country will sustain any set of individuals in attempts to change the whole character of our government by enabling acts or otherwise. I believe, on the contrary, that they will eventually uphold all who have patriotism and courage to stand by the Constitution, and who place their confidence in the people. There should be no faltering on the part of those who are honest in their determination to sustain the several coördinate departments of the government in accordance with its original design. A Southern Proposal for a Fourteenth Amendment Johnson MSS. After rejecting the amendment proposed by Congress there was a movement in the South to suggest a Fourteenth Amendment that would be acceptable to the whites. After correspondence between the states in 1866-67, there was a meeting of Southern governors in Washington on February 4, 1867, which drew up drafts for the proposed amendment. One of these is given below. The Reconstruction Acts a month later put a stop to this movement. [1866-1867] Resolved, by the General Assembly of North Carolina, that with a view to compose our present political troubles, and effect a complete restoration of the State to her former [practical] [constitutional]2 relations with the government of the United States, the following propositions be submitted to the [Congress of the United States],2 National Legislature, the State of North Carolina hereby pledging herself to their adoption, completely and unreservedly, upon an assurance that [upon her doing so] [so soon as she shall have done so,] 3 Senators and Representatives [of acknowledged allegiance to the Federal Government and] loyal to the Constitution of the United States shall be admitted to their seats by the respective Houses composing the Congress of the United States; and the State fully restored to all her [constitutional] 3 relations as a member of the American Union. First, That the following article shall be adopted as an amendment to, and become a part of the Constitution of the State of North Carolina. 1. Words erased in original. 2. Words in pencil added by President Johnson. 3. Changes in red ink in same writing as draft. ARTICLE 3 Every male citizen, who has resided in this State for one year, and in the county in which he offers to vote six months immediately preceding the day of election, and who can read [the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States in the English language], and write [his name], 3 or who may be the owner of two hundred and fifty dollars worth of taxable property shall be entitled to vote at all elections for Governor of the State, members of the Legislature and all other officers, the election of whom [shall be with] 1 [may be by] 3 the people of the State: Provided that no person [by reason of this article shall be excluded from voting] 3 who has heretofore exercised the [right of suffrage] [elective franchise] under the Constitution [and laws]3 of this State, [shall be excluded therefrom by reason of this Article]1 [or who at the time of the adoption of this amendment may be entitled to vote under said Constitution and laws.] 3 Secondly. That as a guarantee of the good faith with which. she proposes to carry out in every particular the provisions. of the foregoing proposed amendment to her own State Constitution, and to secure certain other desirable ends [the State of North Carolina will assent to and] 3 ratify the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States should [such amendment] be proposed by Congress, [and recommends that the same be proposed to the Legislatures of the Several States by the Congress of the U. States.] 3 ARTICLE 14 Section 1. [The Union under the Constitution shall be perpetual. No State shall pass any law or ordinance to secede or withdraw from the Union, and any such law or ordinance shall be null and void.] [No State under the Constitution. has a right of its own will to renounce its place in, or to withdraw from the Union. Nor has the Federal Government any 1. Words erased in original. 2. Words in pencil added by President Johnson. 3. Changes in red ink in same writing as draft. right to eject a State from the Union, or to deprive it of its equal suffrage in the Senate, or of representation in the House of Representatives. The Union under the Constitution shall be perpetual.] 3 Section 2. The public debt of the United States authorized by law shall ever be held sacred and inviolate. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the government or authority of the United States. Section 3. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the States in which they reside, and the Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. No State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. at any 3 Section 4. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding the Indians not taxed. But when any State shall, on account of race or color, or previous condition of servitude, [deny the right to vote] [deny the exercise of the elective franchise], " election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, members of the Legislature, and other officers elective by the people, to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and Citizens of the United States, then the entire [race or color]1 class of persons so excluded from the [exercise of the]2 elective franchise shall not be counted in the basis of representation. 1. Words erased in original. 2. Words in pencil added by President Johnson. 3. Changes in red ink in same writing as draft. |