In 1864 I introduced a series of resolutions in the House of
Representatives in the form of a Declaration of Opinion in regard to
the legal status of the States in rebellion. At that time the country
and Congress had no doubt of our ability to crush the rebellion, and
the public mind was occupied with various theories of reconstruction.
The resolutions had been already adopted by the National Union League.
I prepared them at the instance of Governor Claflin and their
adoption by the League had made the policy known to a large body of
active Republicans. I did not seek to secure their adoption by the
House of Representatives. The resolutions were in this form:
_"Resolved,_ That the Committee on the Rebellious States be instructed
to consider and report upon the expediency of recommending to this
House the adoption of the following
_Declaration of Opinions:_
"In view of the present condition of the country, and especially in
regard to the recent signal successes of the national arms promising
a speedy overthrow of the rebellion, this House makes the following
declaration of opinion concerning the institution of slavery in the
States and parts of States engaged in the rebellion, and embraced in
the proclamation of emancipation issued by the President on the first
day of January, A. D. 1863: and also concerning the relations now
subsisting between the people of such States and parts of States on
the one side, and the American Union on the other.
_"It is therefore declared_ (as the opinion of the House of
Representatives), that the institution of slavery was the cause of the
present rebellion, and that the destruction of slavery in the
rebellious States is an efficient means of weakening the power of the
rebels; that the President's proclamation whereby all persons
heretofore held as slaves in such States and parts of States have been
declared free, has had the effect to increase the power of the Union,
and to diminish the power of its enemies; that the freedom of such
persons was desirable and just in itself, and an efficient means by
which the Government was to be maintained, and its authority re-
established in all the territory and over all the people within the
legal jurisdiction of the United States; that it is the duty of the
Government and of loyal men everywhere to do what may be practicable
for the enforcement of the proclamation, in order to secure in fact,
as well as by the forms of law, the extinction of slavery in such
States and parts of States; and, finally, that it is the paramount
duty of the Government and of all loyal men to labor for the
restoration of the American Union upon the basis of freedom.
_"And this House does further declare,_ That a State can exist or cease
to exist only by the will of the people within its limits, and that it
cannot be created or destroyed by the external force or opinion of
other States, or even by the judgment or action of the nation itself;
that a State, when created by the will of its people, can become a
member of the American Union only by its own organized action and the
concurrent action of the existing National Government, that, when a
State has been admitted to the Union, no vote, resolution, ordinance,
or proceeding on its part, however formal in character or vigorously
sustained, can deprive the National Government of the legal
jurisdiction and sovereignty over the territory and people of such
State which existed previous to the act of admission, or which were
acquired thereby; that the effect of the so-called acts, resolutions
and ordinances of secession adopted by the eleven States engaged in
the present rebellion is, and can only be, to destroy those political
organizations as States, while the legal and constitutional
jurisdiction and authority of the National Government over the people
and territory remain unimpaired; that these several communities can be
organized into States only by the will of the loyal people, expressed
freely and in the absence of all coercion; that States so organized can
become States of the American Union only when they shall have applied
for admission, and their admission shall have been authorized by the
existing National Government; that, when a people have organized a
State upon basis of allegiance to the Union and applied for admission,
the character of the institutions of such proposed State may constitute
a sufficient justification for granting or rejecting such application;
and, inasmuch as experience has shown that the existence of human
slavery is incompatible with a republican form of government, in the
several States or in the United States, and inconsistent with the
peace, prosperity and unity of the nation, it is the duty of the people
and of all men in authority, to resist the admission of slave States
wherever organized within the jurisdiction of the National Government."
The logical consequence of these positions was that upon the conquest
of the States engaged in the rebellion the National Government could
govern the people as seemed expedient and readmit them into the Union
at such times and upon such terms as the Government should dictate.
They antagonized the doctrine then accepted by many Republicans--
"Once a State always a State"--a doctrine that would have transferred
the government at once into the hands of the men who had been engaged
in an effort to destroy it.
Mr. Sumner was wiser in this respect. His theory that the
rebellious States should be reduced to a Territorial condition was in
harmony with the views that were embodied in the resolutions. At the
time, however, they did not receive the support of all the members of
the Republican Party.
Mr. Stevens maintained the doctrine that the rebel States were
conquered States and wholly subject to the power of the conqueror.
In his view their previous condition as States in the Union had no
value. But Mr. Stevens was never troubled by the absence of logic or
argument. In the case of the rebel States he intended to assert power
enough to meet the exigency and he was free of all fear as to the
judgement of posterity. When he had formed a purpose he looked only
to the end. If he could command the adequate means he left all
questions of logic and ethics to other minds and to future times.
Others maintained that the theory that the States were in a Territorial
condition or that they had ceased to exist as States, was an admission
of the doctrine of secession. Mr. Lincoln in his last public address
cut clear of all theories and resolved the situation into a simple
statement of a fact to which all were compelled to assent: "We all
agree, that the seceded States so-called, are out of their proper
practical relations with the Union." On this basis Congress finally
acted, but during the process and progress of reconstruction the
military authority was absolute, and local and individual powers were
completely subordinated to the authority of the General Government.