more practical plan than any yet propsed, and it passed the House May 4, by a vote of 73 to 59; the Senate, two months later, adopted it by a majority of four. But it failed to become a law by the adjournment of Congress before it received the President's signature.1

The President, in justification of his neglect to sign the bill, issued a proclamation on July 8. This stated that while he was unprepared "to be inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration," and also "unprepared to declare that the free State constitutions and governments already adopted and installed in Arkansas and Louisjana, shall be set aside and held for naught, thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who have set up the same as to further effort," nevertheless he was "fully satisfied with the system for restoration contained in the bill, as one very proper plan for the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt it," and that in such case when the people "shall have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Constitution and laws of the United States," military governors would be appointed, "with directions to proceed according to the bill."

This attempt to modify the presidential plan virtually ended for the time the efforts of Congress towards the development of a distinctive theory, and the war thus closed with no well defined plan in operation, except that of President Lincoln, which was not well sustained by Congress. Only one thing seemed to be definitely decided. That was, that the seceded States, in whatever light they might be considered, were incapacitated from participating in presi

1 Congressional Globe, iii, p. 2106, 1st Session, 38th Congress.

2 Cooper, American Politics, bk. i, 169-70. The President's action caused much dissatisfaction, Davis and Wade publishing a protest which impugned Lincoln's motives, declaring that he had committed an outrage on American legislation. See Johnson, in Lalor, iii. 5 and 6; Cox, Three Decades, etc., 341.

dential elections. A joint resolution to this effect was passed in 1865,' and in accordance with its provisions the electoral vote of Louisiana was ruled out.

Two men in the Republican party wielded the chief power in influencing that party to adopt the theory of reconstruction which was finally to prevail as the Congressional theory. One was Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, and the other Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. The latter was a recognized leader of the Senate, and his views concerning the mutual relations of the States in rebellion and the federal government were clearly expressed in a series of resolutions which he submitted February 11, 1862. These resolutions, although never brought forward for consideration, were printed, and coming from so influential a man had considerable influence in shaping the general attitude of Congress towards the question, and affected to some extent its future policy. They 3 were nine in number, with a well-worded preamble which put forward as a premise that "the extensive territory, thus usurped by these pretended governments, and organized into a hostile confederacy, belongs to the United States, as an inseparable part

1 Senate Journal, 2d Session, 38th Congress, Feb. 8. Blaine (Twenty Years of Congress, ii, 46) explains that this joint resolution was intended as a rebuke to the President by the refusal of Congress to accept the proclamation of December 8, 1863, as a basis for the restoration of the States fulfilling its requirements. He then points out how Lincoln, with his usual tact, overthrows what triumph may have accrued to the leaders of the opposition by explaining that he "signed the joint resolution in deference to the view of Congress implied in its passage and presentation." His (Lincoln's) own opinion was that as a matter of course Congress had complete power to accept or reject electoral votes, and that the Executive had no right to interpose with a veto, whatever his own opinions might be. Blaine says that "his triumph was complete, both in the estimation of Congress and of the people."

2 See Cox, Three Decades of Federal Legislation, 123; Johnston, in Lalor, iii, 54; Wilson (Woodrow), Division and Reunion, 261–2.

3 Senate Journal, 2d Session, 37th Congress, pp. 194–6.

tions.

thereof, under the sanction of the Constitution, to be held in trust for the inhabitants in the present and future generaThe Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, cannot be displaced in its rightful operation within this territory, but must ever continue the supreme law thereof."

The first resolution declares that a vote of secession is void as against the Constitution, "and when sustained by force it becomes a practical abdication by the State of all rights under the Constitution, while the treason which it involves still further works an instant forfeiture of all those functions and powers essential to the continued existence of the State as a body politic, so that from that time forward, the territory falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress as other territory, and the State being, according to the language of the law, felo de se, ceases to exist."

The second resolution denies the constitutional existence of the Confederate States. The third and fourth declare that the termination of a State terminates its peculiar local institutions, therefore slavery ceases to exist; and the fifth, sixth and seventh declare it necessary not to recognize or tolerate slavery. The eighth declares the obligation of the United States to protect all inhabitants, "without distinction of color or class." The ninth declares that Congress, in pursuance of the duties cast upon it by the total extinction of the States and by the constitutional obligation that the "United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government," "will assume complete jurisdiction of such vacated territory where such unconstitutional and illegal things have been attempted, and will pro

'The inconsistency in declaring a State to be extinct, and at the same time acknowledging the obligation to guarantee to it a republican form of government, is due to careless phraseology. Obviously Sumner uses the word "State," in these resolutions, where he means state governments.

ceed to establish therein republican forms of government under the Constitution; and in the execution of this trust will provide carefully for the protection of all the inhabitants thereof, for the security of families, the organization of labor, the encouragement of industry, and the welfare of society, and will in every way discharge the duties of a just, merciful, and paternal government."

At

Thaddeus Stevens, although recognized as one of the foremost men of the Republican party, advocated from the very commencement of hostilities views of so radical a nature, that he was looked upon by many as a fanatic. His influence accordingly worked in a different way from Sumner's. no time did he consolidate his views into a series of resolutions, but upon every occasion where the subject could be touched upon, no matter how indirectly the topic might refer to it, he would state his theory of the relation of the seceded States to the Union. Persistently and consistently *he advocated it; and he took pleasure in considering himself as in advance of his party, a prophet, pointing out the only right road, confident that sooner or later his party would see the wisdom of his policy and adopt it. Throughout those tempestuous years, his undaunted faith in the infallibility of his plan served to keep it constantly in mind, and attracted to him a constantly increasing number of followers, until at the beginning of the 39th Congress he obtained control, and became the recognized leader of his party in all matters relating to the Southern States. Though the plan of reconstruction as finally adopted contained many modifications, it was to a great extent the logical outgrowth of the Stevens theory. His whole theory rested upon the simple premise that wherever there is resistance to the Constitution, and that resistance cannot be overthrown without appeal to violent methods, there the Constitution is theoretically as well as practically suspended. As long as such resistance continues, the Con

stution remains suspended, and only the law-making and war-making power is able to determine when resistance has ceased. Consequently the federal government would have the undisputed right to treat the South as a conquered territory until there should be no question as to the safety of granting greater privileges. Those States had ceased to be States, consequently the "guarantee clause" had no application. Congress had unrestricted power over them, as simple territories of the federal government. On May 2, 1864, during the discussion of the bill to guarantee republican forms of government to the rebellious States, he declared that the rebellious States "were entitled to no rights under the Constitution and laws, which as to them were abrogated; that they could invoke the aid of neither in their behalf; that they could claim to be treated during the war as belligerents according to the laws of war and the law of nations; that they could claim no other rights than a foreign nation with whom we might be at war; and that they were subject to all the liabilities of such foreign belligerent," and that "the property of the morally and politically guilty should be taken for public use."

1 Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 38th Congress, part ii, p. 2041. See also his remarks on the Confiscation bill. Cox's Three Decades of Federal Legislation, pp. 365-374, contains a chapter on the policy of Stevens.