The Emancipation Proclamation did not affect, as is well known, the status of slaves in the loyal border States or in the excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana. The State of Tennessee, too, as we have seen, was not named in the edict of freedom; that was published by the President simply as a measure of military necessity, and was not regarded by him or by others as operative to prevent, when war had ceased, a revival of servitude in the insurgent States, for negroes could easily be imported from those loyal commonwealths still tolerating that institution. It was uncertain, too, how the proclamation would affect the status of slaves in those districts not yet overrun by the Union armies. In the border States, in Tennessee and in the excepted parts of Louisiana and Virginia there were probably 2,000,000 men in bondage. In order, then, to abolish universally as well as permanently to prohibit involuntary servitude an amendment of the Constitution was proposed in the familiar language of the sixth section of the ordinance of 1787. Though it passed the Senate, April 8, 1864, it failed at that time to receive in the House the requisite two thirds vote. It has been seen how upon the recommendation of Mr. Lincoln it was reconsidered and passed by the Representatives at a succeeding session, January 31, 1865, and submitted to the States for their action. It was adopted by his own State, Illinois, on the following day. By the close of February sixteen others had followed its example, and before the President’s death twenty in all had ratified the Amendment. To Mr. Lincoln, who had long held anti-slavery opinions, this expression of public sentiment was extremely grateful; indeed, less than two months before his assassination he declared his satisfaction at the popular verdict, and his confidence that the States would consummate what Congress had so nobly begun. The Thirteenth Amendment, however, was not announced as part of the organic law until after the Presidential plan of reconstruction had been ignored by the Thirty-ninth Congress. This subject, therefore, need not be further discussed in these pages.

The extraordinary amount of work actually completed by the national Legislature can be comprehended only by considering the degree of perfection to which the committee system has been carried under congressional government. Measures that conduct the reader over vast stretches of the records of Congress occupy but a day or two in the calendar. The discussions described in the two preceding chapters did not, as might be supposed, engage the entire attention of Federal legislators. It was desirable, if, indeed, it was not essential, that the sentiments of the lawmaking body of the nation be authoritatively declared on the question of admitting members to Congress from those States reconstituted under the Executive plan; definitive action in the matter of the electoral votes which they presented was also awaited with not a little interest. Scarcely inferior in importance and more instructive than these measures was the passage of an act, approved March 3, 1865, which created in the War Department a “Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.” As the system of relief then inaugurated was destined to become an important agency in the work of reconstruction a brief account of its origin and institution may not be deemed superfluous.

A former chapter has related how great numbers of “contrabands,” by assembling early in the war at Fortress Monroe and Newport News, taxed the ingenuity of even General Butler to provide for their maintenance; it also noticed an attempt under Mr. E. L. Pierce to improve the condition of abandoned slaves in South Carolina, and the friendly interest of Secretary Chase in that experiment. But the hundreds of fugitives within Federal lines in May, 1861, had grown to be millions by the beginning of 1865. Of this army of homeless freedmen the policy of enlisting colored troops provided directly for nearly 200,000 able-bodied males. The women, the children and the large class unsuitable for military service left a multitude still unprovided for. Some relief, it is true, was afforded by the Treasury Department, which undertook to establish on abandoned and confiscated lands colonies of self-supporting negroes, but the ignorance and rapacity of many persons entrusted with the supervision of this work led to its general failure. Here and there, indeed, more satisfactory results were obtained, though these isolated successes seldom reached the point of actual encouragement. The South Carolina experiment may, therefore, be properly regarded as the germ of the Freedmen’s Bureau.

The progress of these communities had been watched anxiously by the abolition and the kindred associations which sprang up to continue the work that anti-slavery men had begun. On this subject a committee representing the Freedmen’s Aid Societies of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati addressed, December 1, 1863, an able memorial to the President. Without expressing a favorable opinion of the plan suggested by the petitioners, Mr. Lincoln referred the question, as one of great magnitude and importance, to the consideration of Congress. The Freedmen’s Aid Societies, however, had been anticipated by Representative Eliot, of Massachusetts, who had offered, January 12, 1863, a bill to establish a Bureau of Emancipation, which was referred to a select committee; but other business, regarded as more urgent, prevented them from reporting at that time a measure which had been prepared. At the succeeding session the proposition was offered again. After numerous efforts to secure favorable action, efforts extending over a period of two years, Congress took the subject into consideration. The House proposed one, the Senate a different measure; a committee of conference suggested something unlike either, though embodying important features of both. This, like every proposition affecting the negro, encountered considerable opposition. The creation of such a bureau, said its adversaries, conceded the very point that pro-slavery men had always maintained; namely, that the negro was incapable of taking care of himself. The extent of its powers, its duration and the cost of its maintenance were successively made grounds of opposition by those hostile to its establishment. Nor did its enemies fail to point out the great temptation to abuse which was offered by the system.

The act established in the War Department, to continue during the rebellion and for one year thereafter, a bureau to which should be committed the management of all confiscated or abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from any district within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such regulations as might be adopted by the head of the bureau and approved by the President.

The conduct of the bureau was entrusted to a commissioner appointed by the President with the concurrence of the Senate. In the exercise of his functions he was to be assisted by such clerks as the Secretary of War might assign him; their number, of course, was limited by law. For his compensation the head of the new bureau was to receive a sum fixed at $3,000 per annum. To aid in executing the provisions of the act the President was authorized to select, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one assistant commissioner for each of the States declared to be in insurrection, not, however, to exceed ten in number, each to receive an annual salary of $2,500.

The Secretary of War, besides assigning clerks of the several grades mentioned in the law, was authorized to issue, under regulations which he might himself prescribe, such provisions, clothing and fuel as might be deemed needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen as well as their wives and children. Any military officer could be detailed to duty under the act, but without increase of pay or allowances.

It was further provided that the commissioner, “under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary States as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it was so assigned shall be protected in the use and enjoyment of the land for the term of three years at an annual rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of said land, as it was appraised by the State authorities in the year 1860, for the purpose of taxation, and in case no such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be ascertained in such manner as the commissioner may by regulation prescribe. At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land, and receive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying therefor the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose of determining the annual rent aforesaid.”^[425]

It was made the duty of the assistant commissioners to submit a quarterly report of their proceedings to the commissioner, who in turn was required to report annually to the President before the commencement of each regular session of Congress. Special reports might from time to time be requested of either the head of the bureau or his subordinates.

The bureau thus established was organized principally by officers of the regular army under direction of General Oliver O. Howard, who had been selected by President Johnson as commissioner. It soon grew to vast proportions. At first it was economically managed and beneficent in its influence; subsequently, however, it degenerated into an abuse. Interesting and instructive as would be an inquiry into its operations, the history of this politico-philanthropic experiment does not fall within the limits of this work.

Since the adjournment, February 27, 1861, of the Peace Convention, which had been in session at Washington endeavoring to discover, if possible, a means of avoiding the irrepressible conflict, there was a large class who believed that if only they had been directing the policy of Government the outbreak could have been averted; even when war was flagrant and passions were highest this class, though diminished greatly in numbers, did not altogether despair of effecting a settlement between the sections. Besides these well-meaning patriots there were not a few who were ambitious of notoriety or possessed of an undue opinion of their own importance. Persons of both classes attempted from time to time to bring about an armistice which would facilitate negotiations between the two governments. The efforts of these men have no further bearing on the subject of reconstruction than as they serve to show Mr. Lincoln’s views in successive stages of the conflict.

Prominent among these attempts was the Jacquess-Gilmore mission, which has been described in an interesting volume of Rebellion reminiscences by one of the participants.^[426] Horace Greeley’s career as a diplomat is also a familiar story, which at once illustrates the guilelessness of the editor and the sagacity of the President. Mr. Greeley’s failure at Niagara Falls, however, did not discourage a similar undertaking by Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, who, with no greater success, had an interview in Canada with his former friend Jacob Thompson.^[427]

More important, because of its consequences, than the work of any of these volunteer commissioners was the visit of Francis P. Blair, Sr., to Richmond. This distinguished politician and editor had in the days of Nullification assisted in shaping the policy of the Government. The bosom friend and confidential adviser of Andrew Jackson, Mr. Blair thoroughly understood Southern feeling, and from long residence in Washington was intimately acquainted with Southern leaders. His political victories in the past encouraged, no doubt, the hope of some notable achievement to crown his maturer years. For some time he had been meditating a plan of reunion which would not only end the strife but contribute to heal the wounds of war. Though anxious to communicate his project to the President, he received no encouragement to do so. By requesting Blair to call upon him after the fall of Savannah Mr. Lincoln evaded a discussion of the subject. That contingency, however, was not remote, and late in December the veteran political leader received from the President a card bearing these words:

Allow the bearer, F. P. Blair, Sr., to pass our lines, go South, and return.

With this credential Mr. Blair went at once to the camp of General Grant, whence under flags of truce he sent two communications to Jefferson Davis requesting, among other things, permission for an interview. This, after some delay, was granted, and on the 12th of January, 1865, he found himself in Richmond face to face with the Confederate President. What transpired is accurately known from accounts of the meeting by both Blair and Davis. The former admitted frankly that Mr. Lincoln afforded him no opportunity to explain the object of his mission, and, indeed, appeared anxious to avoid an interview on that subject. When he had been assured that the Confederate authorities were under no engagements to European powers that would prevent their entering into arrangements with the Government of the United States Mr. Blair unfolded his plan by reading to Mr. Davis a carefully prepared paper embodying the following suggestions:

Slavery, he said, was doomed, for even the South itself had proposed to employ the slave in winning its independence. That institution, therefore, no longer remained as an obstacle to peace. Louis Napoleon, he continued, had declared publicly that his object was to make the Latin race supreme in the southern part of North America. This, indeed, had been an idea of the Emperor’s uncle, who desired at one time to make conquests of territory in the States bordering the Gulf, and the foothold already effected in Mexico was one step in the accomplishment of this grand design. After developing these points Mr. Blair added, “Jefferson Davis is the fortunate man who now holds the commanding position to encounter this formidable scheme of conquest, and whose fiat can at the same time deliver his country from the bloody agony now covering it in mourning. He can drive Maximilian from his American throne, and baffle the designs of Napoleon to subject our Southern people to the ‘Latin race.’”

How this was to be accomplished Mr. Blair’s paper outlined. President Lincoln’s amnesty proclamation looked to an armistice, which could be enlarged to embrace all engaged in the war; then by secret preliminaries to a cessation of hostilities Mr. Davis could transfer to Texas such a portion of the Confederate army as was deemed adequate to his purpose. With a Southern force on the Rio Grande and Juarez conciliated it could enter Mexico and expel her invaders. If these combined forces were insufficient, multitudes from the Federal army, officers and men, would be found ready to engage in the enterprise. Both Republicans and Democrats of the North had declared their adherence to the Monroe Doctrine.

After thus indicating for Mr. Davis a means of escape from his dilemma the adroit politician next appealed powerfully to his desire of fame. “He who expels the Bonaparte-Hapsburg dynasty from our Southern flank,” proceeded Mr. Blair, “which General Jackson in one of his letters warned me was the vulnerable point through which foreign invasion would come, will ally his name with those of Washington and Jackson as a defender of the liberty of the country. If in delivering Mexico he should model its States in form and principle to adapt them to our Union and add a new Southern constellation to its benignant sky while rounding off our possessions on the continent at the Isthmus, and opening the way to blending the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, thus embracing our Republic in the arms of the ocean, he would complete the work of Jefferson, who first set one foot of our colossal Government on the Pacific by a stride from the Gulf of Mexico.”^[428]

Blair remarked in conclusion, “There is my problem, Mr. Davis; do you think it possible to be solved?” After a little consideration came the reply, “I think so.” Touching the question of bringing the sections together again Mr. Davis observed that though a spirit of vindictiveness had been engendered by the war, time and events would do something toward its removal. The circumstance of Northern and Southern armies united in a common cause would, he believed, assist greatly in restoring the old feeling. He also acknowledged to his visitor that European powers were pleased to see the sections exhausting their resources in mutual war.

Thus was the Confederate leader persuaded to entertain the bold project of conquering Mexico under pretence of relieving the Monroe Doctrine from its peril. The explanation of this easy conversion, however, lies mainly in the fact that Mr. Davis, however he might endeavor to conceal his convictions, was convinced that the resources of the South were scarcely equal to another campaign. Like other leaders of the Confederacy he was anxious to seize any means of escape from an embarrassing situation. He proposed to Mr. Blair, therefore, the appointment of commissioners, and mentioned Judge Campbell, formerly of the United States Supreme Court, as one qualified by his talents and integrity to undertake such a mission.

During his short sojourn in Richmond Mr. Blair learned from other prominent secessionists the hopelessness of the rebellion, and this, perhaps, was the only tangible result of his celebrated intrigue. To initiate the project Mr. Davis handed him a letter to be shown President Lincoln. That interesting communication was as follows:

Sir: I have deemed it proper, and probably desirable to you, to give you, in this form, the substance of remarks made by me, to be repeated by you to President Lincoln, etc., etc. I have no disposition to find obstacles in forms, and am willing now, as heretofore, to enter into negotiations for the restoration of peace; and am ready to send a commission whenever I have reason to suppose it will be received, or to receive a commission, if the United States Government shall choose to send one. That, notwithstanding the rejection of our former offers, I would, if you could promise that a commissioner, minister, or other agent, would be received, appoint one immediately, and renew the effort to enter into conference, with a view to secure peace to the two countries.

Mr. Lincoln’s only response to the communication thus brought to his attention was to open a little wider the door for negotiation by sending to Mr. Blair the following letter:

Sir: You having shown me Mr. Davis’s letter to you of the 12th instant, you may say to him that I have constantly been, am now, and shall continue ready to receive any agent whom he, or any other influential person now resisting the National authority, may informally send to me, with the view of securing peace to the people of our one common country.

With this note Mr. Blair returned to Richmond framing as best he could excuses why President Lincoln rejected the overtures of Jefferson Davis for a joint invasion of Mexico. With the nature of these explanations this essay is not concerned. To cover his retreat from an unsuccessful intrigue the disappointed commissioner then suggested that, perhaps, Grant and Lee could enter into negotiations for peace with more assurance of success than politicians could hope to do. Though Mr. Davis offered no objection to this proposal, Blair was forced soon after to report that military negotiations were out of the question.

The Confederate leader was then compelled to choose between obstinate perseverance in his policy of a war for Southern independence or to accept frankly Mr. Lincoln’s offer of reunion. Blair’s first visit to Richmond did not escape observation, and, when his second conference was known, interest in the purpose of his mission became intense. Without some effort at negotiation Mr. Davis could not afterward satisfy the peace party in the South without subjecting himself to the injurious imputation of preferring war. In these circumstances, and after consultation with his cabinet, he authorized Alexander H. Stephens, John A. Campbell and R. M. T. Hunter to proceed to Washington as a commission for the purpose of informally conferring with Mr. Lincoln “upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries.” They were burdened with no instructions, and only one condition was insisted upon, that is, an acknowledgment of Southern independence.

Toward the end of January they presented themselves at the Federal military lines near Richmond, and, after an exchange of telegrams with the authorities in Washington, were permitted to pass on to Fortress Monroe. It was the original intention of President Lincoln to intrust the work of the conference wholly to Secretary Seward, and for this purpose he gave him the following written instructions:

You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, there to meet and informally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, on the basis of my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq., of January 18, 1865, a copy of which you have. You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, to wit: First. The restoration of the national authority throughout all the States. Second. No receding by the executive of the United States on the slavery question from the position assumed thereon in the late annual message to Congress, and in preceding documents. Third. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the Government. You will inform them that all propositions of theirs, not inconsistent with the above, will be considered and passed upon in a spirit of sincere liberality. You will hear all they may choose to say and report it to me. You will not assume to definitely consummate anything.

The different if not conflicting statements as to the object of their mission nearly led to a return of the Confederate representatives without any interview whatever. General Grant, fearing the unfavorable influence on the Union cause of such a result, sent to Secretary Stanton a confidential dispatch in which he referred to the evident sincerity of Stephens and Hunter. He also expressed his regret that they were about to return without an expression on the subject of their mission from any person in authority. President Lincoln, who was about to recall Mr. Seward by telegraph, decided, on reading Grant’s message, to join his Secretary at Fortress Monroe, for which place he set out at once.

The famous conference, which took place February 3, 1865, on board a steamer at Hampton Roads, has been treated in detail by nearly every historian of the Rebellion, and, therefore, need only be briefly noticed in these pages. An informal discussion of four hours occurred on the River Queen. By a previous agreement no writings or memoranda were made; hence our principal knowledge of what transpired at that celebrated interview is derived from accounts subsequently written out from memory by the Confederate commissioners, and from Secretary Seward’s letter to Charles Francis Adams, United States Minister to England.

Mr. Stephens, who began the discussion, asked whether there was no way of restoring former relations; to this Mr. Lincoln replied, “There was but one way that he knew of, and that was, for those who were resisting the laws of the Union to cease that resistance.” Stephens observed that they had been led to believe that both sections might for a time cease their present strife and unite on some continental question until passion had somewhat subsided and accommodation become possible.

To this suggestion Mr. Lincoln replied promptly: “I suppose you refer to something that Mr. Blair has said. Now it is proper to state at the beginning that whatever he said was of his own accord, and without the least authority from me.” The President then stated that before the visit to Richmond he had flatly refused to hear Mr. Blair’s propositions; he was willing, however, to hear proposals for peace on the conditions expressed in his reply to the letter of Mr. Davis. The restoration of the Union was a sine qua non with him, therefore his instructions that no conference be held except on that basis.

Though the Confederate statesmen had resolved not to enter into any agreement that would require their forces to unite in an invasion of Mexico, Mr. Stephens continued to press the subject, and this after Mr. Lincoln had refused even to discuss the question. The President then brought the conversation back to the original object of the meeting, and declared that he could not entertain a proposition looking to an armistice until the paramount question of reunion was first determined.

The terms of reunion were then discussed. On this subject Mr. Lincoln is reported by the commissioners to have said that the shortest way to effect this was to disband the insurgent armies and permit “the National authorities to resume their functions.” As to the admission of members to Congress from the seceding States the President believed they ought to be received, and also that they would be; however, he could enter into no stipulations on that subject. By the cessation of resistance, he is alleged to have declared, the States would be immediately restored to their practical relations to the Union. This sentiment was probably ascribed to him for party purposes.

As the enforcement of the confiscation and other penal laws was left entirely with him he assured them that the Executive power would be exercised with the utmost liberality. The courts could determine all questions involving rights of property, and Congress, after passion had been somewhat composed, would, no doubt, be liberal in making restitution of forfeited property, or would indemnify those who had suffered.

The President refused to promise any modification whatever of the terms of his Emancipation Proclamation. He regarded it as a judicial question. How the courts would decide it he did not know. His own opinion was that as the proclamation was only a war measure, as soon as the war ceased it would be inoperative for the future. It would be held to apply only to such slaves as had come under its operation while it was in active exercise. The courts, however, might hold that it effectually emancipated all the slaves in the States to which it applied at the time. He is reported further to have said that he interfered with slavery to maintain the Union, and then only with hesitation and under pressure of a public necessity. He had always favored emancipation, but not immediate emancipation.

On the same occasion he is said to have stated as his belief that the people of the North were not less responsible for slavery than those of the South; if the war should then cease, with the voluntary abolition of slavery by the States, he would favor, individually, payment by the Government of a fair indemnity for the loss to owners. That feeling, he believed, had an extensive existence in the loyal States. He knew some who were in favor of an appropriation as high as $400,000,000 for that purpose. However, he could enter into no stipulation. He merely expressed his own views and what he believed to be the views of others upon the subject.

Relative to the division of Virginia Mr. Lincoln said he could give only “an individual opinion, which was, that Western Virginia would continue to be recognized as a separate State in the Union.”

Seward brought to the notice of the commissioners one topic which to them was new, that is, the passage by Congress three days earlier of the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution. He is reported to have said that it was passed in deference to the war spirit, and that if the South would agree to immediate restoration its ratification might be defeated. This, however, is doubtful, for the Cabinet as well as the President approved the action of Congress in submitting the Thirteenth Amendment to the consideration of the States; besides, it is not in harmony with Mr. Seward’s anti-slavery record.

In urging on Mr. Stephens separate State action to effect a cessation of hostilities, the President said: “If I resided in Georgia, with my present sentiments, I’ll tell you what I would do if I were in your place. I would go home and get the Governor of the State to call the Legislature together, and get them to recall all the State troops from the war; elect Senators and Members to Congress, and ratify this constitutional amendment prospectively, so as to take effect—say in five years. Such a ratification would be valid, in my opinion. I have looked into the subject, and think such a prospective ratification would be valid. Whatever may have been the views of your people before the war, they must be convinced now that slavery is doomed. It cannot last long in any event, and the best course, it seems to me, for your public men to pursue would be to adopt such a policy as will avoid, as far as possible, the evils of immediate emancipation. This would be my course, if I were in your place.”^[431]

The advice was wasted. When the party was on the point of separating, Mr. Stephens again asked the President to reconsider the plan of an armistice on the basis of a Mexican expedition. “Well, Stephens,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “I will reconsider it; but I do not think my mind will change.” Thus ended the famous Hampton Roads conference.

On their return to Richmond the commissioners made a formal report to Mr. Davis of the failure of negotiations; this he transmitted to the Confederate Congress with an artful letter designed to strengthen the war party in the South, and to silence effectually the adversaries of his administration. To improve this advantage a day was appointed for the purpose of getting a popular expression on the result of the conference. Business was generally suspended, and the people crowded every building in the city suitable for holding large assemblies. Churches, theatres and halls of legislation were engaged for the occasion. Twenty orators, among the ablest in the South, told their hearers of the Northern “ultimatum,” not omitting to describe eloquently all the consequences of subjugation. The old war spirit appeared to have been kindled once more; “But,” says Mr. Pollard, “it was only the sickly glare of an expiring flame; there was no steadiness in the excitement; there was no virtue in huzzas; the inspiration ended with the voices and ceremonies that invoked it; and it was found that the spirit of the people of the Confederacy was too weak, too much broken to act with effect, or assume the position of erect and desperate defiance.”^[432] In March General Lee revealed the weakness of his army at Fort Steadman; Grant’s movements around Petersburg followed in April; the rest is a familiar story.

From this brief discussion of topics only allied to the Presidential method of reunion it is time to resume our examination of the main theme.

It is almost a trite observation to remark that President Lincoln’s opinions on public questions were formed only after mature deliberation, and that to the conclusions thus reached he adhered with inflexible tenacity. Notwithstanding the sentiments of Congress on the question of reconstruction he evinced a decided preference for his own. This is proved by a number of letters and speeches from which two may be selected both because of the time of their appearance and the station of the persons to whom they were addressed. To General Hurlbut, who had temporarily succeeded Banks in command at New Orleans, the President wrote, November 14, 1864, the following admonitory letter:

Few things, since I have been here, have impressed me more painfully than what, for four or five months past, has appeared a bitter military opposition to the new State government of Louisiana. I still indulged some hope that I was mistaken in the fact; but copies of a correspondence on the subject between General Canby and yourself, and shown me to-day, dispel that hope. A very fair proportion of the people of Louisiana have inaugurated a new State government, making an excellent new constitution—better for the poor black man than we have in Illinois. This was done under military protection, directed by me, in the belief, still sincerely entertained, that with such a nucleus around which to build we could get the State into position again sooner than otherwise. In this belief a general promise of protection and support, applicable alike to Louisiana and other States, was given in the last annual message. During the formation of the new government and constitution they were supported by nearly every loyal person, and opposed by every secessionist. And this support and this opposition, from the respective standpoints of the parties, was perfectly consistent and logical. Every Unionist ought to wish the new government to succeed; and every disunionist must desire it to fail. Its failure would gladden the heart of Slidell in Europe, and of every enemy of the old flag in the world. Every advocate of slavery naturally desires to see blasted and crushed the liberty promised the black man by the new constitution. But why General Canby and General Hurlbut should join on the same side is to me incomprehensible.

Of course, in the condition of things at New Orleans, the military must not be thwarted by the civil authority; but when the constitutional Convention, for what it deems a breach of privilege, arrests an editor in no way connected with the military, the military necessity for insulting the Convention and forcibly discharging the editor is difficult to perceive. Neither is the military necessity for protecting the people against paying large salaries fixed by a legislature of their own choosing very apparent. Equally difficult to perceive is the military necessity for forcibly interposing to prevent a bank from loaning its own money to the State. These things, if they have occurred, are, at the best, no better than gratuitous hostility. I wish I could hope that they may be shown to not have occurred. To make assurance against misunderstanding, I repeat that in the existing condition of things in Louisiana, the military must not be thwarted by the civil authority; and I add that on points of difference the commanding general must be judge and master. But I also add that in the exercise of this judgment and control, a purpose, obvious and scarcely unavowed, to transcend all military necessity, in order to crush out the civil government, will not be overlooked.^[433]

A similar communication, though less peremptory in tone, he felt constrained to send to General E. R. S. Canby, who had been assigned to command in the military division of West Mississippi. Under date of December 12, 1864, he wrote that officer:

I think it is probable that you are laboring under some misapprehension as to the purpose, or rather the motive, of the Government on two points—cotton and the new Louisiana State government.

It is conceded that military operations are the first in importance; and as to what is indispensable to these operations, the department commander must be judge and master.

But the other matters mentioned I suppose to be of public importance also; and what I have attempted in regard to them is not merely a concession to private interest and pecuniary greed.

As to the new State government of Louisiana. Most certainly there is no worthy object in getting up a piece of machinery merely to pay salaries and give political consideration to certain men. But it is a worthy object to again get Louisiana into proper practical relations with the nation, and we can never finish this if we never begin it. Much good work is already done, and surely nothing can be gained by throwing it away.

I do not wish either cotton or the new State government to take precedence of the military while the necessity for the military remains; but there is a strong public reason for treating each with so much favor as may not be substantially detrimental to the military.^[434]

That Mr. Lincoln never modified these opinions is conclusively proved by the last public utterance of his life. In addressing the citizens of Washington, who were holding a demonstration in consequence of Lee’s surrender, the President on the evening of April 11 said:

By these recent successes the reinauguration of the national authority—reconstruction—which has had a large share of thought from the first, is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a case of war between independent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat with—no one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man. We simply must begin with and mold from disorganized and discordant elements. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment that we, the loyal people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, manner, and measure of reconstruction. As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I cannot properly offer an answer. In spite of this precaution, however, it comes to my knowledge that I am much censured for some supposed agency in setting up and seeking to sustain the new State government of Louisiana.

In this I have done just so much as, and no more than, the public knows. In the annual message of December, 1863, and in the accompanying proclamation, I presented a plan of reconstruction, as the phrase goes, which I promised, if adopted by any State, should be acceptable to and sustained by the executive Government of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was not the only plan which might possibly be acceptable, and I also distinctly protested that the executive claimed no right to say when or whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress from such States. This plan was in advance submitted to the then Cabinet, and distinctly approved by every member of it. One of them suggested that I should then and in that connection apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the theretofore excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana; that I should drop the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that I should omit the protest against my own power in regard to the admission of members of Congress. But even he approved every part and parcel of the plan which has since been employed or touched by the action of Louisiana.

The new constitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation for the whole State, practically applies the proclamation to the part previously excepted. It does not adopt apprenticeship for freed people, and it is silent, as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of members to Congress. So that, as it applies to Louisiana, every member of the Cabinet fully approved the plan. The message went to Congress, and I received many commendations of the plan, written and verbal, and not a single objection to it from any professed emancipationist came to my knowledge until after the news reached Washington that the people of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance with it. From about July 1862, I had corresponded with different persons supposed to be interested [in] seeking a reconstruction of a State government for Louisiana. When the message of 1863, with the plan before mentioned, reached New Orleans, General Banks wrote me that he was confident that the people, with his military coÖperation, would reconstruct substantially on that plan. I wrote to him and some of them to try it. They tried it, and the result is known. Such has been my only agency in getting up the Louisiana government.

As to sustaining it, my promise is out, as before stated. But as bad promises are better broken than kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise, and break it whenever I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to the public interest; but I have not yet been so convinced. I have been shown a letter on this subject, supposed to be an able one, in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has not seemed to be definitely fixed on the question whether the seceded States, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It would perhaps add astonishment to his regret were he to learn that since I have found professed Union men endeavoring to make that question, I have purposely forborne any public expression upon it. As appears to me, that question has not been, nor yet is, a practically material one, and that any discussion of it, while it thus remains practically immaterial, could have no effect other than the mischievous one of dividing our friends. As yet, whatever it may hereafter become, that question is bad as the basis of a controversy, and good for nothing at all—a merely pernicious abstraction.

We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of their proper practical relation with the Union, and that the sole object of the Government, civil and military, in regard to those States is to again get them into that proper practical relation. I believe that it is not only possible, but in fact easier, to do this without deciding or even considering whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had ever been abroad. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between these States and the Union, and each forever after innocently indulge his own opinion whether in doing the acts he brought the States from without into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. The amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the new Louisiana government rests, would be more satisfactory to all if it contained 50,000, or 30,000, or even 20,000, instead of only about 12,000, as it does. It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers.

Still, the question is not whether the Louisiana government, as it stands, is quite all that is desirable. The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it? Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State government? Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore slave State of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to be the rightful political power of the State, held elections, organized a State government, adopted a free State constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and white, and empowering the legislature to confer the elective franchise upon the colored man. Their legislature has already voted to ratify the constitutional amendment recently passed by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Union and to perpetual freedom in the State—committed to the very things, and nearly all the things, the nation wants—and they ask the nation’s recognition and its assistance to make good their committal.

Now, if we reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We, in effect, say to the white man: You are worthless or worse; we will neither help you, nor be helped by you. To the blacks we say: This cup of liberty which these, your old masters, hold to your lips we will dash from you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where, and how. If this course, discouraging and paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to bring Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I have so far been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize and sustain the new government of Louisiana, the converse of all this is made true. We encourage the hearts and nerve the arms of the twelve thousand to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and proselyte for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and ripen it to a complete success. The colored man, too, in seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and energy, and daring, to the same end. Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps toward it than by running backward over them? Concede that the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.

Again, if we reject Louisiana we also reject one vote in favor of the proposed amendment to the national Constitution. To meet this proposition it has been argued that no more than three fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this further than to say that such a ratification would be questionable, and sure to be persistently questioned, while a ratification by three fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and unquestionable. I repeat the question: Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State government? What has been said of Louisiana will apply generally to other States. And yet so great peculiarities pertain to each State, and such important and sudden changes occur in the same State, and withal so new and unprecedented is the whole case that no exclusive and inflexible plan can safely be prescribed as to details and collaterals. Such exclusive and inflexible plan would surely become a new entanglement. Important principles may and must be inflexible. In the present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new announcement to the people of the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.

The promised announcement was never made; for within three days the great career of Abraham Lincoln was brought to a close. The inherent difficulties of reconstruction, as well as the mischievous consequences of faction among Union men, he perceived and acknowledged at the outset. Precisely how he would have removed the one and, without breaking with his party, have avoided the other we can never know. His uniform success in dealing with other embarrassing questions appears to justify the opinion that he would not have failed altogether in solving the greater problem presented by the return of peace. This subject will be further discussed in the succeeding chapter.