Reconstruction in the South—Great Progress in Education—The Fifteenth Amendment—Message of President Grant—Certificate of Mr. Secretary Fish Regarding the Same—Great Joy Over Amendment—It Goes to Work.

General Grant had been elected President of the United States in 1868 for his first term of office. In 1872 he carried the Southern States once more. He met with but little opposition in the South. Colored lieutenant-governors were elected in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, in which three States the colored population is far greater than the white. The States of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina had colored men in their Houses of Representatives, and Mississippi had them also in her Senate House. Many of the most important offices in the Southern States were held by men of color. But by the year 1875 the white leaders in the Republican party had become intimidated by the Ku-Klux-Klan, and were quite driven out or destroyed by that deadly shot-gun. Thus the colored men in the legislatures were abandoned to their fate, and the presence of the United States Army became necessary to support them at elections, whilst they held office, and carried on the State governments. The whole South was in a bad way, and things had gone on from bad to worse. The sullen and stubborn leaders of the late rebellion had refused to lend a hand in building up the State governments once more, which they had torn down, and the Northern government of the whole nation had committed the reconstruction of the late rebel States to hands as yet far too feeble at such a time, and that was, namely, to colored men, many of whom had little experience before with carpet-baggers and scalawags. At the same time there did not seem to be any others who could be trusted by the national government to carry on the business of the Southern States. Even colored men, carpet-baggers and scalawags were either heartily or formally Republicans, and could be trusted by the Washington authorities in acting loyally and faithfully in the discharge of their duties at least. I am unable to see how the Washington government can be much blamed for committing the care of the Southern States to hands so feeble, so long as there did not seem to be anybody else to rule, and the late rebels themselves were still in too sullen a mood to lend a hand in the governments.

But during all these unhappy years that followed the close of the war there was one thing that did not miscarry, and that was the great march of the emancipated slaves on the road to progress, and everything that tends to elevate and ennoble a nation. The fostering national government, the churches of the North, and all that which was best in this great republic, were straining themselves to the very utmost to lift up the entire redeemed race by affording them the best education that they could possibly bestow. Teachers still flocked down from the North in great numbers, all kinds of schools were opened, and institutes and colleges were set on float for the benefit of the boys and girls, and young men and young women, who wished to attend them. There was no branch of education that was not supplied to the white race that was not also supplied to the colored. And not only did children and youths attend those schools, but even men and women; parents and grandparents in thousands took up their spelling-books and first readers, and went to work with a hearty good will, and learned to read, write and spell with great rapidity. The progress that the emancipated race made in the line of education was perfectly marvelous, and astonished the whole nation. Even old preachers, who had been preaching the gospel for fifty years, went to work and learned how to read the Bible; they learned how to write letters and work arithmetic for the first time in their lives. It had been charged often enough that the colored race were unfitted by nature to learn this, that and other things. The studied policy of the slave-holders was, not to give them a chance, and then to tell a willful falsehood. But now that all were free, they rushed in at once, and showed the whole world that they were as capable of learning as any other race under the sun. Nay, more! They even crossed the oceans, and were recognized by all the nations on the face of the earth!

Nor did the people only learn how to read, write and work arithmetic, but all kinds of industrial schools were started throughout the South; first in one place, then in another, so that the young men learned different trades, and thus qualified themselves to learn a living in coming years. And they not only learned, but they learned well, were ambitious to excel, took naturally to it, and earned the good will and praise of their teachers. In short, after the war was over, the South was both cursed and blessed by a race of "volunteers," who came down from the North, and whose mission was to take advantage of the new state of things. The curse came in with those carpet-baggers, who came to take all they could get, and hold on as long as ever they could. It is true that they were not all bad, for indeed they ran all the way from good to middling. But they have generally been looked upon as a set of rapacious men, who came down to help themselves first, last and all the time; and when all was done, if anybody else could be benefitted by them, so much the better!

But with the teachers things were altogether different. They can in no sense be compared with the carpet-baggers, for they were a perfect blessing—all of them, or nearly all, being "volunteers" for the South, and for the benefit of freedmen, and for them alone. They were sent forth, as I have stated before, by the churches and societies of the North, and the national government encouraged them and their efforts in every possible way. And not only were public schools set on foot all over the land, but there were a great many who opened private schools, and thus the work went merrily on. And the walls of the new educational structure began to rise rapidly on all sides, "for the people had a mind to work," and, as the ancient Romans said, "Labor conquers all things."

And even to the very day and time whilst I am now writing, I have great pleasure in informing my kind reader that the work goes on, and still goes on well. Beginning gradually at the close of the war, nay, I might almost say, in some places before the close of the war—schools and colleges for all studies were set on foot, either South or North, some for the training of young colored men and women, who were destined to become teachers of their own race throughout the land; some were institutes or colleges for the study of law, medicine, music, elocution and a variety of other subjects. And the work still continues and extends in all directions, and promises to unfold itself more and more as the years go by. At the present time there are many beautiful private schools and seminaries in many parts of the South where young colored ladies exclusively are sent to be educated, and they are splendidly educated, too. And inasmuch as the colored race are born to excel in music, many of them have come to the front, and in the departments of music and song they have shone brightly in the nation, and in distant lands also, where they have no prejudice to contend with. But though the color line has by no means been wiped out yet, even in the Northern States, it must in all fairness be stated that colored youths and maidens are freely permitted to pursue their studies in almost all the schools and colleges of the land; and it is only where race prejudice exists, and the last dregs thereof prevail, that the children of African descent are barred from entering. But time changes all things; God alone cannot be changed—new generations will arise who will entirely sweep the evil past away!

The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution had been passed, securing the race in their personal and civil rights as freemen before the common law of the United States; but as yet colored men could not vote, and the Republican party, as a just and defensive measure, considered that it would be well to arm those who had formerly been slaves with all the rights of citizens, even as others. This brought up the question of a new amendment to the Constitution. It was to be a new dress in which the new citizens were to be clothed before the work was complete. There was opposition enough to this in some quarters; of course, it never was once intended to ask such men as Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee for their consent. Even if many of the colored men were uneducated, they were as good, if not better, than a wicked and intelligent rebel. The rebels (as they were still commonly called), would rather pull the national government down to the ground than restore it, but the entire ransomed race desired to build it up. Politically, and also from a sense of gratitude for their freedom, they belonged to the Republican party, and therefore they were perfectly right in siding with the Republicans on every and all occasions. Besides, the right for colored men to vote was bound to come forward sometime or other, and it might just as well come now as hereafter. Ignorance on their part was much better than the studied opposition on the part of the rebels. And I doubt very much whether the most illiterate colored man did not know more about the American Constitution than those ignorant hordes of Europeans who are almost weekly dumped down on our shores, who neither know nor care anything about our Constitution, and who never even heard of the name of George Washington. If this was not so serious a matter, I could almost laugh at the thought of the ignorance of those foreigners.

Besides, if colored men were in many cases unfit for the franchise, it was no bad thing to give it them at once anyhow, because it would stimulate the nation at large to push their complete education along, and the race themselves would now have a far more powerful motive to acquire knowledge than they had ever had before. Therefore, there was a very great deal of interest taken by the nation at large in the passage of the new amendment to the Constitution that was destined to place black men upon the self-same footing with white men. The white Republicans also considered that they were indebted to colored soldiers for the restoration of the Union to the tune of at least 200,000 brave, heroic men, and that they owed them the right to vote.

The necessary three-fourths of all the States of the Union having voted in their legislatures in favor of the passage of the new amendment to the Constitution, President Grant deemed the new measure of such vast importance that he went out of the usual mode adopted upon such occasions, and addressed the following special message on the subject to Congress, for the purpose of still further enhancing its importance in the eyes of the Senate and House of Representatives, and, in short, of the whole American people:

"SPECIAL MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT GRANT ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.

"To the Senate and House of Representatives:

"It is unusual to notify the two houses of Congress, by message, of the promulgation by proclamation of the Secretary of State of the ratification of a Constitutional Amendment. In view, however, of the vast importance of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution this day declared a part of the revered instrument, I deem a departure from the usual custom justifiable. A measure which makes at once four millions of people voters, who were heretofore declared by the highest tribunal in the land not citizens of the United States, nor eligible to become so (with the assertion that, at the time of the Declaration of Independence, the opinion was fixed and universal in the civilized portion of the white race, regarded as an axiom in morals as well as politics, that black men had no rights which the white man was bound to respect) is indeed a measure of grander importance than any other one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the present day.

"Institutions like ours, in which all power is derived directly from the people, must depend mainly upon their intelligence, patriotism, and industry. I call the attention, therefore, of the newly-enfranchised race to the importance of their new privilege. To the race more favored heretofore by our laws, I would say, withhold no legal privilege of advancement to the new citizen. The framers of our Constitution firmly believed that a republican government could not endure without intelligence and education generally diffused among the people. The 'Father of his country,' in his farewell address, uses this language, 'Promote, then, as a matter of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of the government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.' In his first annual message to Congress, the same views are forcibly presented, and are again urged in his eighth message.

"I repeat that the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the most important event that has occurred since the nation came into life. The change will be beneficial in proportion to the need that is given to the urgent recommendations of Washington. If these recommendations were important then, with a population of but a few millions, how much more now with a population of forty millions, and increasing in rapid ratio.

"I would therefore call upon Congress to take all the means within their Constitutional power to promote and encourage popular education throughout the country; and upon the people everywhere to see to it that all who possess and exercise political rights shall have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge which will make their share in the government a blessing and not a danger. By such means only can the benefits contemplated by this amendment to the Constitution be secured.

"Executive Mansion, March 30, 1870.

"U. S. GRANT."

On account of the vast importance of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and its direct bearing upon the elevation of the colored race, and the immediate amelioration of their condition, I will here append the certificate of Mr. Secretary Fish respecting ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, March 30, 1870:

"Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State of the United States.

"To all to whom these presents may come, greeting,

"Know ye that the Congress of the United States, on or about the 27th day of February, in the year 1869, passed a resolution in the words and figures following, to wit:

"A resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be proposed to the legislature, shall be valid as part of the Constitution, namely,

"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

"Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

"And, Further, that it appears, from official documents on file in this department, that the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the legislatures of the States of North Carolina, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Maine, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Nevada, Vermont, Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Texas, in all, twenty-nine States.

"And, Further, that the States whose legislatures have so ratified the said proposed amendment constitute three-fourths of the whole number of States in the United States.

"And, Further, that it appears, from an official document on file in this department, that the legislature of the State of New York has since passed resolutions claiming to withdraw the said ratification of the said amendment, which had been made by the legislature of that State, and of which official notice had been filed in the department.

"And, Further, that it appears from an official document on file in this department, that the legislature of Georgia has by resolution ratified the said proposed amendment.

"Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the Second Section of the Act of Congress, approved the 20th day of April, 1818, entitled, An act to provide for the publication of the Laws of the United States, and for other purposes, do hereby certify that the amendment aforesaid has become valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the Constitution of the United States.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the Department of State to be affixed.

"Done at the City of Washington, this 20th day of March, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and seventy; and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-fourth.

"SEAL.

"HAMILTON FISH."

Thus, as will be seen above, the ever-glorious Fifteenth Amendment became a part of the American Constitution, and the same was made known to the remotest bounds of the Republic.

"Arise, shine forth, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee!" Such is the language of Holy Scripture, and it expresses well the sudden outburst of the joy that filled the hearts of the entire colored race when the Fifteenth Amendment became the law of the land. Then, indeed, did the colored soldier feel that he had a country, and that he had not fought and bled in vain for the cause of freedom and the Union! Then did all colored men and women feel, indeed, that they were men and women among other full-fledged citizens of the United States! Then did they feel, in the celebrated words of Robert Burns, the Scotch poet, that "An honest man, though e'er so poor, is king of men for all that!" If the Emancipation Proclamation called forth a tremendous flood of thankfulness and gratitude, if even the fall of Richmond and the freeing of the last slave called for shouts of joy and rejoicing, much more—yea, ten times more—did the publication of the Fifteenth Amendment exercise the entire redeemed race from the very bottom of their hearts! Their forefathers had been stolen away from Africa; they had been brought here. This was their home, such as it was. They had no other country but the United States. Now, the new amendment to the Constitution had put the right to vote into their hands, the same as others—just the same as others, and they most loyally sent up a shout of joy that reached from Maine to the Rio Grande river, and that shout arose to Heaven and entered into the ears of the celestials.

Where, now, was the doctrine, indeed, "That the descendants of the African race had no rights that a white man was bound to respect?" Who ever gave "the white man" the right to use such language, unless it was wickedly presumed by his own presumptuous and lying arrogance? The white race only compose a small portion of the human race. According to tradition, Adam was as brown as a bun; and certainly our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ must have been a very dark-complexioned man? Does anybody mean to say that Adam and the Lord Jesus had no right to be respected because they were as brown as a bun in complexion? Like the so-called "divine right of kings," such language was nothing but a wilful and deliberate falsehood, for the entire race of man have rights to be respected—the one as much as the other. How passeth away the glory of this world! Behold your millions of people gloriously set free, and after a long and fearful war pronounced full-fledged citizens, even as others! If the ransomed race formerly rejoiced when they felt their bodily chains fall off, much more did they rejoice when they were invested with the same rights as the rest of the American nation, and could vote like the freemen that they were! It is true that in the sight of God and all justice (both divine and human) they were always men, they had always rights that other men were bound to respect, but now we had the full confession of those rights from all the rest of our own compatriots, who fully and freely admitted, that all their rights were ours also and justice, though long delayed, was done at last!

The colored people were now in full possession of their political rights for the first time, and many new things happened that passed for a great wonder in the history of the nation. Hiram B. Revels took his seat as United States Senator for Mississippi on the 25th of February, 1870. It was from the self-same State that Jefferson Davis hailed, for he was Senator for Mississippi until he resigned his seat and went out with the rest of the rebels. Nine brief years had passed away; for four and a half years the civil war had raged; the curse of slavery had disappeared from the land, and now came Hiram B. Revels from Mississippi, from which the head of the Southern Confederacy had come in former days! Most assuredly this was the Lord's work, and it was wondrous in our eyes!

It was just one year from the day and hour when Senator Revels took his seat in the United States Senate that Jefferson F. Long, also a colored man, was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives from the State of Georgia—the State of Alexander H. Stephens, who had been vice-president of the late Confederate States! It was that same Stephens who had put forth the idea in a speech of his own immediately after he was made vice-president, that slavery should be the corner-stone of the new government of Secessia!

Then the United States Government sent E. D. Bassett, a colored man from Pennsylvania, as Minister-Resident and Consul-General to the Republic of Hayti, in the West Indies. This was carrying things on at quite a lively rate, indeed. Nor was this all. President Grant then turned around, and sent J. Milton Turner, a colored man from Missouri, as Minister-Resident and Consul-General to the Republic of Liberia, in Western Africa. It is true that Hayti and Liberia are not nations of the first rank in power and population, but they are at least as respectable as any, and the time must yet come when ambassadors of the colored race will be appointed to the first nations on earth. President Grant was at least making a good beginning, and as he had been a soldier, like the lion, he had nothing to fear!

About this time Frederick Douglass had been made a Presidential Elector for the great Empire State of New York, and he helped to cast the vote for that State for General Grant upon his election for the second term, in 1872. Times were indeed mightily changed with Frederick Douglass since he was a young man, and fled away from Baltimore in the disguise of a sailor, passing through New York City, which was then almost as much opposed to freedom of the slaves as the State of Georgia.

Well does the English poet say, "Slavery there has lost the day!" The ballot was now in the hands of the colored man as well as others. He had tilled the fertile soil of the United States for two hundred and fifty years; he had now lent a vigorous hand in three wars, and had completely won his right and title to full-fledged citizenship, with all the honors and powers that it carries with it. All Abolitionists and true-hearted Republicans rejoiced at the spectacle, whilst the late arch-rebels and others of that ilk were depressed at the changes!