to this joint resolution are not entitled to representation in the electoral college for the choice of President and Vice-President of the United States, for the term of office commencing . . . [March 4, 1865] . ; and no electoral votes shall be received or counted from said states concerning the choice of President and Vice-President for said term of office.

No. 141. Freedmen's Bureau

March 3, 1865

A BILL 'to establish a bureau of emancipation" was reported in the House December 22, 1863, by Eliot of Massachusetts, from the Select Committee on Emancipation, and recommitted. The bill was reported with amendments January 13, 1864, and March 1 passed the House by a vote of 69 to 67. In the Senate the bill was referred to the Select Committee on Slavery and Freedmen, of which Sumner was chairman. A bill to establish a bureau of freedmen was reported from the committee April 12. May 25 the committee reported the House bill with a substitute amendment, and the bill thus amended passed the Senate June 29 by a vote of 21 to 9. The select committee of the House recommended that the amendments of the Senate be disagreed to. Further action was postponed until December. December 20 a conference committee was appointed. The report of the committee was accepted by the House February 9, 1865, by a vote of 64 to 62, 56 not voting, but rejected by the Senate on the 22d by a vote of 14 to 24. March 3 the report of a second conference committee was agreed to by both houses. An act of July 16, 1866, continued the act of 1865 in force until July 16, 1868, and enlarged the scope of the bureau.

REFERENCES. Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XIII., 507-509. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 1st and 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The supplementary act of 1866 is in MacDonald's Select Statutes, No. 51. On the work of the bureau see Senate Exec. Doc. 28, 38th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Docs. 11, 70, and 120, 39th Cong., 1st Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 7, 39th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Report 30, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 329, ibid.; House Exec. Doc. 142, 41st Cong., 2d Sess.; House Misc. Doc. 87, 42d Cong., 3d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 10, 43d Cong., 1st Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 144, 44th Cong., 1st Sess. On the condition of freedmen see Senate Exec. Doc. 53, and Senate Report 25, 38th Cong., 1st Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 118, 39th Cong., 1st Sess. Southern State legislation respecting freedmen is summarized in McPherson, Reconstruction, 29-44.

An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and

Refugees.

Be it enacted That there is hereby established in the War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands, to which shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The said bureau shall be under the management and control of a commissioner to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. . . .

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each of the states declared to be in insurrection, not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the commissioner, aid in the execution of the provisions of this act; . . . And any military officer may be detailed and assigned to duty under this act without increase of pay or allow

ances.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner, under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it was so assigned shall be protected in the use and

enjoyment of the land for the term of three years at an annual rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of such land, as it was appraised by the state authorities in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, for the purpose of taxation, and in case no such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be ascertained in such manner as the commissioner may by regulation prescribe. At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and receive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying therefor the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose of determining the annual rent aforesaid.

A BILL to secure the freedom of soldiers' families was introduced in the Senate December 13, 1864, by Wilson of Massachusetts, and passed that body January 9, 1865, notwithstanding strong opposition, by a vote of 27 to The vote in the House, February 22, on the passage of the bill was 74 to 63, 45 not voting.

IO.

REFERENCES. - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII., 571. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The important debate was in the Senate.

A Resolution to encourage Enlistments and to promote the Efficiency of the military Forces of the United States.

Resolved..., That, for the purpose of encouraging enlistments and promoting the efficiency of the military and naval forces of the United States, it is hereby enacted that the wife and children, if any he have, of any person that has been, or may be, mustered into the military or naval service of the United States, shall, from and after the passage of this act, be forever free, any law, usage, or custom whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding

No. 143. Proclamation appointing a Governor for North Carolina

May 29, 1865

THE appointment of military governors in the States lately in rebellion, and the reestablishment of the State governments under their direction, were steps of primary importance in the plan of executive reconstruction proposed by President Johnson. Appointments similar to that in North Carolina were proclaimed June 13, for Mississippi; June 17, for Georgia and Texas; June 21, for Alabama; June 30, for South Carolina, and July 13, for Florida. An executive order of May 9 had declared the authority of the United States reëstablished in Virginia, directed the various departments of the national government to resume operations in that State, and promised federal aid to Governor Pierpont if necessary.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII., 760, 761. On Johnson's theory of reconstruction in this connection, see his annual message of December 4, 1865.

WHEREAS the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to every state in the Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and whereas the President of the United States is, by the constitution, made commander-in-chief of the army and navy, as well as chief civil executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States, and to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and whereas the rebellion, which has been waged by a portion of the people of the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the government thereof, in the most violent and revolting form, but whose organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has, in its revolutionary progress, deprived the people of the State of North Carolina of all civil government; and whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the obligations of the United States to the people of North Carolina, in securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties

imposed upon me by the Constitution of the United States, and for the purpose of enabling the loyal people of said state to organize a state government, whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and property, I, ANDREW JOHNSON, President of the United States, and commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, do hereby appoint William W. Holden provisional governor of the State of North Carolina, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period, to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for convening a convention, composed of delegates to be chosen by that portion of the people of said state who are loyal to the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution thereof; and with authority to exercise, within the limits of said state, all the powers necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the State of North Carolina to restore said state to its constitutional relations to the federal government, and to present such a republican form of state government as will entitle the state to the guarantee of the United States therefor, and its people to protection by the United States against invasion, insurrection, and domestic violence; Provided that, in any election that may be hereafter held for choosing delegates to any state convention as aforesaid, no person shall be qualified as an elector, or shall be eligible as a member of such convention, unless he shall have previously taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty, as set forth in the President's Proclamation of May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a voter qualified as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the State of North Carolina in force immediately before the 20th day of May, A.D. 1861, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; and the said convention, when convened, or the legislature that may be thereafter assembled, will prescribe the qualification of electors, and the eligibility of persons to hold office under the constitution and laws of the state, a power the people of the several states composing the Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the government to the present time. And I do hereby direct —

First. That the military commander of the department, and all officers and persons in the military or naval service, aid and