14 April. this atrocious crime was committed; the very day on which Sherman had received Johnston's first proposals contemplating a surrender; only one day over four years after the surrender of Fort Sumter. The murder of Mr. Lincoln naturally excited the wildest indignation throughout the Northern States, and provoked unfounded charges against the high officials of the Confederate Government. The grievous crime was condemned by right-feeling men throughout the South. OVERTHROW OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 83. Some of the Confederate officials escaped, but several were taken. President Davis was captured near Irwinsville, in Georgia, and was imprisoned in Fortress IO May. Monroe. Alabama and Georgia were overrun by the cavalry of General Wilson. In the beginning of May, the Confederate troops east of the Mississippi surrendered to General Canby. The surrender of the forces west of that river took place at the end of the same month. All the Confederate armies were thus disbanded and sent to their homes. They had fought a desperate and losing fight, and had earned from their adversaries the highest admiration. There was no stain on "the Confederate banner." One who had commanded the army of the Potomac, said, many years after the close of the war: "Search the world over, and you will not find the like of them. I had the opportunity of seeing some of the armies of Europe since then-the French, Prussian, Russian, and Austrian-and I tell you, it will be down-hill work to fight them, compared with our late foes." * * Major-General Joseph Hooker. The total number of engagements is said to have been two hundred and fifty-two. Of these, eighty-nine took place in Virginia, thirty-seven in Tennessee, twenty-five in Missouri, twelve in Georgia, ten in South Carolina, eleven in North Carolina, seven in Alabama, five in Florida, fourteen in Kentucky, and one in the Indian country ;— seventeen of them were naval. In the Federal armies nearly two million seven hundred thousand men had been enlisted. The Federal debt at the close of the war was $2,773,000,000. The total cost of the war was estimated by Secretary Sherman, in 1880, at nearly $9,000,000,000. RECONSTRUCTION. 263 OTHER IMPORTANT TRANSACTIONS. 84. Before Mr. Lincoln's murder, the Reciprocity Treaty with Great Britain, permitting free trade between the United States and the British Provinces in North America, was abrogated. A Bureau for the protection and support 3 March. of the Freedmen was established. A demand was made upon the British Government to redress the injuries inflicted on American commerce by Confederate cruisers, bought, built, or equipped in British ports. During the war, the French Emperor, Louis Napoleon, had conquered Mexico, and placed Maximilian, an Austrian prince, upon the throne as Emperor. The fall of the Confederacy was fatal to the Empire and the Emperor. RECONSTRUCTION. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON.— 1865-1869. 85. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, the VicePresident, assumed the office of President, on the lamentable death of Mr. Lincoln. The subsequent period has been a time of confusion, not yet terminated; and of reconstruction, not yet completed. An old Greek philosopher observed, that " a civil war was ruinous to both contending parties, and equally corrupting to the conquerors and the conquered.” The War of Secession has been no exception to the rule. The succeeding years have been marked by irregular procedures on the part of the Federal authorities, and by irregular resistance. The estimation of every measure and every transaction of these unhappy times is discolored by virulent animosities and prejudices. No agreement is possible in regard to their circumstances, their character, or their significance. To avoid possible misrepresentation and controversy, it was necessary to treat in a brief and bare manner the events of the war between the States. It is more needful, for the like reasons, to treat even more briefly and barely, the story of more recent years. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 86. The first task of President Johnson's Administration was to seize and bring to justice the murderer of President Lincoln, and those who had attempted at the same time to murder Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State. J. Wilkes Booth, a fanatical actor, was the assassin of Mr. Lincoln. He was pursued, tracked, and overtaken near Port Royal, in Virginia. He refused to surrender, and was shot down. Powell, Atzerott, the innocent Mrs. Surratt, and others, were tried by a Military Court, condemned, and hanged. 1865. 26 April. TREATMENT OF THE CONFEDERATES. 87. President Davis, as has been mentioned, was taken and imprisoned. Two years afterwards, he was released on bail, and has not been further prosecuted. Indictments were proposed against Generals Lee and Johnston. They were quashed by the intervention of General Grant. A Proclamation of Amnesty was issued, but fourteen classes of Confederates were excluded from its benefits. No general Amnesty has yet been granted. The suppression of the Rebellion was proclaimed a year after the fall 2 April. 1866. of Richmond. ATTEMPTS AT RECONSTRUCTION. 88. The Reconstruction of the Seceding States, and their readmission into the Union, presented questions of manifest difficulty. They occasioned violent contention between the President and the extreme Republicans,* who had a large * Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland, and Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, were their leaders. ANDREW JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 265 majority in Congress. The President recognized the Government of F. H. Pierpont in Virginia, and established Provisional Governments in other Southern States. He was deprived of all power in these matters, and his policy was annulled by the appointment of a Joint Committee of Congress. The views of the Congressional majority were displayed 1866. 9 April. by the continuance and enlargement of the Freedmen's Bureau; by the passage of a Civil Rights Bill; of bills conferring on colored persons the right to vote in the District of Columbia and in the Territories; 1868. and, at a later period, of a Fourteenth Amendment 21 July. to the Constitution, declaring them citizens of the United States, and making other important regulations. A bill for the admission of Colorado was passed, but was vetoed by the President. The vote of the Senate failed to overrule the veto, and Colorado was not received till ten years later. Nebraska was, however, adınitted, notwithstanding the veto of the bill. 1867. 29 Feb. RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES. 89. The frequent vetoes increased the bitterness with which the President was regarded by the majority in Congress. The ill-feeling was augmented by his violent and intemperate denunciation of the action of that body. His power was, in consequence, crippled by the Tenure of Office Act, which required the consent of the Senate to the removal of Government officers; and by placing the Southern States under military government. This is considered to be the beginning of the Reconstruction Measures. 1867. 10 Jan. IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 90. The hostility in Congress to President Johnson was inflamed by his public denunciation of the majority which had annulled his policy and restrained his action. It was determined to impeach him. The first effort to do so did not succeed. It was done about two months later, when he attempted to remove Mr. Stanton * from the office 1868. of Secretary of War. The preparations for the 26 May. impeachment and the trial occupied three months. The Senate acquitted Johnson by a majority of only one vote. 1866. THE TRANSATLANTIC CABLE. 91. An Electric Cable, between Ireland and Newfoundland, was successfully laid, after four previous atIn the same summer the 27 July. tempts had failed.t broken cable of the previous year was recovered and repaired. EXECUTION OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN. 92. The invasion of Mexico by the French, and the establishment of an Imperial Government, were regarded as a violation of the Monroe Doctrine. Louis Napoleon was induced to withdraw his armies, and invited the new Emperor to accompany them. Maximilian hesitated, and remained. He was deprived of the necessary military support. Mexico was speedily recovered by President Juarez (hwah'rez). The Emperor was besieged in Queretaro (kā-ra-tah'ro), betrayed, and shot with several of his chief officers. 1867. 19 June. ALASKA, ST. THOMAS, AND SAMANA. 93. Russian America was purchased, under Johnson's administration, for more than $7,000,000, and was named * Edwin McMasters Stanton (1814-1859) was appointed Attorney-General by President Buchanan in 1860, and Secretary of War by President Lincoln in 1862. He was suspended from office by President Johnson in 1867, and removed in 1868. He was nominated by President Grant Judge of the Supreme Court in 1869, and ended his life a very few days thereafter. "I hope + The first message was from Cyrus Field to President Johnson, and said: that it will prove a blessing to England and the United States, and increase the intercourse between our country and the eastern hemisphere." |