THE FREEDMEN.
Necessities of the Freedmen -- Committee in the House --
Early movement by the Senate in behalf of Freedmen --
Senator Wilson's Bill -- Occasion for it -- Mr. Cowan moves
its reference -- Mr. Reverdy Johnson advises deliberation --
A question of time with Mr. Sherman -- Mr. Trumbull promises
a more efficient bill -- Mr. Sumner presents proof of the
bad condition of affairs in the South -- Mr. Cowan and Mr.
Stewart produce the President as a witness for the defense
-- Mr. Wilson on the testimony -- "Conservatism" -- The bill
absorbed in greater measures.
The necessities of three millions and a half of persons made free as a
result of the rebellion demanded early and efficient legislation at
the hands of the Thirty-ninth Congress. In vain did the Proclamation
of Emancipation break their shackles, and the constitutional amendment
declare them free, if Congress should not "enforce" these important
acts by "appropriate legislation."
The House of Representatives signified its view of the importance of
this subject by constituting an able Committee "on Freedmen," with
Thomas D. Eliot, of Massachusetts, as its chairman. The Senate,
however, was first to take decided steps toward the protection and
relief of freedmen. We have seen that on the first day of the session
Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, introduced a bill "to maintain the
freedom of the inhabitants in the States declared in insurrection and
rebellion by the proclamation of the President of the 1st of July,
1862," of which the following is a copy:
_Be it enacted, etc._, That all laws, statutes, acts,
ordinances, rules and regulations, of any description
whatsoever, heretofore in force or held valid in any of the
States which were declared to be in insurrection and
rebellion by the proclamation of the President of the 1st of
July, 1862, whereby or wherein any inequality of civil
rights and immunities among the inhabitants of said States
is recognized, authorized, established, or maintained, by
reason or in consequence of any distinctions or differences
of color, race, or descent, or by reason or in consequence
of a previous condition or status of slavery or involuntary
servitude of such inhabitants, be, and are hereby, declared
null and void; and it shall be unlawful to institute, make,
ordain, or establish, in any of the aforesaid States
declared to be in insurrection and rebellion, any such law,
statute, act, ordinance, rule, or regulation, or to enforce,
or to attempt to enforce, the same.
SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That any person who
shall violate either of the provisions of this act shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a
fine of not less than $500 nor exceeding $10,000, and by
imprisonment not less than six months nor exceeding five
years; and it shall be the duty of the President to enforce
the provisions of this act.
On the 13th of December, Mr. Wilson called up his bill, which the
Senate proceeded to consider as in Committee of the Whole. The author
of the bill presented reasons why it should become a law: "A bill is
pending before the Legislature of South Carolina making these freedmen
servants, providing that the persons for whom they labor shall be
their masters; that the relation between them shall be the relation of
master and servant. The bill, as originally reported, provided that
the freedmen might be educated, but that provision has already been
stricken out, and the bill now lies over waiting for events here. That
bill makes the colored people of South Carolina serfs, a degraded
class, the slaves of society. It is far better to be the slave of one
man than to be the slave of arbitrary law. There is no doubt of the
fact that in a great portion of those States the high hopes, the
confidence, and the joy expressed last spring by the freedmen, have
passed away; that silence and sorrow pervade that section of the
country, and that they are becoming distrustful and discontented. God
grant that the high-raised expectations of these loyal and deserted
people may not be blasted. God forbid that we should violate our
plighted faith."
Mr. Cowan moved the reference of the bill to the Committee on the
Judiciary, but its author was unwilling that it should be so referred,
since it was highly important that action should be had upon it before
the holidays.
Mr. Johnson said that the bill gave rise to grave questions on which
it was very desirable that the deliberation of the Senate should be
very calmly advised. He objected on the ground of its indefiniteness:
"There are no particular laws designated in the bill to be repealed.
All laws existing before these States got into a condition of
insurrection, by which any difference or inequality is created or
established, are to be repealed. What is to be the effect of that
repeal upon such laws as they exist? In some of those States, by the
constitution or by the laws, (and the constitution is equally a law,)
persons of the African race are excluded from certain political
privileges. Are they to be repealed, and at once, by force of that
repeal, are they to be placed exactly upon the same footing in regard
to all political privileges with that which belongs to the other class
of citizens? Very many of those laws are laws passed under the police
power, which has always been conceded as a power belonging to the
States--laws supposed to have been necessary in order to protect the
States themselves from insurrection. Are they to be repealed
absolutely?
"No man feels more anxious certainly than I do that the rights
incident to the condition of freedom, which is now as I personally am
glad to believe, the condition of the black race, should not be
violated; but I do not know that there is any more pressing need for
extraordinary legislation to prevent outrages upon that class, by any
thing which is occurring in the Southern States, than there is for
preventing outrages in the loyal States. Crimes are being perpetrated
every day in the very justly-esteemed State from which the honorable
member comes. Hardly a paper fails to give us an account of some most
atrocious and horrible crime. Murders shock the sense of that
community and the sense of the United States very often; and it is not
peculiar to Massachusetts. Moral by her education, and loving freedom
and hating injustice as much as the people of any other State, she yet
is unable to prevent a violation of every principle of human rights,
but we are not for that reason to legislate for her."
Mr. Wilson replied: "The Senator from Maryland says that cruelties and
great crimes are committed in all sections of the country. I know it;
but we have not cruel and inhuman laws to be enforced. Sir, armed men
are traversing portions of the rebel States to-day enforcing these
black laws upon men whom we have made free, and to whom we stand
pledged before man and God to maintain their freedom. A few months ago
these freedmen were joyous, hopeful, confident. To-day they are
distrustful, silent, and sad, and this condition has grown out of the
wrongs and cruelties and oppressions that have been perpetrated upon
them."
Mr. Sherman said: "I believe it is the duty of Congress to give to the
freedmen of the Southern States ample protection in all their natural
rights. With me it is a question simply of time and manner. I submit
to the Senator of Massachusetts whether this is the time for the
introduction of this bill. I believe it would be wiser to postpone all
action upon this subject until the proclamation of the Secretary of
State shall announce that the constitutional amendment is a part of
the supreme law of the land. When that is done, there will then be, in
my judgment, no doubt of the power of Congress to pass this bill, and
to make it definite and general in its terms.
"Then, as I have said, it is a question of manner. When this question
comes to be legislated upon by Congress, I do not wish it to be left
to the uncertain and ambiguous language of this bill. I think that the
rights which we desire to secure to the freedmen of the South should
be distinctly specified.
"The language of this bill is not sufficiently definite and distinct
to inform the people of the United States of precisely the character
of rights intended to be secured by it to the freedmen of the Southern
States. The bill in its terms applies only to those States which were
declared to be in insurrection; and the same criticism would apply to
this part of it that I have already made, that it is not general in
its terms."
Mr. Trumbull made some remarks of great significance, as foreshadowing
important measures soon to occupy the attention of Congress and the
country:
"I hold that under that second section Congress will have the
authority, when the constitutional amendment is adopted, not only to
pass the bill of the Senator from Massachusetts, but a bill that will
be much more efficient to protect the freedman in his rights. We may,
if deemed advisable, continue the Freedman's Bureau, clothe it with
additional powers, and, if necessary, back it up with a military
force, to see that the rights of the men made free by the first clause
of the constitutional amendment are protected. And, sir, when the
constitutional amendment shall have been adopted, if the information
from the South be that the men whose liberties are secured by it are
deprived of the privilege to go and come when they please, to buy and
sell when they please, to make contracts and enforce contracts, I give
notice that, if no one else does, I shall introduce a bill, and urge
its passage through Congress, that will secure to those men every one
of these rights; they would not be freemen without them. It is idle to
say that a man is free who can not go and come at pleasure, who can
not buy and sell, who can not enforce his rights. These are rights
which the first clause of the constitutional amendment meant to secure
to all."
On a subsequent day, December 20, 1865, when this subject was again
before the Senate, Mr. Sumner spoke in its favor. Referring to the
message of the President on the "Condition of the Southern States,"
the Senator said:
"When I think of what occurred yesterday in this chamber; when I call
to mind the attempt to whitewash the unhappy condition of the rebel
States, and to throw the mantle of official oblivion over sickening
and heart-rending outrages, where human rights are sacrificed and
rebel barbarism receives a new letter of license, I feel that I ought
to speak of nothing else. I stood here years ago, in the days of
Kansas, when a small community was surrendered to the machinations of
slave-masters. I now stand here again, when, alas! an immense region,
with millions of people, has been surrendered to the machinations of
slave-masters. Sir, it is the duty of Congress to arrest this fatal
fury. Congress must dare to be brave; it must dare to be just."
After having quoted copiously from the great Russian act by which the
freedom given to the serfs by the Emperor's proclamation "was
secured," and having emphasized them as examples for American
legislation, Mr. Sumner said:
"My colleague is clearly right in introducing his bill and pressing it
to a vote. The argument for it is irresistible. It is essential to
complete emancipation. Without it emancipation will be only _half
done_. It is our duty to see that it is wholly done. Slavery must be
abolished not in form only, but in substance, so that there shall be
no black code; but all shall be equal before the law."
He then read extracts from letters and documents, showing the hostile
sentiments of the people, and the unhappy condition of the colored
population in nearly all of the rebel States, and closed by saying: "I
bring this plain story to a close. I regret that I have been
constrained to present it. I wish it were otherwise. But I should have
failed in duty had I failed to speak. Not in anger, not in vengeance,
not in harshness have I spoken; but solemnly, carefully, and for the
sake of my country and humanity, that peace and reconciliation may
again prevail. I have spoken especially for the loyal citizens who are
now trodden down by rebel power. You have before you the actual
condition of the rebel States. You have heard the terrible testimony.
The blood curdles at the thought of such enormities, and especially at
the thought that the poor freedmen, to whom we owe protection, are
left to the unrestrained will of such a people smarting with defeat,
and ready to wreak vengeance upon these representatives of a true
loyalty. In the name of God let us protect them. Insist upon
guarantees. Pass the bill now under consideration; pass any bill; but
do not let this crying injustice rage any longer. An avenging God can
not sleep while such things find countenance. If you are not ready to
be the Moses of an oppressed people, do not become its Pharaoh."
Mr. Cowan rebuked the Senator from Massachusetts for applying the term
"whitewash" to the message of the President. He then charged Mr.
Sumner with reading from "anonymous letter-writers, from cotton
agents, and people of that kind," and placed against them "the
testimony of the President of the United States, not a summer soldier,
or a sunshine patriot, who was a Union man, and who was in favor of
the Union at a time and in a place when there was some merit in it."
He then proceeded to read extracts from the President's message and
General Grant's report.
On a subsequent day, Mr. Stewart, of Nevada, made a speech in
opposition to the positions assumed by Mr. Sumner. He declared his
opinion that "if the great mass of the people of the South are capable
of the atrocities attributed to them by the anonymous witnesses
paraded before this Senate, then a union of these States is
impossible; then hundreds and thousands of the bravest and best of our
land have fallen to no purpose; then every house, from the gulf to the
lakes, is draped in mourning without an object; then three thousand
millions of indebtedness hangs like a pall upon the pride and
prosperity of the people, only to admonish us that the war was wicked,
useless, and cruel."
After making the remark, "In judging of testimony upon ordinary
subjects, we take into consideration not only the facts stated, but
the character and standing of the witness, his means of information,
and last, but not least, his appearance upon the stand," Mr. Stewart
thus spoke in behalf of the principal witness relied upon in the
defense of the South: "In this great cause, the Senate properly called
upon the chief Executive of the nation for information. Was he a
witness whose character and standing before the country would entitle
his testimony to consideration? Let the voice of a great people, who
have indorsed his patriotism and administration, answer. Were his
means of information such as to entitle him to speak advisedly upon
this subject? Let the machinery of the Government, that collects facts
from every department, civil and military, upon the table of the
Executive, answer. Was not his appearance before the public, in
communicating this testimony to the Senate and the country such as to
remove all grounds of suspicion? Let the exalted tone, bold and
fearless statement, pure and patriotic spirit of both his messages be
his best vindication."
The Senator's remarks were principally directed in opposition to the
policy of regarding the rebel States as "conquered territories." He
finally remarked: "I wish to be distinctly understood as not opposing
the passage of the bill. I am in favor of legislation on this subject,
and such legislation as shall secure the freedom of those who were
formerly slaves, and their equality before the law; and I maintain
that it can be fully secured without holding the Southern States in
territorial subjugation."
Mr. Wilson replied: "The Senator who has just addressed us questions
the testimony adduced here by my colleague yesterday. He might as well
question the massacre at Fort Pillow, and the cruelties perpetrated at
Andersonville, where eighty-three per cent, of the men who entered the
hospitals died--Andersonville, where more American soldiers lie buried
than fell throughout the Mexican war; where more American soldiers lie
buried than were killed in battle of British soldiers in Wellington's
four great battles in Spain, and at Waterloo, Alma, Inkermann, and
Sebastopol. The Senator might as well question the atrocities of
sacked Lawrence and other atrocities committed during the war. If he
will go into the Freedman's Bureau, and examine and study the official
records of officers who, for five or six months, have taken testimony
and have large volumes of sworn facts; if he will go into the office
of General Holt, and read the reports there, his heart and soul will
be made sick at the wrongs man does to his fellow-man."
The Senator, in the course of his remarks, took occasion to express
his opinion of "conservatism:" "Progress is to be made only by
fidelity to the great cause by which we have stood during the past
four years of bloody war. For twenty-five years we had a conflict of
ideas, of words, of thoughts--words and thoughts stronger than
cannon-balls. We have had four years of bloody conflict. Slavery,
every thing that belongs or pertains to it, lies prostrate before us
to-day, and the foot of a regenerated nation is upon it. There let it
lie forever. I hope no words or thoughts of a reactionary character
are to be uttered in either house of Congress. I hope nothing is to be
uttered here in the name of 'conservatism,' the worst word in the
English language. If there is a word in the English language that
means treachery, servility, and cowardice, it is that word
'conservative.' It ought never hereafter to be on the lips of an
American statesman. For twenty years it has stood in America the
synonym of meanness and baseness. I have studied somewhat carefully
the political history of the country during the last fifteen or twenty
years, and I have always noticed that when I heard a man prate about
being a conservative and about conservatism, he was about to do some
mean thing. [Laughter.] I never knew it to fail; in fact, it is about
the first word a man utters when he begins to retreat."
Mr. Wilson declared his motives in proposing this bill, and yet
cheerfully acquiesced in its probable fate: "Having read hundreds of
pages of records and of testimony, enough to make the heart and soul
sick, I proposed this bill as a measure of humanity. I desired, before
we entered on the great questions of public policy, that we should
pass a simple bill annulling these cruel laws; that we should do it
early, and then proceed calmly with our legislation. That was my
motive for bringing this bill into the Senate so early in the session.
Many of the difficulties occurring in the rebel States, between white
men and black men, between the old masters and the freedmen, grow out
of these laws. They are executed in various parts of the States; the
military arrest their execution frequently, and the agents of the
Freedmen's Bureau set them aside; and this keeps up a continual
conflict. If these obnoxious State laws were promptly annulled, it
would contribute much to the restoration of good feeling and harmony,
relieve public officers from immense labors, and the freedmen from
suffering and sorrow; and this is the opinion of the most experienced
men engaged in the Freedmen's Bureau. I have had an opportunity to
consult with and to communicate with many of the agents of the Bureau,
with teachers, officers, and persons who understand the state of
affairs in those States.
"But, sir, it is apparent now that the bill is not to pass at present;
that it must go over for the holidays at any rate. The constitutional
amendment has been adopted, and I have introduced a bill this morning
based upon that amendment, which has been referred to the committee of
which the Senator from Illinois [Mr. Trumbull] is chairman. This bill
will go over; possibly it will not be acted upon at all. We shall
probably enter on the discussion of the broader question of annulling
all the black laws in the country, and putting these people under the
protection of humane, equal, and just laws."
The presentiment of the author of the bill was realized. The bill
never saw the light as a law of the land. Nor was it needful that it
should. It contributed to swell the volume of other and more sweeping
measures.