qualified voter. The poll book, showing the name and oath

of each voter, shall be returned to the provisional gover-

nor by the commissioners of election, or the one acting,

and the provisional governor shall canvass such returns

and declare the person having the highest number of

votes elected.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the provisional

governor shall, by proclamation, convene the delegates

elected as aforesaid at the capital of the State on a day not

more than three months after the election, giving at least

thirty days’ notice of such day. In case the said capital shall

in his judgment be unfit, he shall in his proclamation

appoint another place. He shall preside over the delibera-

tions of the convention and administer to each delegate,

before taking his seat in the convention, the oath of alle-

giance to the United States in the form above prescribed.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the convention

shall declare on behalf of the people of the State their sub-

mission to the Constitution and laws of the United States,

and shall adopt the following provisions, hereby prescribed

by the United States in the execution of the constitutional

duty to guarantee a republican form of government to

every State, and incorporate them in the constitution of

the State; that is to say:

First. No person who has held or exercised any office,

civil or military (except offices merely ministerial and mil-

itary offices below the grade of colonel), State or Confed-

erate, under the usurping power, shall vote for or be a

member of the legislature or governor.

Second. Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited,

and the freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State.

Third. No debt, State or Confederate, created by or

under the sanction of the usurping power shall be recog-

nized or paid by the State.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That when the con-

vention shall have adopted those provisions it shall pro-

ceed to reestablish a republican form of government and

ordain a constitution containing those provisions, which,

when adopted, the convention shall by ordinance provide

for submitting to the people of the State entitled to vote

under this law, at an election to be held in the manner pre-

scribed by the act for the election of delegates, but at a

time and place named by the convention, at which election

the said electors, and none others, shall vote directly for or

against such constitution and form of State government.

And the returns of said election shall be made to the pro-

visional governor, who shall canvass the same in the pres-

ence of the electors, and if a majority of the votes cast shall

be for the constitution and form of government, he shall

certify the same, with a copy thereof, to the President of

the United States, who, after obtaining the assent of

Congress, shall, by proclamation, recognize the govern-

ment so established, and none other, as the constitutional

government of the State; and from the date of such recog-

nition, and not before, Senators and Representatives and

electors for President and Vice-President may be elected

in such State, according to the laws of the State and of the

United States.

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That if the conven-

tion shall refuse to reestablish the State government on

the conditions aforesaid the provisional governor shall

declare it dissolved; but it shall be the duty of the Presi-

dent, whenever he shall have reason to believe that a suf-

ficient number of the people of the State entitled to vote

under this act, in number not less than a majority of those

enrolled as aforesaid, are willing to reestablish a State

government on the conditions aforesaid, to direct the pro-

visional governor to order another election of delegates to

a convention for the purpose and in the manner pre-

scribed in this act, and to proceed in all respects as here-

inbefore provided, either to dissolve the convention or to

certify the State government reestablished by it to the

President.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That until the

United States shall have recognized a republican form of

State government the provisional governor in each of

said States shall see that this act and the laws of the

United States and the laws of the State in force when the

State government was overthrown by the rebellion are

faithfully executed within the State; but no law or usage

whereby any person was heretofore held in involuntary

servitude shall be recognized or enforced by any court

or officer in such State; and the laws for the trial and

The Civil War Years 897

punishment to white persons shall extend to all persons,

and jurors shall have the qualifications of voters under

this law for delegates to the convention. The President

shall appoint such officer provided for by the laws of

the State when its government was overthrown as he

may find necessary to the civil administration of the

State, all which officers shall be entitled to receive the

fees and emoluments provided by the State laws for such

officers.

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That until the

recognition of a State government as aforesaid the provi-

sional governor shall, under such regulations as he may

prescribe, cause to be assessed, levied, and collected, for

the year 1864 and every year thereafter, the taxes pro-

vided by the laws of such State to be levied during the fis-

cal year preceding the overthrow of the State government

thereof, in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State,

as nearly as may be; and the officers appointed as afore-

said are vested with all powers of levying and collecting

such taxes, by distress or sale, as were vested in any offi-

cers or tribunal of the State government aforesaid for

those purposes. The proceeds of such taxes shall be

accounted for to the provisional governor and be by him

applied to the expenses of the administration of the laws

in such State, subject to the direction of the President,

and the surplus shall be deposited in the Treasury of the

United States to the credit of such State, to be paid to the

State upon an appropriation therefor to be made when a

republican form of government shall be recognized

therein by the United States.

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That all persons

held to involuntary servitude or labor in the States afore-

said are hereby emancipated and discharged therefrom,

and they and their posterity shall be forever free. And if

any such persons or their posterity shall be restrained of

liberty under pretense of any claim to such service or labor,

the courts of the United States shall, on habeas corpus, dis-

charge them.

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That if any person

declared free by this act, or any law of the United States or

any proclamation of the President, be restrained of liberty

with intent to be held in or reduced to involuntary servi-

tude or labor, the person convicted before a court of com-

petent jurisdiction of such act shall be punished by fine of

not less than $1,500 and be imprisoned not less than five

nor more than twenty years.

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That every person

who shall hereafter hold or exercise any office, civil or mil-

itary (except offices merely ministerial and military offices

below the grade of colonel), in the rebel service, State or

Confederate, is hereby declared not to be a citizen of the

United States.

Source:

James D. Richardson, ed. A Compilation of the Messages and

Papers of the Presidents, 1789–1897. Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1899, pp. 223–226.

U.S. Army, Treatment of

Black POWs, 1864

“The issues of emancipation and military service were inter-

twined from the onset of the Civil War. News from Fort

Sumter set off a rush by free black men to enlist in U.S. mili-

tary units. They were turned away, however, because a

Federal law dating from 1792 barred Negroes from bearing

arms for the U.S. Army (although they had served in the

American Revolution and in the War of 1812). In Boston dis-

appointed would-be volunteers met and passed a resolution

requesting that the government modify its laws to permit their

enlistment.

. . . By mid-1862, however, the escalating number of

former slaves (contrabands), the declining number of white

volunteers, and the increasingly pressing personnel needs of

the Union Army pushed the Government into reconsidering

the ban.

“. . . After the Union Army turned back Lee’s first invasion

of the North at Antietam, MD, and the Emancipation Procla-

mation was subsequently announced, black recruitment was

pursued in earnest. Volunteers from South Carolina, Ten-

nessee, and Massachusetts filled the first authorized black reg-

iments. Recruitment was slow until black leaders such as

Frederick Douglass encouraged black men to become soldiers

to ensure eventual full citizenship. . . . Volunteers began to

respond, and in May 1863 the Government established the

Bureau of Colored Troops to manage the burgeoning numbers

of black soldiers.

“By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men

(10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army

and another 19,000 served in the Navy. [Blacks also served in

the Confederate forces although rarely in a combat capacity.]

Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war—

30,000 of infection or disease. Black soldiers served in artillery

and infantry and performed all noncombat support functions

that sustain an army, as well. Black carpenters, chaplains,

cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots,

surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause.

There were nearly 80 black commissioned officers. Black

women, who could not formally join the Army, nonetheless

served as nurses, spies, and scouts, the most famous being

Harriet Tubman, of Underground Railroad fame, who scouted

for the 2d South Carolina Volunteers.”

African Americans were placed in segregated units usu-

ally commanded by white officers and black noncommis-

898 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

sioned officers. “Black soldiers were discriminated against in

other ways as well. Initially paid $10 per month, from which

$3 was automatically deducted for clothing, resulting in a net

pay of $7. In contrast, white soldiers received $13 per month,

from which no clothing allowance was drawn.” In June 1864

Congress granted equal pay to the U.S. Colored Troops and

made the action retroactive. Black soldiers received the same

rations and supplies. In addition, they received comparable

medical care.

“The black troops, however, faced greater peril than white

troops when captured by the Confederate army. In 1863 the

Confederate Congress threatened to punish severely officers of

black troops and to enslave black soldiers. As a result, Presi-

dent Lincoln issued General Order 233, threatening reprisal

on Confederate prisoners of war (POWs) for any mistreatment

of black troops.” The document reproduced here echoes that

order. It concerns Private Wilson Wood of the 6th U.S. Colored

Heavy Artillery who was captured July 22, 1864, by Confed-

erate forces and held in a prison camp. The letter from the

commanding officer, William P. Hardeman, alerting Union

forces to Wood’s capture reinforced Confederate policies

toward African American prisoners.

Although black units were not used extensively in com-

bat, African-American soldiers served with distinction in a

number of battles including Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana; Port

Hudson, Louisiana; Petersburg, Virginia; and Nashville, Ten-

nessee. The July 1863 assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina,

in which the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers lost

two-thirds of their officers and half of their troops provided the

story for the movie

Glory

. By war’s end, 16 black soldiers had

been awarded the Medal of Honor for their valor.

________________________

_______________________

Head-Quarters United States Forces, Natchez, Miss.

July 31st 1864

Lieut. Col. L. A. McCaleb

Com’dg Vidalia-La

Sir:

I have through you this day the communication of Col.

Wm. P. Hardeman, Com’dg rebel forces at Trinity, La., in

reply to your inquiry concerning the treatment of Private

Wilson of your command, captured by the enemy on the

22nd instant.

Please advise him in reply that when the Government

of the United States made negroes soldiers it assumed

towards them the same obligations as were due to any

other who might wear its uniform and bear its flag.

The honest, patriotic negro, who though of an

oppressed race, and lowly condition, with few memories of

past blessings to inspire him, gives his service and offers

his life in defense of good government is in the judgment

of his God and humanity, more than the peer of the man

who, while enjoying the protection of that Government

and crowned with its benefactions, would destroy it.

As the matter is understood by me, the Government

will, for every black soldier reduced to slavery, put a rebel

soldier in like condition and will, for every violation of the

usages of war respecting these men, exact ample retaliation.

Respectfully,

Yours, &c.

(signed) J. M. Brayman

Brig. Gen. Com’g.

See also

CONFEDERATE CONGRESS

ACT TO INCREASE THE

MILITARY FORCE OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES

, 1865.

Source:

NARA: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Digital Classroom: “The Fight for Equal Rights: Black sol-

diers in the Civil War.” Available on-line. URL: www.

archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/blacks_in_civil_war/

blacks_in_civil_war.html. The introduction to this document

also comes from the NARA website.

Confederate Congress,

Act to Increase the Military Force of

the Confederate States, 1865

Also known as the Negro Soldier Act, this act superceded the

Confederate Conscription Act, passed February 17, 1864. It

authorized slaves and free blacks to serve as armed soldiers in

the Confederate army, and to receive the same benefits and

treatment as “other troops in the same branch of the service.”

The act also authorized President Jefferson Davis to draft a

total of 300,000 slaves into the Confederate army by calling

on the Confederate states to enlist up to 25 percent of their

male slave populations. The act was not an order of emanci-

pation; it declared that slaves will remain slaves at the discre-

tion of their owners.

At the onset of the Civil War, a small number of free black

volunteers were employed as armed soldiers, but as the Con-

federate army became more organized, they were relegated to

duties such as digging canals, trenches, and graves. In Febru-

ary of 1864, President Jefferson Davis issued the Confederate

Conscription Act, drafting all free blacks, and up to 20,000

slaves, for employment by the Confederate army. Slaves were

put to work digging trenches and canals, and building batter-

ies and fortifications. Others acted as ambulance drivers, hos-

pital workers, cooks, horse drivers, lumberjacks, foragers,

servants, and gravediggers. According to the act, slave owners

were to be compensated for their slaves’ work and, in the

The Civil War Years 899

event of a slave’s death, reimbursed for the net worth of that

worker. Following later consignment orders, it is estimated that

the Confederate army eventually obtained the employment of

more than 500,000 slaves

When the fighting grew intense, some Confederates sug-

gested converting the slaves into soldiers, but far more worried

that armed slaves would revolt. The opinion of Major General

Howell Cobb explains why most Confederates were reluctant

to arm the slave population: “I think the proposition to make

soldiers of our slaves is the most pernicious idea that has been

suggested since the war began . . . The moment you resort to

negro [sic] soldiers your white soldiers will be lost to you. The

day you make soldiers of them is the beginning of the end of

the revolution. If slaves will make good soldiers our whole the-

ory of slavery is wrong.”

Only in the last year of the war did Confederate leaders

begin to seriously consider using slaves as soldiers. Confeder-

ate forces were losing the war—they had suffered major

defeats at the battles of Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Nashville.

In addition to their military losses, the army’s lack of supplies

and failing morale made desertion a serious problem. Desper-

ate to replenish its army, the Confederate Congress passed the

act authorizing the arming of slaves. Less than one month

later, on April 9, 1865, the Civil War came to an end.

________________________

_______________________

Whereas, the efficiency of the Army is greatly diminished

by the withdrawal from the ranks of able-bodied soldiers to

act as teamsters, and in various other capacities in which

free negroes and slaves might be advantageously

employed: Therefore,

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do

enact, That all male free negroes and other free persons of

color, not including those who are free under the treaty of

Paris of eighteen hundred and three, or under the treaty

with Spain of eighteen hundred and nineteen, resident in

the Confederate States, between the ages of eighteen and

fifty years, shall be held liable to perform such duties with

the army, or in connection with the military defenses of the

country, in the way of work upon fortifications or in Gov-

ernment works for the production or preparation of mate-

rial of war, or in military hospitals, as the Secretary of War

or the commanding general of the Trans-Mississippi

Department may, from time to time, prescribe, and while

engaged in the performance of such duties shall receive

rations and clothing and compensation at the rate of

eleven dollars a month. . . .

SEC. 2. That the Secretary of War is hereby autho-

rized to employ for duties similar to those indicated in the

preceding section of this act, as many male negro slaves,

not to exceed twenty thousand, as in his judgment, the

wants of the service may require, furnishing them, while so

employed, with proper rations and clothing, under rules

and regulations to be established by him, and paying to the

owners of said slaves such wages as may be agreed upon

with said owners for their use and service, and in the event

of the loss of any slaves while so employed, by the act of

the enemy, or by escape to the enemy, or by death inflicted

by the enemy, or by disease contracted while in any service

required of said slaves, then the owners of the same shall

be entitled to receive the full value of such slaves. . . .

SEC. 3. That when the Secretary of War shall be

unable to procure the service of slaves in any military

department in sufficient numbers for the necessities of the

Department, upon the terms and conditions set forth in

the preceding section, then he is hereby authorized to

impress the services of as many male slaves, not to exceed

twenty thousand, as may be required, from time to time, to

discharge the duties indicated in the first section of this act

. . . Provided, That if the owner have but one male slave

between the age of eighteen and fifty, he shall not be

impressed against the will of said owner: Provided further,

That free negroes shall be first impressed, and if there

should be a deficiency, it shall be supplied by the impress-

ment of slaves according to the foregoing provisions: Pro-

vided further, That in making the impressment, not more

than one of every five male slaves between the ages of

eighteen and forty-five shall be taken from any owner. . . .

Source:

Dorothy Schneider and Carl J. Schneider. An Eyewitness His-

tory: Slavery in America From Colonial Times to the Civil

War. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000.

Abraham Lincoln,

Second Inaugural Address, 1865

Speech delivered on March 4, 1865, by Abraham Lincoln at

his second presidential inauguration, outlining a philosophy of

reconstruction as the U.S. Civil War (1861–65) drew to a

close. The president appealed to the nation for a spirit of for-

giveness, for a peace without hatred. In his famous and elo-

quent closing, Lincoln said, “With malice toward none, with

charity for all . . . let us strive on to finish the work we are in,

to bind up the nation’s wounds . . . to do all which may

achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our-

selves and with all nations.” Although Lincoln saw the end

of the Civil War, he did not live to implement his plans for

reconstruction.

________________________

_______________________

Fellow-Countrymen:

At this second appearing to take the oath of the Pres-

idential office there is less occasion for an extended

900 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

address than there was at the first. Then a statement some-

what in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and

proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which

public declarations have been constantly called forth on

every point and phase of the great contest which still

absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the

nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress

of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well

known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reason-

ably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for

the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago

all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil

war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inau-

gural address was being delivered from this place, devoted

altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent

agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—

seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negoti-

ation. Both parties depreciated war, but one of them would

make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other

would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war

came.

One-eighth of the whole population were colored

slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but local-

ized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a

peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest

was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpet-

uate, and extend this interest was the object for which the

insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the

Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict

the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected

for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has

already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the

conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself

should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a

result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the

same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes

His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men

should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their

bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge

not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not

be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The

Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world

because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses

come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.”

If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those

offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs

come, but which, having continued through His appointed

time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both

North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those

by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any

departure from those divine attributes which the believers

in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope,

fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may

speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until

all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and

fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every

drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another

drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years

ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are

true and righteous altogether.”

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with

firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us

strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up nation’s

wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle

and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may

achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our-

selves and with all nations.

Source:

Landmark Documents in American History, Facts On File, Inc.

Surrender Terms at

Appomattox Court House, 1865

Terms governing surrender in the Civil War of the Confeder-

acy’s Army of Northern Virginia. Victorious Union general

Ulysses S. Grant presented the terms to surrendering Confed-

erate general Robert E. Lee on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox

Court House, Virginia. They arranged for the immediate dis-

position of Confederate arms and property, permitting officers

to retain their sidearms and horses. Lee’s officers were

required to pledge themselves and the men under their com-

mand not to take up arms against the U.S. government pend-

ing the war’s conclusion. All of Lee’s soldiers were to be

allowed to return to their homes undisturbed by federal

authority, provided that they abided by their pledge against

insurrection. Lee composed a letter accepting Grant’s terms.

The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, the bulwark of

the Confederate military effort, spelled the effective end of the

Civil War.

________________________

_______________________

Appomattox C. H., Va. Apr. 9th, 1865.

Gen. R. E. Lee, “Comd. C.S.A.

Gen.

In accordance with the substance of my letter to you

of the 8th instant I propose to receive the surrender of the

Army of N. Va. on the following terms, to-wit:

Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in dupli-

cate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me,

the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you

may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles

The Civil War Years 901