Chapter XXXV ANDREW JOHNSON AND RECONSTRUCTION 1865-1869 EARLY EFFORTS AT RECONSTRUCTION; VIEWS OF LINCOLN AND T JOHNSON HREE hours after the death of President Lincoln the oath of office was quietly administered to the Vice President, Andrew Johnson, by Chief Justice Chase, in the presence of all the members of the Cabinet except Seward, who at the time lay dangerously ill from the wounds inflicted on him by the assassin Payne. The ceremony by which the executive power of the nation was transferred to the shoulders of the Vice President was simple, but impressive, and the transition was unaccompanied by the slightest disorder or interruption in the administration of the government. It was indeed a striking tribute to the strength of American character and institutions, for hardly in any other country would such a tragedy as the assassination of the chief executive at the close of a civil war have failed to furnish occasion for disorder. It illustrated also the strength of our Constitution, which has wisely provided a safeguard against the dangers of an interregnum, thus rendering absolutely ineffective the bullet of the anarchist so far as its power to interrupt the continuity of the government is concerned. For the third time in the history of the Republic the Vice President was thus called upon to discharge the duties for which another had been elected, and for the third time the people were brought to a realizing sense of the dangers inherent in a practice by which the Vice President is selected through other considerations than his qualifications for discharging the great duties and responsibilities of the chief magistracy. The people of the North stood appalled at the death of Lincoln, who had with such signal ability met the gravest responsibilities which ever devolved upon 1865 a chief magistrate of the United States. Half in hope, half in suspicion, they turned to the new President, scrutinized his record, and studied his character. In two respects only did Johnson resemble Lincoln, namely, in the circumstances of his origin and in his hostility to slavery. Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, but in early life emigrated to east Tennessee. By occupation a tailor, he was industrious, frugal and ambitious, but was practically illiterate until the attainment of his majority. Owing partly to a wise marriage and partly to his own industrious habits, Johnson learned to read and write and rapidly rose to a position of leadership in the local politics of his community. From the position of mayor of his town he was promoted to a seat in the legislature of his adopted State, and in 1843 became one of its representatives in Congress. In this capacity he served ten years, was then elected governor for two successive terms over able and popular Whig opponents, and in 1857 was elected to the United States Senate, where he was serving when his State passed an ordinance of secession. In the upland region of Tennessee, where the cultivation of grain was the chief agricultural pursuit, as in some of the more northern latitudes, slavery had never flourished, and hence Johnson, although a Democrat, had little or no sympathy for the institution which his Southern colleagues defended and wished to extend to the Territories. Partly for this reason and partly on account of the fact that he was a representative of the poor whites of the South, the rich slaveholding senators disliked and distrusted him. With With a steadfastness that required unusual courage, he firmly opposed the demands of his Southern colleagues for the extension of slavery and upon the secession of the Southern States he alone of all the Southern senators refused to surrender his seat and follow his State. Upon the outbreak of the war he gave his support to Lincoln's administration in the prosecution of the war, and in 1862 was appointed to the difficult post of military governor of Tennessee. He discharged the duties of his position so well as to win great popularity in the North, and, as has been stated, lead to his nomination for the Vice Presidency on the Republican ticket in 1864. Eminently patriotic and courageous, Johnson was wholly lacking in Lincoln's tact, patience, good judgment and genius for dealing with men. He was pugnacious, aggressive, stubborn and egotistical — in every way unfitted for the discharge 1865 of the difficult duties which suddenly devolved upon him in this most inauspicious time. A Southern Democrat, with many of the instincts and political ideas of his class, his accession at first inspired fear in the North lest his policy toward Southern "rebels" would be too lenient. His first utterances, however, dispelled this view and led the more conservatively inclined to fear that the country was in danger of witnessing an era of proscription and terror. He complained that Grant's terms to Lee were too liberal, and declared to a delegation of Illinois citizens who called to pay their respects that the American people should be taught that treason was the blackest of crimes and should be punished as such. Similar declarations were made on other occasions, and many began to fear that it was the intention of the President to inaugurate a "bloody assizes," through which the leading Confederates were to be condemned to death as traitors.1 The effect of these declarations in the South was to create great anxiety and apprehension, and some of the Confederate leaders emigrated to Mexico and Central America to escape his threatened vengeance. This was so different from the conciliatory policy which Lincoln had begun that the Cabinet was led to intervene. Seward, the most influential member, having in the meantime recovered from his wounds, and imbued as he was with Lincoln's humane ideas of leniency and conciliation, now urged upon the President the expediency of adopting such a policy in dealing with the people and governments of the Southern States. This attitude of Seward is one of the evidences of the magnanimity and statesmanship of the man. Execrated before the war by the people of the South for his radical anti-slavery utterances, and stricken almost to death by a fanatical sympathizer with the Southern cause, he yet showed no resentment, but used, instead, his masterful influence with the President to induce him to adopt a moderate and, as everyone now believes, a wise, policy toward his unhappy countrymen of the South, who, as Seward said, had "come back from their wanderings to seek shelter in the common ark of our national security and happiness." 2 Seward was successful, and soon Johnson had abandoned his bloodthirsty course and was preparing to carry forward the conciliatory reconstruction policy of Lincoln. 1 Blaine, "Twenty Years of Congress," vol. ii. p. 13. 2 See on this point Bancroft, "Life of Seward," vol. ii. ch. xli. 1865 Already Lincoln's policy had been worked out and put into operation in the three States of Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and to some extent in Virginia, before the close of the war, and his attitude can be best understood by a brief review of what was done under his direction in Louisiana and Arkansas. Soon after the capture of New Orleans in the spring of 1862, being anxious to encourage the inhabitants to return to their allegiance to the United States, he directed that they be given an opportunity to establish a civil government. Under the direction of the military governor an election was held, and Messrs. Flanders and Hahn, two old citizens of the State, were elected to Congress and were admitted to their seats, not, however, without objection and misgiving. In a letter to the governor, General Sheply, Lincoln expressed his disapproval of the election of Northern men "at the point of the bayonet," and remarked that members of Congress from Louisiana were not particularly needed at Washington to enable the national legislature to get along with its business, but what they did want was conclusive evidence that there were respectable, loyal citizens of Louisiana who were willing to be members of Congress, and other respectable loyal citizens who were willing to vote for them and send them to Washington.3 After the fall of Vicksburg and the battle of Gettysburg Lincoln, foreseeing the ultimate collapse of the Confederacy, gave his attention to the working out of a more definite and systematic plan of reconstruction which could be applied to all the Southern States when the time for dealing with them should come. Accordingly, in his annual message to Congress of December 8, 1863, he announced his plan, which included an offer of amnesty to all who had directly or indirectly taken part in the Confederate service, with certain exceptions, upon condition that every such person should take and subscribe to an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to abide by all laws and proclamations made during the war having reference to slaves, so long as not repealed by Congress or held void by the Supreme Court. Excepted from the benefits of the amnesty were those who had held high civil or military offices under the United States and had resigned to engage in the service of the Confederacy. Whenever a number of adult males equal to one-tenth of the votes cast at the 8 Nicolay and Hay, "Life of Lincoln," vol. vi. p. 351. 1865 presidential election in 1860 should have taken the oath of amnesty, and should have reëstablished a State government republican in form, such government should be recognized by the executive as the true government of the State and entitled to all the benefits and guarantees of the Federal Constitution. Lincoln, however, was careful to state that whether representatives sent to Congress from any State so reconstructed should be admitted to their seats was a matter which rested exclusively with the respective houses of Congress and in no sense with the executive. In pursuance of this plan a convention representing the amnestied class of Louisiana was held in April, 1864, a constitution prohibiting slavery was adopted, and in due season was ratified by the required ten per cent. of the voters of 1860. Under this constitution a reconstruction government was established, and Michael Hahn was elected governor. In like manner the government of Arkansas was reconstructed early in 1864 and representatives and senators in Congress were chosen. When the latter, however, presented their credentials they were denied admission to their seats on the ground that in the "judgment of Congress the rebellion was not so far suppressed in Arkansas as to entitle the State to representation in Congress." Early in the following year, 1865, another "ten per cent." government, so-called, was established in Tennessee, but the representatives from this State were likewise refused admission to their seats. It was now clear that the President's method of reconstruction did not meet the approval of Congress, and a conflict between the executive and legislative departments seemed inevitable. The people of the North, generally, seemed to be at a loss to know just what the proper course toward the late seceding States should be. They differed among themselves as to the legal and political status of these communities, and indulged in a great deal of useless discussion full of hair-splitting distinctions in trying to find a legal basis for a system upon which to proceed. In the civil wars of Europe it had always been the practice to deal severely with the unfortunate people who came out on the losing sides and to subject them to the loss of civil and political rights and to military government imposed without their consent. But in the United States this method seemed to be wholly contrary to American ideas. It was admitted on all hands that the collapse of the Confederacy left the Southern States in an anomalous condition so far as their politi |