RESOLUTIONS IN RESPECT TO GUARANTIES OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE
NATIONAL FAITH, DECEMBER 4, 1865.
Resolutions declaring the duty of Congress in respect to
guaranties of the national security and the national faith in
the Rebel States.
_Resolved_, That in order to provide proper guaranties for security
in the future, so that peace and prosperity shall surely prevail, and
the plighted faith of the nation be preserved, it is the first duty
of Congress to take care that no State declared in rebellion shall be
allowed to resume its relations with the Union until after satisfactory
performance of five several conditions, which conditions precedent must
be submitted to a popular vote, and be sanctioned by a majority of the
people of each State respectively, as follows.
1. The complete reëstablishment of loyalty, as shown by honest
recognition of the unity of the Republic, and the duty of allegiance to
it at all times, without mental reservation or equivocation of any kind.
2. The complete suppression of all oligarchical pretensions, and the
complete enfranchisement of all citizens, so that there shall be no
denial of rights on account of race or color, but justice shall be
impartial, and all shall be equal before the law.
3. The rejection of the Rebel debt, and at the same time the adoption,
in just proportion, of the national debt and the national obligations
to Union soldiers, with solemn pledges never to join in any measure,
direct or indirect, for their repudiation, or in any way tending to
impair the national credit.
4. The organization of an educational system for the equal benefit of
all, without distinction of race or color.
5. The choice of citizens for office, whether State or National, of
constant and undoubted loyalty, whose conduct and conversation shall
give assurance of peace and reconciliation.
_Resolved_, That to provide these essential safeguards, without which
the national security and the national faith will be imperilled, States
cannot be precipitated back to political power and independence; but
they must wait until these conditions are in all respects fulfilled.
These resolutions were read and ordered to be printed. They
were also entered at length on the Journal of the Senate.