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secure separate accommodations for the white and colored

races, no person or persons shall be permitted to occupy

seats in cars or compartments other than the ones assigned

to them on account of the race they belong to.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, etc., That the officers of

such street cars shall have power and are hereby required

to assign each passenger to the car or compartment used

for the race to which such passenger belongs; any passen-

ger insisting upon going into a car or compartment to

which by race he or she does not belong shall be liable to

a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), or in lieu thereof be

imprisoned for a period of not more than thirty (30) days

in the parish prison, and any officer of any street railway

insisting on assigning a passenger to a car or compartment

other than the one set aside for the race to which said pas-

senger belongs, shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five dol-

lars ($25.00), or in lieu thereof, to imprisonment for a

period of not more than thirty (30) days in the parish

prison; and should any passenger refuse to occupy the car

or compartment to which he or she is assigned by the offi-

cer of such street railway, said officer shall have the power

to refuse to carry such passenger on his car or cars, and for

such refusal neither he nor the street railway company

which he represents shall be liable for damages in any of

the courts of this State.

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, etc., That all officers and

directors of street railway companies that shall refuse or

neglect to comply with the provisions and requirements of

this act shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and shall

upon conviction before any court of competent jurisdiction

be fined not less than one hundred ($100.00) dollars, or be

imprisoned in the parish jail not less than sixty (60) days

and not more than six (6) months; and any conductor or

other employee of such street car having charge of the

same, who shall refuse or neglect to carry out the provi-

sions of this act shall, on conviction be fined not less than

twenty-five ($25.00) dollars, or be imprisoned in the parish

jail for not less than ten (10) days, nor more than thirty (30)

days for each and every offense. All street railway corpora-

tions carrying passengers in this State shall keep this law

posted up in a conspicuous place in each and every car and

at their transfer stations; provided that nothing in this act

shall be construed as applying to nurses attending children

of the other race.

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, etc., That all laws or

parts of laws contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions

of this act, be and the same are hereby repealed and that

this act shall take effect and be in full force ninety (90)

days after its promulgation.

Source:

Acts Passed by the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana,

1902, pp. 89–90.

________________________

_______________________

Louisiana Act 87 of 1908

An Act

To make concubinage between a person of the Caucasian

race and a person of the negro race a felony, fixing the pun-

ishment therefor and defining what shall constitute concu-

binage.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the

State of Louisiana. That concubinage between a person of

the Caucasian or white race and a person of the negro or

black race is hereby made a felony, and whoever shall be

convicted thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction

shall for each offense be sentenced to imprisonment at the

discretion of the court for a term of not less than one month

nor more than one year with or without hard labor.

Section 2. Be it further enacted, etc., That the living

together or cohabitation of persons of the Caucasian and of

the negro races shall be proof of the violation of the provi-

sion of Section 1 of this Act. For the purpose of this Act

concubinage is hereby defined to be the unlawful co-habi-

tation of person of the Caucasian and of the negro races

whether open or secret.

Section 3. Be it further enacted, etc., That it shall be

the duty of the judges of the several district courts of this

State to specially charge the grand juries upon this Act.

Section 4. Be it further enacted, etc., That all laws and

parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act be

and the same are hereby repealed.

________________________

_______________________

Louisiana Act 176 of 1908

An Act

To regulate and license the business of conducting a bar-

room, cabaret, coffee house, cafe, beer saloon, liquor

exchange, drinking saloon, grog shop, beer house, beer gar-

den or other place where alcoholic or spirituous, vinous

and malt liquors or intoxicating beverages, bitters or

medicinal preparations of any kind are sold, directly or

indirectly, in quantities of less than five gallons, and to pro-

vide penalties for violations of this Act; to limit the effect

and operation of this Act to cities, towns, villages and

parishes of the State of Louisiana where the sale of liquor

is permitted; to prevent this act from affecting, modifying,

amending or repealing any local option laws; or from inter-

fering with or preventing the exercise of local option on the

liquor traffic; to prevent this Act from affecting, modifying,

amending or repealing any existing special or local Act or

Acts prohibiting or restricting the sale of liquor from or

within any locality or localities in this State . . .

922 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

Section 5. Be it further enacted, etc., That hereafter

no license as a retail liquor dealer or as a retail malt and

vinous liquor dealer shall be issued to any woman; and no

woman or girl, or minor, shall serve in any barroom,

cabaret, coffee house, cafe, beer saloon, liquor exchange,

drinking saloon, grog shop, beer house or beer garden.

Section 6. Be it further enacted, etc., That hereafter it

shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, con-

ducting a barroom, cabaret, coffee house, cafe, beer

saloon, liquor exchange, drinking saloon, grog house, beer

house, beer garden, or other place where spirituous,

vinous or malt liquors or intoxicating beverages are sold, in

this State, to sell or permit to be sold or to give or permit

to be given, any intoxicating liquors to women, or girls, or

minors, or to set apart in such places any apartment where

intoxicating liquors are sold to girls or women, or minors,

or to permit girls or women, or minors, to enter or drink in

any such apartment; provided that nothing in the forego-

ing part of this section shall apply to hotels, boarding

houses or restaurants where malt, vinous or other liquors

are sold in connection with the service of meals or supplied

to requests.

That hereafter it shall be unlawful for any person, firm

or corporation conducting a barroom, cabaret, coffee

house, cafe, beer saloon, liquor exchange, drinking saloon,

grog shop, beer house, beer garden, or other place where

spirituous, vinous or malt liquors or intoxicating beverages

are sold, to permit in the same building the sale for con-

sumption on the premises of intoxicating liquors to whites

and negroes.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this sec-

tion shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon

conviction therefore, be fined in a sum not less than $50

nor more than $500, or by imprisonment in the parish jail

or parish prison for not more than two (2) years, or by both

such fine and imprisonment . . .

Section 15. Be it further enacted, etc., That subject tot

he limitation s contained in Section 14 of this Act, all laws

and parts of laws contrary to or inconsistent with this Act

be and the same are hereby repealed.

Section 16. Be it further enacted, etc., That this Act

shall take effect from and after December 31, 1908.

Source:

Acts Passed by the General Assembly of Louisiana, 1908, pp.

105–106.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

First federal U.S. legislation enacted to ensure equal rights for

blacks. Passed by Congress on March 13, 1866, it was vetoed

by President Andrew Johnson, who charged that it was an

unwarranted invasion of states’ rights; Congress overrode the

veto on April 9. The act, designed to overcome the restrictive

Black Codes, conferred citizenship upon black people and

conferred the same rights and responsibilities on all persons

born in the United States, except Native Americans. Because

there was some doubt about the constitutionality of the act,

Congress incorporated most of its provisions into the Four-

teenth Amendment.

These acts, as later encoded first as U.S.C. 51 and U.S.C.

52 and now U.S.C. 141 and U.S.C. 142 have been the princi-

pal means for the federal government to combat violence

directed against those attempting to exercise their civil rights,

especially voting. Because Supreme Court decisions severely

restricted federal civil rights jurisdiction (and Southern white

juries rarely convicted perpetrators), even violent Klan terror-

ism was difficult to prosecute until 1966, after the Supreme

Court clarified 141 and 142 in

U.S. v Price

(re: the murders of

civil rights workers Goodwin, Schwerner, and Chaney) and

U.S. v Guest

(re: the murder of Colonel Lemuel Penn).

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To protect all Persons in the United States in their Civil

Rights, and furnish the Means of their Vindication.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That all persons born in the United States and not

subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed,

are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States;

and such citizens, of every race and color, without regard

to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servi-

tude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party

shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right,

in every State and Territory in the United States, to make

and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evi-

dence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey

real and personal property, and to full and equal benefit of

all laws and proceedings for the security of person and

property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be sub-

ject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none

other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to

the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That any person

who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation,

or custom, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any

inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of

any right secured or protected by this act, or to different

punishment, pains, or penalties on account of such person

having at any time been held in a condition of slavery or

involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime

whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by

reason of his color or race, than is prescribed for the pun-

Reconstruction 923

ishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a mis-

demeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by fine

not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not

exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

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

courts of the United States, within their respective dis-

tricts, shall have, exclusively of the courts of the several

States, cognizance of all crimes and offences committed

against the provisions of this act, and also, concurrently

with the circuit courts of the United States, of all causes,

civil and criminal, affecting persons who are denied or can-

not enforce in the courts or judicial tribunals of the State

or locality where they may be any of the rights secured to

them by the first section of this act; and if any suit or pros-

ecution, civil or criminal, has been or shall be commenced

in any State court, against any such person, for any cause

whatsoever, or against any officer, civil or military, or other

person, for any arrest or imprisonment, trespasses, or

wrongs done or committed by virtue or under color of

authority derived from this act or the act establishing a

Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and all

acts amendatory thereof, or for refusing to do any act upon

the ground that it would be inconsistent with this act, such

defendant shall have the right to remove such cause for

trial to the proper district or circuit court in the manner

prescribed by the “Act relating to habeas corpus and regu-

lating judicial proceedings in certain cases,” approved

March three, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and all

acts amendatory thereof. The jurisdiction in civil and crim-

inal matters hereby conferred on the district and circuit

courts of the United States shall be exercised and enforced

in conformity with the laws of the United States, so far as

such laws are suitable to carry the same into effect; but in

all cases where such laws are not adapted to the object, or

are deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable

remedies and punish offences against law, the common

law, as modified and changed by the constitution and

statutes of the State wherein the court having jurisdiction

of the cause, civil or criminal, is held, so far as the same is

not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the

United States, shall be extended to and govern said courts

in the trial and disposition of such cause, and, if of a crim-

inal nature, in the infliction of punishment on the party

found guilty.

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

attorneys, marshals, and deputy marshals of the United

States, the commissioners appointed by the circuit and

territorial courts of the United States, with powers of

arresting, imprisoning, or bailing offenders against the

laws of the United States, the officers and agents of the

Freedmen’s Bureau, and every other officer who may be

specially empowered by the President of the United

States, shall be, and they are hereby, specially authorized

and required, at the expense of the United States, to insti-

tute proceedings against all and every person who shall

violate the provisions of this act, and cause him or them to

be arrested and imprisoned, or bailed, as the case may be,

for trial before such court of the United States or territo-

rial court as by this act has cognizance of the offence. And

with a view to affording reasonable protection to all per-

sons in their constitutional rights of equality before the

law, without distinction of race or color, or previous condi-

tion of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a pun-

ishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly

convicted, and to the prompt discharge of the duties of

this act, it shall be the duty of the circuit courts of the

United States and the superior courts of the Territories of

the United States, from time to time, to increase the num-

ber of commissioners, so as to afford a speedy and conve-

nient means for the arrest and examination of persons

charged with a violation of this act; and such commission-

ers are hereby authorized and required to exercise and

discharge all the powers and duties conferred on them by

this act, and the same duties with regard to offences cre-

ated by this act, as they are authorized by law to exercise

with regard to other offences against the laws of the

United States.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the

duty of all marshals and deputy marshals to obey and exe-

cute all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions

of this act, when to them directed; and should any marshal

or deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant or other

process when tendered, or to use all proper means dili-

gently to execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof,

be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use of

the person upon whom the accused is alleged to have com-

mitted the offence. And the better to enable the said com-

missioners to execute their duties faithfully and efficiently,

in conformity with the Constitution of the United States

and the requirements of this act, they are hereby autho-

rized and empowered, within their counties respectively,

to appoint in writing, under their hands, any one or more

suitable persons, from time to time, to execute all such

warrants and other process as may be issued by them in

the lawful performance of their respective duties; and the

persons so appointed to execute any warrant or process as

aforesaid shall have authority to summon and call to their

aid the bystanders or posse comitatus of the proper county,

or such portion of the land or naval forces of the United

States, or of the militia, as may be necessary to the perfor-

mance of the duty with which they are charged, and to

insure a faithful observance of the clause of the Constitu-

tion which prohibits slavery, in conformity with the provi-

sions of this act; and said warrants shall run and be

executed by said officers anywhere in the State or Territory

within which they are issued.

924 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That any person who

shall knowingly and willfully obstruct, hinder, or prevent

any officer, or other person charged with the execution of

any warrant or process issued under the provisions of this

act, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him or them,

from arresting any person for whose apprehension such

warrant or process may have been issued, or shall rescue or

attempt to rescue such person from the custody of the offi-

cer, other person or persons, or those lawfully assisting as

aforesaid, when so arrested pursuant to the authority

herein given and declared, or shall aid, abet, or assist any

person so arrested as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to

escape from the custody of the officer or other person

legally authorized as aforesaid, or shall harbor or conceal

any person for whose arrest a warrant or process shall have

been issued as aforesaid, so as to prevent his discovery and

arrest after notice or knowledge of the fact that a warrant

has been issued for the apprehension of such person, shall,

for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceed-

ing one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding

six months, by indictment and conviction before the district

court of the United States for the district in which said

offence may have been committed, or before the proper

court of criminal jurisdiction, if committed within any one

of the organized Territories of the United States.

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

attorneys, the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of

the said district and territorial courts shall be paid for their

services the like fees as may be allowed to them for similar

services in other cases; and in all cases where the proceed-

ings are before a commissioner, he shall be entitled to a fee

of ten dollars in full for his services in each case, inclusive

of all services incident to such arrest and examination. The

person or persons authorized to execute the process to be

issued by such commissioners for the arrest of offenders

against the provisions of this act shall be entitled to a fee of

five dollars for each person he or they may arrest and take

before any such commissioner as aforesaid, with such

other fees as may be deemed reasonable by such commis-

sioner for such other additional services as may be neces-

sarily performed by him or them, such as attending at the

examination, keeping the prisoner in custody, and provid-

ing him with food and lodging during his detention, and

until the final determination of such commissioner, and in

general for performing such other duties as may be

required in the premises; such fees to be made up in con-

formity with the fees usually charged by the officers of the

courts of justice within the proper district or county, as

near as may be practicable, and paid out of the Treasury

of the United States on the certificate of the judge of the

district within which the arrest is made, and to be recover-

able from the defendant as part of the judgment in case of

conviction.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever the

President of the United States shall have reason to believe

that offences have been or are likely to be committed

against the provisions of this act within any judicial district,

it shall be lawful for him, in his discretion, to direct the

judge, marshal, and district attorney of such district to

attend at such place within the district, and for such time

as he may designate, for the purpose of the more speedy

arrest and trial of persons charged with a violation of this

act; and it shall be the duty of every judge or other officer,

when any such requisition shall be received by him, to

attend at the place and for the time therein designated.

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be law-

ful for the President of the United States, or such person

as he may empower for that purpose, to employ such part

of the land or naval forces of the United States, or of the

militia, as shall be necessary to prevent the violation and

enforce the due execution of this act.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That upon all ques-

tions of law arising in any cause under the provisions of this

act a final appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court of

the United States.

Source:

Statutes at Large, Vol. 14, pp. 27–30.

Tenure of Office Act of 1867

Legislation passed by Congress on March 2, 1867, over the

veto of President Andrew Johnson, that required the Senate’s

approval before the president could remove from office any-

one appointed by, and with the advice and consent of, the

Senate. This included members of the president’s own cabinet.

Violation of the law was a high misdemeanor. In 1868, when

Johnson defied the act and tried to fire Secretary of War Edwin

M. Stanton, he was impeached in the House of Representa-

tives; the Senate failed by one vote to convict him. The act was

never again enforced and was repealed in 1887. The Supreme

Court ruled it unconstitutional retroactively in 1926.

________________________

_______________________

An Act

Regulating the Tenure of Certain Civil Offices.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That every person holding any civil office to which he

has been appointed by and with the advice and consent of

the Senate, and every person who shall hereafter be

appointed to any such office, and shall become duly quali-

fied to act therein, is, and shall be entitled to hold such

office until a successor shall have been in like manner

appointed and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise

Reconstruction 925

provided: Provided, That the Secretaries of State, of the

Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of the Interior, the Post-

master-General, and the Attorney-General, shall hold their

offices respectively for and during the term of the Presi-

dent by whom they may have been appointed and for one

month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the

advice and consent of the Senate.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That when any offi-

cer appointed as aforesaid, excepting judges of the United

States courts, shall, during a recess of the Senate, be

shown, by evidence satisfactory to the President, to be

guilty of misconduct in office, or crime, or for any reason

shall become incapable or legally disqualified to perform

its duties, in such case, and in no other, the President may

suspend such officer and designate some suitable person

to perform temporarily the duties of such office until the

next meeting of the Senate, and until the case shall be

acted upon by the Senate, and such person so designated

shall take the oaths and give the bonds required by law to

be taken and given by the person duly appointed to fill

such office; and in such case it shall be the duty of the

President, within twenty days after the first day of such

next meeting of the Senate, to report to the Senate such

suspension, with the evidence and reasons for his action in

the case, and the name of the person so designated to per-

form the duties of such office. And if the Senate shall con-

cur in such suspension and advise and consent to the

removal of such officer, they shall so certify to the Presi-

dent, who may thereupon remove such officer, and, by

and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint

another person to such office. But if the Senate shall

refuse to concur in such suspension, such officer so sus-

pended shall forthwith resume the functions of his office,

and the powers of the person so performing its duties in

his stead shall cease, and the official salary and emolu-

ments of such officer shall, during such suspension,

belong to the person so performing the duties thereof,

and not to the officer so suspended: Provided, however,

That the President, in case he shall become satisfied that

such suspension was made on insufficient grounds, shall

be authorized, at any time before reporting such suspen-

sion to the Senate as above provided, to revoke such sus-

pension and reinstate such officer in the performance of

the duties of his office.

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

shall have power to fill all vacancies which may happen

during the recess of the Senate, by reason of death or res-

ignation, by granting commissions which shall expire at the

end of their next session thereafter. And if no appoint-

ment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,

shall be made to such office so vacant or temporarily filled

as aforesaid during such next session of the Senate, such

office shall remain in abeyance, without any salary, fees, or

emoluments attached thereto, until the same shall be filled

by appointment thereto, by and with the advice and con-

sent of the Senate; and during such time all the powers and

duties belonging to such office shall be exercised by such

other officer as may by law exercise such powers and

duties in case of a vacancy in such office.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this

act contained shall be construed to extend the term of any

office the duration of which is limited by law.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any person

shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, accept any

appointment to or employment in any office, or shall hold

or exercise or attempt to hold or exercise, any such office

or employment, he shall be deemed, and is hereby

declared to be, guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon

trial and conviction thereof, he shall be punished therefor

by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by impris-

onment not exceeding five years, or both said punish-

ments, in the discretion of the court.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That every removal,

appointment, or employment, made, had, or exercised,

contrary to the provisions of this act, and the making, sign-

ing, sealing, countersigning, or issuing of any commission

or letter of authority for or in respect to any such appoint-

ment or employment, shall be deemed, and are hereby

declared to be, high misdemeanors, and, upon trial and

conviction thereof, every person guilty thereof shall be

punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or

by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both said

punishments, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That

the President shall have power to make out and deliver,

after the adjournment of the Senate, commissions for all

officers whose appointment shall have been advised and

consented to by the Senate.

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

duty of the Secretary of the Senate, at the close of each

session thereof, to deliver to the Secretary of the Treasury,

and to each of his assistants, and to each of the auditors,

and to each of the comptrollers in the treasury, and to the

treasurer, and to the register of the treasury, a full and

complete list, duly certified, of all the persons who shall

have been nominated to and rejected by the Senate during

such session, and a like list of all the offices to which nom-

inations shall have been made and not confirmed and filled

at such session.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever the

President shall, without the advice and consent of the Sen-

ate, designate, authorize, or employ any person to perform

the duties of any office, he shall forthwith notify the Sec-

retary of the Treasury thereof; and it shall be the duty of

the Secretary of the Treasury thereupon to communicate

such notice to all the proper accounting and disbursing

officers of his department.

926 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That no money shall

be paid or received from the treasury, or paid or received

from or retained out of any public moneys or funds of the

United States, whether in the treasury or not, to or by or

for the benefit of any person appointed to or authorized to

act in or holding or exercising the duties or functions of

any office contrary to the provisions of this act; nor shall

any claim, account, voucher, order, certificate, warrant, or

other instrument providing for or relating to such pay-

ment, receipt, or retention, be presented, passed, allowed,

approved, certified, or paid by any officer of the United

States, or by any person exercising the functions or per-

forming the duties of any office or place of trust under the

United States, for or in respect to such office, or the exer-

cising or performing the functions or duties thereof; and

every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this

section shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and,

upon trial and conviction thereof, shall be punished there-

for by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by

imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or both said pun-

ishments, in the discretion of the court.

See also

COVODE RESOLUTION

(

ARTICLES OF IMPEACH

MENT OF ANDREW JOHNSON

), 1868.

Source:

Statutes at Large, Vol. 14, pp. 430–432.

Reconstruction Acts, 1867–1868

Series of four related acts that provided for the military occu-

pation of the former Confederacy. They were passed between

March 1867 and March 1868 over the vetoes of President

Andrew Johnson. Under the first act, the former Confederate

states (except for Tennessee, which had already been read-

mitted to the Union) were divided into five military districts

under military commanders with broad civil powers, includ-

ing appointing and removing state officials. The act also

required ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment before a

state could be readmitted to the Union. Many Southern offi-

cials balked and refused to register voters, so Congress passed

the Second Reconstruction Act, which put the military com-

manders in charge of enrolling voters. Johnson tried to reduce

the power of the military commanders, and in response

Congress passed the third act, which granted the commanders

authority in all matters pertaining to voting. Elections were

finally held to ratify the new state constitutions, but many

white registered voters abstained in protest. Congress then

passed the final act, which held that a state constitution could

be ratified even if only a minority of voters participated in the

election. Between 1868 and 1870 all of the Southern states

were readmitted.

________________________

_______________________

Reconstruction Act (1867)

An Act

To provide for the more efficient Government of the Rebel

States.

Whereas no legal State governments or adequate pro-

tection for life or property now exists in the rebel States of

Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Missis-

sippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas;

and whereas it is necessary that peace and good order

should be enforced in said States until loyal and republican

State governments can be legally established: Therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

That said rebel States shall be divided into military districts

and made subject to the military authority of the United

States as hereinafter prescribed, and for that purpose Vir-

ginia shall constitute the first district; North Carolina and

South Carolina the second district; Georgia, Alabama, and

Florida the third district; Mississippi and Arkansas the

fourth district; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth district.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the

duty of the President to assign to the command of each of

said districts an officer of the army, not below the rank of

brigadier-general, and to detail a sufficient military force

to enable such officer to perform his duties and enforce his

authority within the district to which he is assigned.

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

duty of each officer assigned as aforesaid, to protect all

persons in their rights of person and property, to suppress

insurrection, disorder, and violence, and to punish, or

cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace

and criminals; and to this end he may allow local civil tri-

bunals to take jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or, when

in his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of offend-

ers, he shall have power to organize military commissions

or tribunals for that purpose, and all interference under

color of State authority with the exercise of military

authority under this act, shall be null and void.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all persons put

under military arrest by virtue of this act shall be tried

without unnecessary delay, and no cruel or unusual pun-

ishment shall be inflicted, and no sentence of any military

commission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting the

life or liberty of any person, shall be executed until it is

approved by the officer in command of the district, and the

laws and regulations for the government of the army shall

not be affected by this act, except in so far as they conflict

with its provisions: Provided, That no sentence of death

under the provisions of this act shall be carried into effect

without the approval of the President.

Reconstruction 927

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That when the people

of any one of said rebel States shall have formed a constitu-

tion of government in conformity with the Constitution of

the United States in all respects, framed by a convention of

delegates elected by the male citizens of said State, twenty-

one years old and upward, of whatever race, color, or previ-

ous condition, who have been resident in said State for one

year previous to the day of such election, except such as may

be disfranchised for participation in the rebellion or for

felony at common law, and when such constitution shall pro-

vide that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by all such

persons as have the qualifications herein stated for electors

of delegates, and when such constitution shall be ratified by

a majority of the persons voting on the question of ratifica-

tion who are qualified as electors for delegates, and when

such constitution shall have been submitted to Congress for

examination and approval, and Congress shall have

approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of its leg-

islature elected under said constitution, shall have adopted

the amendment to the Constitution of the United States,

proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as arti-

cle fourteen, and when said article shall have become a part

of the Constitution of the United States, said State shall be

declared entitled to representation in Congress, and sena-

tors and representatives shall be admitted therefrom on

their taking the oath prescribed by law, and then and there-

after the preceding sections of this act shall be inoperative

in said State: Provided, That no person excluded from the

privilege of holding office by said proposed amendment to

the Constitution of the United States, shall be eligible to

election as a member of the convention to frame a constitu-

tion for any of said rebel States, nor shall any such person

vote for members of such convention.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, until the peo-

ple of said rebel States shall be by law admitted to repre-

sentation in the Congress of the United States, any civil

governments which may exist therein shall be deemed pro-

visional only, and in all respects subject to the paramount

authority of the United States at any time to abolish, mod-

ify, control, or supersede the same; and in all elections to

any office under such provisional governments all persons

shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled

to vote, under the provisions of the fifth section of this act;

and no person shall be eligible to any office under any such

provisional governments who would be disqualified from

holding office under the provisions of the third article of

said constitutional amendment.

Reconstruction Act of 1867 (Supplement I)

An Act

Supplementary to an Act entitled “An Act to provide for

the more efficient Government of the Rebel States,” passed

March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and to

facilitate Restoration.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That before the first day of September, eighteen

hundred and sixty-seven, the commanding general in each

district defined by an act entitled “An act to provide for the

more efficient government of the rebel States,” passed

March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, shall

cause a registration to be made of the male citizens of the

United States, twenty-one years of age and upwards, resi-

dent in each county or parish in the State or States

included in his district, which registration shall include

only those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates

by the act aforesaid, and who shall have taken and sub-

scribed the following oath or affirmation: “I, ______, do

solemnly swear (or affirm), in the presence of Almighty

God, that I am a citizen of the State of _____; that I have

resided in said State of _____ months next preceding this

day, and now reside in the county of _____, or the parish

of _____, in said State (as the case may be); that I am

twenty-one years old; that I have not been disfranchised

for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the

United States, nor for felony committed against the laws of

any State or of the United States; that I have never been a

member of any State legislature, nor held any executive or

judicial office in any State and afterwards engaged in

insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or

given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I have

never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the

United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a

member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judi-

cial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the

United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or

rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort

to the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the

Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and

will, to the best of my ability, encourage others so to do, so

help me God”; which oath or affirmation may be adminis-

tered by any registering officer.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That after the com-

pletion of the registration hereby provided for in any State,

at such time and places therein as the commanding gen-

eral shall appoint and direct, of which at least thirty days’

public shall be given, an election shall be held of delegates

to a convention for the purpose of establishing a constitu-

tion and civil government for such State loyal to the Union,

said convention in each State, except Virginia, to consist of

the same number of members as the most numerous

branch of the State legislature of such State in the year

eighteen hundred and sixty, to be apportioned among the

several district, counties, or parishes of such State by the

commanding general, giving to each representation in the

928 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

ratio of voters registered as aforesaid as nearly as may be.

The convention in Virginia shall consist of the same num-

ber of members as represented the territory now consti-

tuting Virginia in the most numerous branch of the

legislature of said State in the year eighteen hundred and

sixty, to be apportioned as aforesaid.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That at said election

the registered voters of each State shall vote for or against

a convention to form a constitution therefor under this act.

Those voting in favor of such a convention shall have writ-

ten or printed on the ballots by which they vote for dele-

gates, as aforesaid, the words “For a convention,” and

those voting against such a convention shall have written or

printed on such ballots the words “Against a convention.”

The persons appointed to superintend said election, and to

make return of the voters given thereat, as herein pro-

vided, shall count and make return of the votes given for

and against a convention; and the commanding general to

whom the same shall have been returned shall ascertain

and declare the total vote in each State for and against a

convention. If a majority of the votes given on that ques-

tion shall be for a convention, then such convention shall

be held as hereinafter provided; but if a majority of said

votes shall be against a convention, then no such conven-

tion shall be held under this act: Provided, That such con-

vention shall not be held unless a majority of all such

registered voters shall have voted on the question of hold-

ing such convention.

Sec. 4. And be if further enacted, That the command-

ing general of each district shall appoint as many boards of

registration as may be necessary, consisting of three loyal

officers or persons, to make and complete the registration,

superintend the election, and make the return to him of

the votes, list of voters, and of the persons elected as dele-

gates by a plurality of the votes cast at said election; and

upon receiving said returns he shall open the same, ascer-

tain the persons elected as delegates, according to the

returns of the officers who conducted said election, and

make proclamation thereof; and if a majority of the votes

given on that question shall be for a convention, the com-

manding general, within sixty days from the date of elec-

tion, shall notify the delegates to assemble in convention,

at a time and place to be mentioned in the notification, and

said convention, when organized, shall proceed to frame a

constitution and civil government according to the provi-

sions of this act, and the act to which it is supplementary;

and when the same shall have been so framed, said consti-

tution shall be submitted by the convention for ratification

to the persons registered under the provisions of this act at

an election to be conducted by the officers or persons

appointed or to be appointed by the commanding general,

as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after the expira-

tion of thirty days from the date of notice thereof, to be

given by said convention; and the returns thereof shall be

made to the commanding general of the district.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That if, according to

said returns, the constitution shall be ratified by a majority

of the votes of the registered electors qualified as herein

specified, cast at said election, at least one half of all the

registered voters voting upon the question of such ratifica-

tion, the president of the convention shall transmit a copy

of the same, duly certified, to the President of the United

States, who shall forthwith transmit the same to Congress,

if then in session, and if not in session, then immediately

upon its next assembling; and if it shall moreover appear to

Congress that the election was one at which all the regis-

tered and qualified electors in the State had an opportu-

nity to vote freely and without restraint, fear, or the

influence of fraud, and if the Congress shall be satisfied

that such constitution meets the approval of a majority of

all the qualified electors in the State, and if the said con-

stitution shall be declared by Congress to be in conformity

with the provisions of the act to which this is supplemen-

tary, and the other provisions of said act shall have been

complied with, and the said constitution shall be approved

by Congress, the State shall be declared entitled to repre-

sentation, and senators and representatives shall be admit-

ted therefrom as therein provided.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That all elections in

the States mentioned in the said “Act to provide for the

more efficient government of the rebel States,” shall, dur-

ing the operation of said act, be by ballot; and all officers

making the said registration of voters and conducting said

elections shall, before entering upon the discharge of their

duties, take and subscribe the oath prescribed by the act

approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,

entitled “An act to prescribe an oath of office”: Provided,

That if any person shall knowingly and falsely take and sub-

scribe any oath in this act prescribed, such person so

offending and being thereof duly convicted shall be sub-

ject to the pains, penalties, and disabilities which by law

are provided for the punishment of the crime of wilful and

corrupt perjury.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That all expenses

incurred by the several commanding generals, or by virtue

of any orders issued, or appointments made, by them,

under or by virtue of this act, shall be paid out of any mon-

eys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the convention

for each State shall prescribe the fees, salary, and compen-

sation to be paid to all delegates and other officers and

agents herein authorized or necessary to carry into effect

the purposes of this act not herein otherwise provided for,

and shall provide for the levy and collection of such taxes

on the property in such State as may be necessary to pay

the same.

Reconstruction 929

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the word “arti-

cle,” in the sixth section of the act to which this is supple-

mentary, shall be construed to mean “section.”

Reconstruction Act of 1867 (Supplement II)

An Act

Supplementary to an Act entitled “An Act to provide for the

more efficient Government of the Rebel States,” passed on

the second day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven,

and the Act supplementary thereto, passed on the twenty-

third day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That it is hereby declared to have been the true

intent and meaning of the act of the second day of March,

one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, entitled “An

act to provide for the more efficient government of the

rebel States,” and of the act supplementary thereto, passed

on the twenty-third day of March, in the year one thousand

eight hundred and sixty-seven, that the governments then

existing in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina,

South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana,

Florida, Texas, and Arkansas were not legal State govern-

ments; and that thereafter said governments, if continued,

were to be continued subject in all respects to the military

commanders of the respective districts, and to the

paramount authority of Congress.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the commander

of any district named in said act shall have power, subject

to the disapproval of the General of the army of the United

States, and to have effect till disapproved, whenever in the

opinion of such commander the proper administration of

said act shall require it, to suspend or remove from office,

or from the performance of official duties and the exercise

of official powers, any officer or person holding or exercis-

ing, or professing to hold or exercise, any civil or military

office or duty in such district under any power, election,

appointment or authority derived from, or granted by, or

claimed under, any so-called State or the government

thereof, or any municipal or other division thereof, and

upon such suspension or removal such commander, sub-

ject to the disapproval of the General as aforesaid, shall

have power to provide from time to time for the perfor-

mance of the said duties of such officer or person so sus-

pended or removed, by the detail of some competent

officer or soldier of the army, or by the appointment of

some other person, to perform the same, and to fill vacan-

cies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the General of

the army of the United States shall be invested with all the

powers of suspension, removal, appointment, and detail

granted in the preceding section to district commanders.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the acts of the

officers of the army already done in removing in said dis-

tricts persons exercising the functions of civil officers, and

appointing others in their stead, are hereby confirmed:

Provided, That any person heretofore or hereafter

appointed by any district commander to exercise the func-

tions of any civil office, may be removed either by the mil-

itary officer in command of the district, or by the General

of the army. And it shall be the duty of such commander to

remove from office as aforesaid all persons who are dis-

loyal to the government of the United States, or who use

their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay, pre-

vent, or obstruct the due and proper administration of this

act and the acts to which it is supplementary.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the boards of

registration provided for in the act entitled “An act sup-

plementary to an act entitled ‘An act to provide for the

more efficient government of the rebel States,’ passed

March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and to facil-

itate restoration,” passed March twenty-three, eighteen

hundred and sixty-seven, shall have power, and it shall be

their duty before allowing the registration of any person, to

ascertain, upon such facts or information as they can

obtain, whether such person is entitled to be registered

under said act, and the oath required by said act shall not

be conclusive on such question, and no person shall be

registered unless such board shall decide that he is entitled

thereto; and such board shall also have power to examine,

under oath, (to be administered by any member of such

board,) any one touching the qualification of any person

claiming registration; but in every case of refusal by the

board to register an applicant, and in every case of striking

his name from the list as hereinafter provided, the board

shall make a note or memorandum, which shall be

returned with the registration list to the commanding gen-

eral of the district, setting forth the grounds of such refusal

or such striking from the list: Provided, That no person

shall be disqualified as member of any board of registra-

tion by reason of race or color.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the true intent

and meaning of the oath prescribed in said supplementary

act is, (among other things,) that no person who has been

a member of the legislature of any State, or who has held

any executive or judicial office in any State, whether he

has taken an oath to support the Constitution of the

United States or not, and whether he was holding such

office at the commencement of the rebellion, or had held

it before, and who has afterwards engaged in insurrection

or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or

comfort to the enemies thereof, is entitled to be regis-

tered or to vote; and the words “executive or judicial

office in any State” in said oath mentioned shall be con-

strued to include all civil offices created by law for the

930 ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction

administration of any general law of State, or for the

administration of justice.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the time for

completing the original registration provided for in said act

may, in the discretion of the commander of any district be

extended to the first day of October, eighteen hundred and

sixty-seven; and the boards of registration shall have

power, and it shall be their duty, commencing fourteen

days prior to any election under said act, and upon reason-

able public notice of the time and place thereof, to revise,

for a period of five days, the registration lists, and upon

being satisfied that any person not entitled thereto has

been registered, to strike the name of such person from

the list, and such person shall not be allowed to vote. And

such board shall also, during the same period, add to such

registry the names of all persons who at that time possess

the qualifications required by said act who have not been

already registered; and no person shall, at any time, be

entitled to the registered or to vote by reason of any exec-

utive pardon or amnesty for any act or thing which, with-

out such pardon or amnesty, would disqualify him from

registration or voting.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That section four of

said last-named act shall be construed to authorize the

commanding general named therein, whenever he shall

deem it needful, to remove any member of a board of reg-

istration and to appoint another in his stead, and to fill any

vacancy in such board.

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all members of

said boards of registration and all persons hereafter

elected or appointed to office in said military districts,

under any so-called State or municipal authority, or by

detail or appointment of the district commanders, shall be

required to take and to subscribe the oath of office pre-

scribed by law for officers or the United States.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no district

commander or member of the board of registration, or any

of the officers or appointees acting under them, shall be

bound in his action by any opinion of any civil officer of the

United States.

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That all the provi-

sions of this act and of the acts to which this is supple-

mentary shall be construed liberally, to the end that all the

intents thereof may be fully and perfectly carried out.

Reconstruction Act of 1868

An Act

To amend the Act passed March twenty-third, eighteen

hundred and sixty-seven, entitled “An Act supplementary

to ‘An Act to provide for the more efficient Government of

the rebel States,’ passed March second, eighteen hundred

and sixty-seven, and to facilitate their Restoration.”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That hereafter any election authorized by the act

passed March twenty-three, eighteen hundred and sixty-

seven, entitled “An act supplementary to ‘An act to provide

for the more efficient government of the rebel States,’

passed March two, [second,] eighteen hundred and sixty-

seven, and to facilitate their restoration,” shall be decided

by a majority of the votes actually cast; and at the election

in which the question of the adoption or rejection of any

constitution is submitted, any person duly registered in the

State may vote in the election district where he offers to

vote when he has resided therein for ten days next pre-

ceding such election, upon presentation of his certificate

of registration, his affidavit, or other satisfactory evidence,

under such regulations as the district commanders may

prescribe.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the constitu-

tional convention of any of the States mentioned in the

acts to which this is amendatory may provide that at the

time of voting upon the ratification of the constitution the

registered voters may vote also for members of the House

of Representatives of the United States, and for all elective

officers provided for by the said constitution; and the same

election officers who shall make the return of the votes

cast on the ratification or rejection of the constitution, shall

enumerate and certify the votes cast for members of

Congress.

Source:

Statutes at Large, Vol. 14, pp. 428–430; Vol. 15, pp. 14–16, p. 41.

Mississippi v. Johnson, 1867

Suit filed on April 5, 1867, by the state of Mississippi asking

the U.S. Supreme Court to prohibit President Andrew Johnson

from enforcing the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 passed by the

Radical Republican Congress. Though Johnson had opposed

the acts as unconstitutional, and Congress had passed them

over his veto, he nonetheless ordered the U.S. attorney general

to fight the Mississippi suit. The Court unanimously denied the

petition for lack of jurisdiction, stating that purely executive or

purely legislative acts were not subject to judicial restraint.

________________________

_______________________

The Chief Justice delivered the opinion of the court.

A motion was made, some days since, in behalf of the

State of Mississippi, for leave to file a bill in the name of

the State, praying this court perpetually to enjoin and

restrain Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,

and E. O. C. Ord, general commanding in the District of

Reconstruction 931