In this country there is but one “institution,” as all the world
knows, and the phrase “and institutions,” when carefully introduced,
means only one institution, which I need not name.
Mr. Trumbull united with Mr. Sumner in criticizing the bill.
“I was for it in the Committee; but since I have seen the
operation of these laws in the Southern States, and the
manner in which persons acting in behalf of the United
States undertake to execute them, I have changed my opinion
in regard to the propriety of such a clause as this, and I
agree with the Senator from Massachusetts. I cannot consent
by my vote, and I never will consent by my vote, to give
sanction to a law that punishes a man for teaching another
to read the word of God.”
The bill was allowed to drop. But this debate had its influence
in showing how impossible it was to recognize “institutions”
existing in a State before the Rebellion. Slavery and the Black
Code were not to obtain license under any such terms. Here was
a point in Reconstruction.