The second section I consider the most important in the article. The commander of an army who should find his enemy intrenched on impregnable heights would act unwisely if he insisted on marching his troops full in the face of a destructive fire merely to show his courage. what its framers intended; and so as to secure perpetual Some answer, Your civil rights bill [the Civil Rights Act of 1866] secures the same things. That is partly true, but a law is repealable by a majority. acting in the Union, or of being counted as valid States, until Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. This amendment supplies that defect, and allows Congress to correct the unjust legislation of the States, so far that the law which, operates upon one man shall operate equally upon all. Stevens became a natural leader in Congress and served as a member of the House until his death in 1868. Stevens completed his undergraduate education and moved to York, Pennsylvania, where he taught classes at a one-room school during the daytime and studied law in the evenings. Thaddeus Stevens on the Great Topic of the Hour. Now they are the victims of daily murder. Congress is to pass a law declaring the condition of these If we fail in this great duty now, when we have the Start your constitutional learning journey. During the dictatorship of Pericles his laws were just, but Greece was not free. Ask, what is the Presidents policy? and it is difficult to define it. . In We have imposed upon them the privilege of fighting our battles, of dying in defense of freedom, and of bearing their equal portion of taxes; but where have we given them the privilege of ever participating in the formation of the laws for the government of their native land? ascendency to the party of the Union; and so as to render suffrage. But this is not all that we ought to do before The The future condition of the conquered power depends on the will of the conqueror. He supported banks, internal improvements and public schools, and spoke out against slavery; Jacksonian Democrats; and Freemasons, believing that they were contriving plans to unfairly gain government positions. They each raised more than half a million armed men. ern members, with the Democrats that will in the best times Dead States cannot restore their existence "as it was." All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States. That they will hardly get. . Then, twenty million white men enchained four million black men. Congress denies it and asserts the right to belong to the legislative branch. The third section may encounter more difference of opinion here. be elected from the North, will always give a majority in By 1861, as the civil war began, Stevens was responsible for its financing as chairman of the committee on ways and means. Best Known For: Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives during Abraham Lincoln's presidency, fought to abolish slavery and helped draft the 14th Amendment during Reconstruction. Let us now refer to the provisions of the proposed amendment. Unless the rebel States, before admission, should be made republican in spirit, and placed under the guardianship of loyal men, all. Admitted to the Maryland bar, he moved to Pennsylvania to practice law in 1816. Though the President is Commander-in-Chief, Congress is his commander; and, God willing, he shall obey. There are degrees of tyranny. Following the Civil War, Stevens served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction and played an important role in drafting both the 14th Amendment and the Reconstruction Act of 1867. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'wikisummaries_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_1',121,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wikisummaries_org-large-mobile-banner-1-0');By the time Congress arrived to begin its session in December 1865, a confrontation between the two opposing systems of Reconstruction, as well as Johnson and Stevens, was imminent. The President claims the right to exercise them. <> . We have allowed them the unwonted privilege of attending church, if they can do so without offending the sight of their former masters. If we do not furnish them with My only objection to it is that it is too lenient. 2 0 obj Born to Joshua and Sarah (Morrill) Stevens, he was the second of four sons. They were satisfied that the United States should maintain its old Constitution and laws. Do you avow the party purpose? The Reconstruction Act also divided the South into five military districts under commanders empowered to employ the army to protect black property and citizens. Now color disqualifies a man from testifying in courts, or being tried in the same way as white men. The same law which gives a verdict in a White mans favor should give a verdict in a black mans favor on the same state of facts. In Territories Congress fixes the qualifications of In this, Stevens was zealous, but well outside of the mainstream of Northern opinion, a fact that would shape the mixed record of accomplishment and frustration that followed. There are periods in the history of nations when statesmen can make themselves names for posterity; but such occasions are never improved by cowards. Stevens was an opponent of slavery before the war and after the war sought to secure the rights of the newly freed population in the former Confederacy. The confederate armies and government surrendered unconditionally. These are great advantages over their present codes. In either case, it is very plain that it requires the action of Congress to enable I them to form a State government and send representatives to Congress. Holding them like clay in the hands of the potter, we must see that no vessel is made for destruction. . to the territorial Legislatures, they will necessarily mingle Southern pride would not long brook a hopeless minority. They were subject to the controlling power of the conquerors. The short time allowed by our resolution will suffice to introduce this debate. Whoever had then asserted that those States had remained unfractured, and entitled to all the rights and privileges which they enjoyed before the rebellion, and were on a level with their loyal conquerors, would have been deemed a fool, and would have been found insane by any inquisition de lunatico inquirendo.. Thus short of their power, they would soon become restive. There is not one word in the Constitution that gives one particle of anything but judicial and executive power to any other department of Government but Congress. have turned, or are about to turn, loose four million slaves The material spans the years 1811-1927, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1850 to 1868. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. But this step forward is an assault upon ignorance and prejudice, and timid men shrink from it. 2 April 1865-August 1868 (Pittsburgh: They formed an entirely new constitution; a new and distinct government, called the confederate States of America. They passed their own laws, without regard to any former national connection. of Thaddeus Stevens, Vol. . Having witnessed the oppressive slave system at close range, he early developed a fierce hatred of bondage and defended numbers of fugitives without fee. As everyone within the government knew, Stevens was not amenable to allowing the Confederates to regain their role within the Union. Rather than debate the presidential plan, Stevens took a different tack, questioning the very propriety of having the executive branch direct Reconstruction policy. Such a course would be senseless, inconsistent, and illogical. After the Confederacy was defeated, the southern states were devastated <> What madness! They have torn their constitutional States into atoms, and built on their foundations fabrics of a totally different character. The employer offered to pay Watson every dollar that he might assess for the damage that had been done. I hope I have a heart as capable of feeling for human woe as others. All Rights Reserved. That decision has taken away every protection in everyone of these rebel States from every loyal man, black or white, who resides there. The papers of lawyer and United States representative from Pennsylvania Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) consist of 4,750 items (7,769 images) in eight containers and one oversize folder. In 1849, Stevens was elected, as a Whig, to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Delivered only seven months after the war ended and on the same day that the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, went into effect, Stevens's speech represented the view of a group in Congress known as the Radical Republicans. They, with their kindred Copperheads of the North, would always elect the President and control Congress. rebellion. Executive summary: Republican Reconstruction leader American political leader, born in Danville, Vermont, on the 4th of April 1792. 4 0 obj I can hardly believe that any person can be found who will not admit that every one of these provisions is just. Ooops. Thaddeus Stevens April 4, 1792 - August 11, 1868. This doctrine does not mean that a negro shall sit on the same seat or eat at the same table with a white man. practice justice to all men, and accustom themselves to make Updates? our blood and treasure will have been spent in vain. learn the principles of freedom and eat the fruit of foul . white, will be oppressed, exiled, or murdered. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Stevens entered the political sphere in 1833, serving for four years in the state legislature as a member of the Anti-Masonic Party. In the speech below which Stevens gave in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 3, 1867 supporting the Reconstruction bill then being debated, he issued a response to those who said his call was radical and incendiary with a now famous quotation: " I am for negro suffrage in every rebel State. Radical Republican congressional leader during Reconstruction (1865-77) who battled for freedmen's rights and insisted on stern requirements for readmission of Southern states into the Union after the Civil War (1861-65). Since the conquest they have been governed by martial law. Death State: Washington, D.C. Death Country: United States, Article Title: Thaddeus Stevens Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/political-figures/thaddeus-stevens, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: May 25, 2021, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. Under such governments, while electing members In Territories Congress fixes the qualifications of electors; and I know of no better place nor better occasion for the conquered rebels and the conqueror to practice justice to all men, and accustom themselves to make and obey equal laws. If we fail in this great duty now, when we have the power, we shall deserve and receive the execration of history and of all future ages. On his tombstone were carved the words he had composed, explaining that he had chosen this place so that he might illustrate in death the principle he had advocated throughout a long life; namely, Equality of man before his Creator., United States politician and military officer. Congress must create States and declare when they are entitled to be represented. depict the ruin that would follow. . ?]J2Tw7@F VQ"EQ[?-p_' (E*@zEg* UWQ?-]B[zel}%&H&HR[l`l6$zU~_}s:P)}zVYg7/kxQUDkzd|gno@>nN;q{DG 5%Z. The law of last session with regard to Territories settled the principles of such acts. ?)(qUC The confederate States claimed no rights unless they could conquer them by the contest of arms. A colored man, driving the family of his employer, drove his wagon against a wagon containing Watson and his family. >IQ Stevens had a difficult childhood; in addition to growing up fatherless, he was poor and had a club foot. ; Hon. But it will be said, as it has been said, This is negro equality! What is negro equality, about which so much is said by knaves, and some of which is believed by men who are not fools? In the States they form the great mass of the loyal men. Thaddeus Stevens was born in Danville, Vermont, on April 4, 1792. There is more reason why colored voters should be admitted in the rebel States than in the Territories. Speech on Reconstruction Domestic Policy Education Federal Government Race and Equality Religion in America Rights and Liberties State Government by Thaddeus Stevens January 03, 1867 Edited and introduced by Scott Yenor Cite Part of these Core Document Collections Reconstruction View Study Questions Thaddeus Stevens, "Reconstruction" Speech, September 6, 1865. [Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens was a Congressman from Pennsylvania who long opposed slavery and advocated for black suffrage. And yet I am amazed and alarmed at the impatience of certain well-meaning Republicans at the exclusion of the rebel States until the Constitution shall be so amended as to restrain their despotic desires. Image Details The Joint Committee on Reconstruction proposed a constitutional amendment to address issues in Southern states. Many Southern states quickly passed what became known as the Black Codesrepressive laws that governed where and when freedmen could go, the conditions under which they would work, and the limits on their gathering together. % of contract, or of managing the ordinary business of life. In 1848, a third party called the Free Soil Party formed to highlight opposition to extending slavery into western territories that had not yet organized as states. . The first two years of Congressional Reconstruction saw Southern states rewrite their Constitutions and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. With the basis unchanged the 83 Southern members, with the Democrats that will in the best times be elected from the North, will always give a majority in Congress and in the Electoral college. The infernal laws of slavery have prevented them from acquiring an education, understanding the common laws of contract, or of managing the ordinary business of life. provinces will be prepared to participate in constitutional I desire that as early as possible, without curtailing debate, this House shall come to some conclusion as to what shall be done with the rebel States. <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S>> The President assumes, what no one doubts, that the late rebel States have lost their constitutional relations to the Union, and are incapable of representation in Congress, except by permission of the Government. Mr. Speaker, that charge, as I have stated, is. In this speech, Stevens called on his colleagues to support the proposed Fourteenth Amendmentarguing that it would help to bring about legal equality for African Americans. We have even given them that highest and most agreeable evidence of liberty as defined by the great plebeian the right to work. But in what have we enlarged their liberty of thought? Whatever law allows the white man to testify in court shall allow the man of color to do the same. Stevens was also a staunch opponent of President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies.] The Economy also feel with the panic of 1854. Now, sir, it is for these reasons that I insist on the passage of some such measure as this. They are all asserted, in some form or other, in our DECLARATION or organic law. Image 3 of Speech of Hon. Now different degrees of punishment are inflicted, not on account of the magnitude of the crime, but according to the color of their skin. He is determined to force a solid rebel delegation into Congress from the South, and, together with Northern Copperheads, could at once control Congress and elect all future Presidents. He insists that those of our people who were plundered and their property burned or destroyed by rebel raiders shall not be indemnified, but shall bear their own loss, while the rebels shall retain their own property, most of which was declared forfeited by the Congress of the United States. Thaddeus Stevens, Speech on reconstruction, December 18, 1865. In the meantime, the freedmen would become more enlightened, and more fit to discharge the high duties of their new condition. Thaddeus studied at Caledonian Secondary School in Vermont, entered the University of Vermont, but was suspended in the second year and entered Dartmouth College to study law-related studies and delivered the commencement speech as a commencement speaker at the 1814 . I deny that there is any understanding, expressed or implied, that upon the adoption of the amendment by any State, that such State may be admitted, (before the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.? As an important member of the new Republicans, Stevens became actively involved in the Underground Railroad, helping runaway slaves escape to Canada. To those white leaders, voting rights for the freedmen, as advocated by Radical Republicans, were out of the question. Melancthon and others were ripe scholars and sincere reformers, but none of them had his courage. The abolition of slavery slowly became Steven's primary political focus and, as a result, he emerged as one of the nation's most militant Radical Republicans. He served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction and chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. The convention of southern loyalists, lately held in Philadelphia, almost unanimously agreed to such a bill as an absolute necessity. He opposes the amendment to the Constitution, which changes the base of representation, and desires the old slave States to have the benefit of their increase of freemen without increasing the number of votes; in short, he desires to make the vote of one rebel in South Carolina equal to the vote of three freemen in Pennsylvania or New York. Congress and in the Electoral college. . Among the people I believe it will be the most popular of all the provisions; it prohibits rebels from voting for members of Congress and electors of President until 1870. An Address Delivered to the Citizens of Lancaster, Sept. 6, 1865. I know they had fewer rulers and more subjects, but those rulers were no more despotic than ours, and their subjects had just as large privileges in governing the country as ours have. endobj We have turned, or are about to turn, loose four million slaves without a hut to shelter them or a cent in their pockets. He and his minions shall learn that this is not a Government of kings and satraps, but a Government of the people, and that Congress is the people. But I never dreamed that all punishment could be dispensed with in human society. How, then, can such a State adopt the amendment? Congress alone can do it. Now, you must divide them between loyalists, without regard to color, and disloyalists, or you will be the perpetual vassals of the free trade, irritated, revengeful South. The freedom of a Government does not depend upon the quality of its laws, but upon the power that has the right to enact them. For these, among other reasons, I am for negro suffrage in every rebel State. . How do you answer the principle inscribed in Our political scripture, That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed? 13 Without such consent government is a tyranny, and you exercising it are tyrants. We have unchained them from the stake so as to allow them locomotion, provided they do not walk in paths which are trod by white men. But the public mind has been educated in error for a century. But I beg gentlemen to consider the magnitude of the task which was imposed upon the committee. The 19th Amendment: How Women Won the Vote. Thaddeus Stevens on black suffrage, 1867 From speech of Thaddeus Stevens (R-Pa) in the House of Representatives, January 3, 1867. . In the acquisition of true fame courage is just as necessary in the civilian as in the military hero. The white Union men are in a great minority in each of those States. Thaddeus Stevens, (born April 4, 1792, Danville, Vermont, U.S.died August 11, 1868, Washington, D.C.), U.S. In failing health, Stevens had requested to be buried in Shreiner-Concord Cemetery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because the state accepted all races. Any exception to this rule has been a work of grace in Congress by passing healing acts. After the war Stevens emerged as one of the most militant of the Radical Republicans, consistently striving for justice for the black masses. If there be any who are afraid of the rivalry of the black man in office or in business, I have only to advise them to try and beat their competitor in knowledge and business capacity, and there is no danger that his white neighbors will prefer his African rival to himself. Stevens, who led the Radical faction in the House, along with Charles Sumner in the Senate, were determined both to ensure that the sacrifices made during the Civil War were not wasted by handing power back to the same Southern politicians who had driven secession forward four years earlier and to see that the freedmen's civil rights, including the right to vote, were guaranteed. But great events fix the eye of history on small objects and magnify their meanness. No former laws, no former compacts or treaties existed to bind the belligerents. (The Free Soil Party had dissipated by the mid-1850s, and was largely absorbed by the new Republican Party, of which Stevens was a member.) True it will take two, three, possibly five years before they conquer their prejudices sufficiently to allow their late slaves to become their equals at the polls. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998). In other words, that they are not out of the Union, but are only dead carcasses lying within the Union. Combining patriotic and religious imagery, it depicted Americans rebuilding a pavilion representing the United States. x\YF~W$cGGH-Ky41}@P v>~{"_-(LlQUQXkga_QU No Government can be free that does not allow all its citizens to participate in the formation and execution of her laws. Congress seemed fully in control. The President is for exonerating the conquered rebels from all the expense and damages of the war, and for compelling the loyal citizens to pay the whole debt caused by the rebellion. The 1857 Dred Scott decision in the. As there are no symptoms that the people of these provinces will be prepared to participate in constitutional government for some years, I know of no arrangement so proper for them as territorial governments. . The confederate States refused to negotiate with the United States, except upon the basis of independence of perfect national equality. The Meaning of Emancipation in the Reconstruction Era K. A. Cuordileone New York City College of Technology, CUNY Overview The end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery raised complicated issues and dilemmas for Americans during the Reconstruction era (1865-1877). Thaddeus Stevens was a leading Radical Republican who championed such Reconstruction measures as harsh punishment for Confederate leaders and a strong federal role in reconstructing the governments of the former Confederate states and in ensuring equal rights for all in the south. our republican Government firm and stable forever. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Thaddeus Stevens, "Reconstruction" Speech, September 6, 1865. Whatever law punishes a white man for a crime shall punish the black man precisely in the same way and to the same degree. . True, some of those governors were illegally appointed, being civilians. Congressional Globe, 39th Congress, 2nd session, Jan. 3 1867. Together with Charles Sumner in the Senate, the Pennsylvania native opposed President Lincoln's Reconstruction plan as too lenient. and whether the election and returns are according to Thaddeus Stevens was a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who became the face of the opposition to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson's lenient approach to the South after the Civil War. describe a time when you were treated unfairly. Whether they should ever have all men of both sections, without exception, agreed would depend on the will of Congress, if the United States were victorious. Corrections? War out west has begun and it seems as the US may be drawn into conflict with its southern neighbors. Throughout this period Stevens urged that Southern plantations be taken from their owners and that part of the land be divided among freedmen, with proceeds of the balance to be used toward paying off the national war debt; this confiscation plan failed, however, to gain congressional support. Congress also prescribes the rules and regulations to govern the Army. The people have once more nobly done their duty. Congress alone can do it. Think not I would slander my native land; I would reform it. Rather than making the South go through the process of territorial government, in 1867 and 1868, Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which divided the South into five military districts under the command of a general and provided clear criteria for readmission to the Union, including redrafting their state constitutions to include loyalty to the Union, ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, and guaranteeing former slaves the right to vote. Suppose the Government were now to be organized for the first time under the Constitution, and the President had been elected and the judiciary appointed: what could either do until Congress passed laws to regulate their proceedings? . Nearly six years ago a bloody war arose between different sections of the United States. The policy of Congress forbids him to exercise any power therein. Then each House must judge whether the members Are such men fit to sit in the places of statesmen? He desires that the States created by him shall be acknowledged as valid States, while at the same time he inconsistently declares that the old rebel States are in full existence, and always have been, and have equal rights with the loyal States. proper for them as territorial governments. Their subjects had liberty of motion and of labor, but the laws were made without and against their will; but I must declare that, in my judgment, they were as really free governments as ours is to-day. The veto power is no exception; it is merely a power to compel a reconsideration. Now, sir, if that decision be the law, then it becomes the more necessary that we should proceed to take care that such a construction as that shall not open the door to greater injuries than have already been sustained. Beverly Wilson Palmer and Holly Byers Ochoa, eds., The Selected Papers The United States, according to the usage of nations, appointed military provisional governors to regulate their municipal institutions until the law-making power of the conqueror should fix their condition and the law by which they should be permanently governed. and obey equal laws. Congressional Globe, 39th Cong., 2nd sess., Jan. 3, 1867, pp. The legislative power is the sole guardian of that sovereignty. That decision has unsheathed the dagger of the assassin and places the knife of the rebel at the throat of every man who dares proclaim himself to be now, or to have been heretofore, a loyal Union man. Of course the rebels claimed no such rights; for whether their States were out of the Union as they declared, or were disorganized and out of their proper relations to the Government, as some subtle metaphysicians contend, their rights under the Constitution had all been renounced and abjured under oath, and could not be resumed on their own mere motion.

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