civilized world has been convulsed by revolutions in the interests of
democracy or of monarchy, but through all those revolutions the United
States have wisely and firmly refused to become propagandists of
republicanism. It is the only government suited to our condition; but
we have never sought to impose it on others, and we have consistently
followed the advice of Washington to recommend it only by the careful
preservation and prudent use of the blessing. During all the
intervening period the policy of European powers and of the United
States has, on the whole, been harmonious. Twice, indeed, rumors of the
invasion of some parts of America in the interest of monarchy have
prevailed; twice my predecessors have had occasion to announce the
views of this nation in respect to such interference. On both occasions
the remonstrance of the United States was respected from a deep
conviction on the part of European Governments that the system of
noninterference and mutual abstinence from propagandism was the true
rule for the two hemispheres. Since those times we have advanced in
wealth and power, but we retain the same purpose to leave the nations
of Europe to choose their own dynasties and form their own systems of
government. This consistent moderation may justly demand a
corresponding moderation. We should regard it as a great calamity to
ourselves, to the cause of good government, and to the peace of the
world should any European power challenge the American people, as it
were, to the defense of republicanism against foreign interference. We
can not foresee and are unwilling to consider what opportunities might
present themselves, what combinations might offer to protect ourselves
against designs inimical to our form of government. The United States
desire to act in the future as they have ever acted heretofore; they
never will be driven from that course but by the aggression of European
powers, and we rely on the wisdom and justice of those powers to
respect the system of noninterference which has so long been sanctioned
by time, and which by its good results has approved itself to both
continents.
The correspondence between the United States and France in reference to
questions which have become subjects of discussion between the two
Governments will at a proper time be laid before Congress.
When, on the organization of our Government under the Constitution, the
President of the United States delivered his inaugural address to the
two Houses of Congress, he said to them, and through them to the
country and to mankind, that--The preservation of the sacred fire of
liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are
justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the
experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people. And the House
of Representatives answered Washington by the voice of Madison: We
adore the Invisible Hand which has led the American people, through so
many difficulties, to cherish a conscious responsibility for the
destiny of republican liberty. More than seventy-six years have glided
away since these words were spoken; the United States have passed
through severer trials than were foreseen; and now, at this new epoch
in our existence as one nation, with our Union purified by sorrows and
strengthened by conflict and established by the virtue of the people,
the greatness of the occasion invites us once more to repeat with
solemnity the pledges of our fathers to hold ourselves answerable
before our fellow-men for the success of the republican form of
government. Experience has proved its sufficiency in peace and in war;
it has vindicated its authority through dangers and afflictions, and
sudden and terrible emergencies, which would have crushed any system
that had been less firmly fixed in the hearts of the people. At the
inauguration of Washington the foreign relations of the country were
few and its trade was repressed by hostile regulations; now all the
civilized nations of the globe welcome our commerce, and their
governments profess toward us amity. Then our country felt its way
hesitatingly along an untried path, with States so little bound
together by rapid means of communication as to be hardly known to one
another, and with historic traditions extending over very few years;
now intercourse between the States is swift and intimate; the
experience of centuries has been crowded into a few generations, and
has created an intense, indestructible nationality. Then our
jurisdiction did not reach beyond the inconvenient boundaries of the
territory which had achieved independence; now, through cessions of
lands, first colonized by Spain and France, the country has acquired a
more complex character, and has for its natural limits the chain of
lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east and the west the two great
oceans. Other nations were wasted by civil wars for ages before they
could establish for themselves the necessary degree of unity; the
latent conviction that our form of government is the best ever known to
the world has enabled us to emerge from civil war within four years
with a complete vindication of the constitutional authority of the
General Government and with our local liberties and State institutions
unimpaired.
The throngs of emigrants that crowd to our shores are witnesses of the
confidence of all peoples in our permanence. Here is the great land of
free labor, where industry is blessed with unexampled rewards and the
bread of the workingman is sweetened by the consciousness that the
cause of the country "is his own cause, his own safety, his own
dignity." Here everyone enjoys the free use of his faculties and the
choice of activity as a natural right. Here, under the combined
influence of a fruitful soil, genial climes, and happy institutions,
population has increased fifteen-fold within a century. Here, through
the easy development of boundless resources, wealth has increased with
twofold greater rapidity than numbers, so that we have become secure
against the financial vicissitudes of other countries and, alike in
business and in opinion, are self-centered and truly independent. Here
more and more care is given to provide education for everyone born on
our soil. Here religion, released from political connection with the
civil government, refuses to subserve the craft of statesmen, and
becomes in its independence the spiritual life of the people. Here
toleration is extended to every opinion, in the quiet certainty that
truth needs only a fair field to secure the victory. Here the human
mind goes forth unshackled in the pursuit of science, to collect stores
of knowledge and acquire an ever-increasing mastery over the forces of
nature. Here the national domain is offered and held in millions of
separate freeholds, so that our fellow-citizens, beyond the occupants
of any other part of the earth, constitute in reality a people. Here
exists the democratic form of government; and that form of government,
by the confession of European statesmen, "gives a power of which no
other form is capable, because it incorporates every man with the state
and arouses everything that belongs to the soul."
Where in past history does a parallel exist to the public happiness
which is within the reach of the people of the United States? Where in
any part of the globe can institutions be found so suited to their
habits or so entitled to their love as their own free Constitution?
Every one of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his home,
must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not now acknowledge, in the
words of Washington, that "every step by which the people of the United
States have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to
have been distinguished by some token of providential agency"? Who will
not join with me in the prayer that the Invisible Hand which has led us
through the clouds that gloomed around our path will so guide us onward
to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection that we of this day may
be able to transmit our great inheritance of State governments in all
their rights, of the General Government in its whole constitutional
vigor, to our posterity, and they to theirs through countless
generations?
***
State of the Union Address
Andrew Johnson
December 3, 1866
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
After a brief interval the Congress of the United States resumes its
annual legislative labors. An all-wise and merciful Providence has
abated the pestilence which visited our shores, leaving its calamitous
traces upon some portions of our country. Peace, order, tranquillity,
and civil authority have been formally declared to exist throughout the
whole of the United States. In all of the States civil authority has
superseded the coercion of arms, and the people, by their voluntary
action, are maintaining their governments in full activity and complete
operation. The enforcement of the laws is no longer "obstructed in any
State by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings," and the animosities engendered by the
war are rapidly yielding to the beneficent influences of our free
institutions and to the kindly effects of unrestricted social and
commercial intercourse. An entire restoration of fraternal feeling must
be the earnest wish of every patriotic heart; and we will have
accomplished our grandest national achievement when, forgetting the sad
events of the past and remembering only their instructive lessons, we
resume our onward career as a free, prosperous, and united people.
In my message of the 4th of December, 1865, Congress was informed of
the measures which had been instituted by the Executive with a view to
the gradual restoration of the States in which the insurrection
occurred to their relations with the General Government. Provisional
governors had been appointed, conventions called, governors elected,
legislatures assembled, and Senators and Representatives chosen to the
Congress of the United States. Courts had been opened for the
enforcement of laws long in abeyance. The blockade had been removed,
custom-houses reestablished, and the internal-revenue laws put in
force, in order that the people might contribute to the national
income. Postal operations had been renewed, and efforts were being made
to restore them to their former condition of efficiency. The States
themselves had been asked to take Dart in the high function of amending
the Constitution, and of thus sanctioning the extinction of African
slavery as one of the legitimate results of our internecine struggle.
Having progressed thus far, the executive department found that it had
accomplished nearly all that was within the scope of its constitutional
authority. One thing, however, yet remained to be done before the work
of restoration could be completed, and that was the admission to
Congress of loyal Senators and Representatives from the States whose
people had rebelled against the lawful authority of the General
Government. This question devolved upon the respective Houses, which by
the Constitution are made the judges of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of their own members, and its consideration at once
engaged the attention of Congress.
In the meantime the executive department--no other plan having been
proposed by Congress--continued its efforts to perfect, as far as was
practicable, the restoration of the proper relations between the
citizens of the respective States, the States, and the Federal
Government, extending from time to time, as the public interests seemed
to require, the judicial, revenue, and postal systems of the country.
With the advice and consent of the Senate, the necessary officers were
appointed and appropriations made by Congress for the payment of their
salaries. The proposition to amend the Federal Constitution, so as to
prevent the existence of slavery within the United States or any place
subject to their jurisdiction, was ratified by the requisite number of
States, and on the 18th day of December, 1865, it was officially
declared to have become valid as a part of the Constitution of the
United States. All of the States in which the insurrection had existed
promptly amended their constitutions so as to make them conform to the
great change thus effected in the organic law of the land; declared
null and void all ordinances and laws of secession; repudiated all
pretended debts and obligations created for the revolutionary purposes
of the insurrection, and proceeded in good faith to the enactment of
measures for the protection and amelioration of the condition of the
colored race. Congress, however, yet hesitated to admit any of these
States to representation, and it was not until toward the close of the
eighth month of the session that an exception was made in favor of
Tennessee by the admission of her Senators and Representatives.
I deem it a subject of profound regret that Congress has thus far
failed to admit to seats loyal Senators and Representatives from the
other States whose inhabitants, with those of Tennessee, had engaged in
the rebellion. Ten States--more than one-fourth of the whole
number--remain without representation; the seats of fifty members in
the House of Representatives and of twenty members in the Senate are
yet vacant, not by their own consent, not by a failure of election, but
by the refusal of Congress to accept their credentials. Their
admission, it is believed, would have accomplished much toward the
renewal and strengthening of our relations as one people and removed
serious cause for discontent on the part of the inhabitants of those
States. It would have accorded with the great principle enunciated in
the Declaration of American Independence that no people ought to bear
the burden of taxation and yet be denied the right of representation.
It would have been in consonance with the express provisions of the
Constitution that "each State shall have at least one Representative"
and "that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal
suffrage in the Senate." These provisions were intended to secure to
every State and to the people of every State the right of
representation in each House of Congress; and so important was it
deemed by the framers of the Constitution that the equality of the
States in the Senate should be preserved that not even by an amendment
of the Constitution can any State, without its consent, be denied a
voice in that branch of the National Legislature.
It is true it has been assumed that the existence of the States was
terminated by the rebellious acts of their inhabitants, and that, the
insurrection having been suppressed, they were thenceforward to be
considered merely as conquered territories. The legislative, executive,
and judicial departments of the Government have, however, with Heat
distinctness and uniform consistency, refused to sanction an assumption
so incompatible with the nature of our republican system and with the
professed objects of the war. Throughout the recent legislation of
Congress the undeniable fact makes itself apparent that these ten
political communities are nothing less than States of this Union. At
the very commencement of the rebellion each House declared, with a
unanimity as remarkable as it was significant, that the war was not
"waged upon our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose
of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering
with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to
defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made
in pursuance thereof, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity,
equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon
as these objects" were "accomplished the war ought to cease." In some
instances Senators were permitted to continue their legislative
functions, while in other instances Representatives were elected and
admitted to seats after their States had formally declared their right
to withdraw from the Union and were endeavoring to maintain that right
by force of arms. All of the States whose people were in insurrection,
as States, were included in the apportionment of the direct tax of
$20,000,000 annually laid upon the United States by the act approved
5th August, 1861. Congress, by the act of March 4, 1862, and by the
apportionment of representation thereunder also recognized their
presence as States in the Union; and they have, for judicial purposes,
been divided into districts, as States alone can be divided. The same
recognition appears in the recent legislation in reference to
Tennessee, which evidently rests upon the fact that the functions of
the State were not destroyed by the rebellion, but merely suspended;
and that principle is of course applicable to those States which, like
Tennessee, attempted to renounce their places in the Union.
The action of the executive department of the Government upon this
subject has been equally definite and uniform, and the purpose of the
war was specifically stated in the proclamation issued by my
predecessor on the 22d day of September, 1862. It was then solemnly
proclaimed and declared "that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be
prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional
relation between the United States and each of the States and the
people thereof in which States that relation is or may be suspended or
disturbed."
The recognition of the States by the judicial department of the
Government has also been dear and conclusive in all proceedings
affecting them as States had in the Supreme, circuit, and district
courts. In the admission of Senators and Representatives from any and
all of the States there can be no just ground of apprehension that
persons who are disloyal will be clothed with the powers of
legislation, for this could not happen when the Constitution and the
laws are enforced by a vigilant and faithful Congress. Each House is
made the "judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its
own members," and may, "with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a
member." When a Senator or Representative presents his certificate of
election, he may at once be admitted or rejected; or, should there be
any question as to his eligibility, his credentials may be referred for
investigation to the appropriate committee. If admitted to a seat, it
must be upon evidence satisfactory to the House of which he thus
becomes a member that he possesses the requisite constitutional and
legal qualifications. If refused admission as a member for want of due
allegiance to the Government and returned to his constituents, they are
admonished that none but persons loyal to the United States will be
allowed a voice in the legislative councils of the nation, and the
political power and moral influence of Congress are thus effectively
exerted in the interests of loyalty to the Government and fidelity to
the Union. Upon this question, so vitally affecting the restoration of
the Union and the permanency of our present form of government, my
convictions, heretofore expressed, have undergone no change, but, on
the contrary, their correctness has been confirmed by reflection and
time. If the admission of loyal members to seats in the respective
Houses of Congress was wise and expedient a year ago, it is no less
wise and expedient now. If this anomalous condition is right now--if in
the exact condition of these States at the present time it is lawful to
exclude them from representation--I do not see that the question will
be changed by the efflux of time. Ten years hence, if these States
remain as they are, the right of representation will be no stronger,
the right of exclusion will be no weaker.
The Constitution of the United States makes it the duty of the
President to recommend to the consideration of Congress "such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient." I know of no measure more
imperatively demanded by every consideration of national interest,
sound policy, and equal justice than the admission of loyal members
from the now unrepresented States. This would consummate the work of
restoration and exert a most salutary influence in the reestablishment
of peace, harmony, and fraternal feeling. It would tend greatly to
renew the confidence of the American people in the vigor and stability
of their institutions. It would bind us more closely together as a
nation and enable us to show to the world the inherent and recuperative
power of a government founded upon the will of the people and
established upon the principles of liberty, justice, and intelligence.
Our increased strength and enhanced prosperity would irrefragably
demonstrate the fallacy of the arguments against free institutions
drawn from our recent national disorders by the enemies of republican
government. The admission of loyal members from the States now excluded
from Congress, by allaying doubt and apprehension, would turn capital
now awaiting an opportunity for investment into the channels of trade
and industry. It would alleviate the present troubled condition of
those States, and by inducing emigration aid in the settlement of
fertile regions now uncultivated and lead to an increased production of
those staples which have added so greatly to the wealth of the nation
and commerce of the world. New fields of enterprise would be opened to
our progressive people and soon the devastations of war would be
repaired and all traces of our domestic differences effaced from the
minds of our countrymen.
In our efforts to preserve "the unity of government which constitutes
as one people" by restoring the States to the condition which they held
prior to the rebellion, we should be cautious, lest, having rescued our
nation from perils of threatened disintegration, we resort to
consolidation, and in the end absolute despotism, as a remedy for the
recurrence of similar troubles. The war having terminated, and with it
all occasion for the exercise of powers of doubtful constitutionality,
we should hasten to bring legislation within the boundaries prescribed
by the Constitution and to return to the ancient landmarks established
by our fathers for the guidance of succeeding generations. The
constitution which at any time exists till changed by an explicit and
authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all. If
in the opinion of the people the distribution or modification of the
constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected
by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates; but let
there be no change by usurpation, for it is the customary weapon by
which free governments are destroyed. Washington spoke these words to
his countrymen when, followed by their love and gratitude, he
voluntarily retired from the cares of public life. "To keep in all
things within the pale of our constitutional powers and cherish the
Federal Union as the only rock of safety" were prescribed by Jefferson
as rules of action to endear to his "countrymen the true principles of
their Constitution and promote a union of sentiment and action, equally
auspicious to their happiness and safety." Jackson held that the action
of the General Government should always be strictly confined to the
sphere of its appropriate duties, and justly and forcibly urged that
our Government is not to be maintained nor our Union preserved "by
invasions of the rights and powers of the several States. In thus
attempting to make our General Government strong we make it weak. Its
true strength consists in leaving individuals and States as much as
possible to themselves; in making itself felt, not in its power, but in
its beneficence; not in its control, but in its protection; not in
binding the States more closely to the center, but leaving each to move
unobstructed in its proper constitutional orbit." These are the
teachings of men whose deeds and services have made them illustrious,
and who, long since withdrawn from the scenes of life, have left to
their country the rich legacy of their example, their wisdom, and their
patriotism. Drawing fresh inspiration from their lessons, let us
emulate them in love of country and respect for the Constitution and
the laws.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury affords much information
respecting the revenue and commerce of the country. His views upon the
currency and with reference to a proper adjustment of our revenue
system, internal as well as impost, are commended to the careful
consideration of Congress. In my last annual message I expressed my
general views upon these subjects. I need now only call attention to
the necessity of carrying into every department of the Government a
system of rigid accountability, thorough retrenchment, and wise
economy. With no exceptional nor unusual expenditures, the oppressive
burdens of taxation can be lessened by such a modification of our
revenue laws as will be consistent with the public faith and the
legitimate and necessary wants of the Government.