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T

LIFE AND SPEECHES
OS PEE8IDENT
ANDEEW JOHNSON.

EMBRACnfO

HIS EARLY HISTORY, POLITICAL CAREER, SPEECHES,
PROCLAMATIONS, ETC.

A SKETCH OF THE SECESSION MOVEMENT, AND HIS
COUESE IN EEIATION THEEETO ;
Also HIS POLICY AS
PEESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

BY G. W. BACON.
AtriHOR OF *'LIFK OF ABRAHAM IiINCOLIT," " GtTIDE TO AMEEICAN
POLITICS," ETC.

LOISHDON :
BACON AND CO.,
PUBLISHERS AWD AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS,
-is, PATEENOSTEE EOW.
[The Author reserves the Sighf of Trwnslation.l

i„J \"( vj

PEEEACE.

Theee is perhaps no one living individual about
whom, at the present moment, centres more
interest than the President of the American
Eepublic. The painfully tragic circumstances
which placed him in his present position, and the
magnitude of the duties and responsibilities which
at the present'junctare attach to that position, are
alone sufficient to attract towards Andrew Johnson
the gaze of the whole civilized world. But apart
from those considerations, and as a narrative of the
upward struggles of a strong and earnest nature
battling successfully with every disheartening ele
ment of repression, and- finally achieving, sans
friends, sans patrimony, and worst of all, sans
education, the very summit of social and pohtical
eminence, a biography of Mr. Johnson must

IV PEEPACE.
be replete with a purely personal interest of its
own. In connection with his administration of the
affairs of Tennessee while military governor, are in
troduced some details in reference to the Secession
movement in that very important theatre of the
great conflict, which throws new light upon it&
secret workings, and the means and appliances by
which it achieved its success.
For the materials of the work it has been neces
sary to resort to many scattered sources ; but we
have chiefly to acknowledge our indebtedness to
Appleton's " American CyclopEedia," and Annuals
for 1861-2-3-4, and private American sources.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
His parentage aud early history — Death of hia father — Apprentice
ship — Lack of education — Learns the alphabet — Becomes a
student — Eemoves to South Carolina — Emigrates to Tennessee,
¦where he continues to exercise his trade — Becomes Alderman
of Grreenville — State Legislator in the Lower House ; in the
Upper — Elected Member of Congress — Twice Q-overnor of
Tennessee — Becomes United States' Senator — Opposition to
Secession in the Senate — Debate with Senator Hammond, of
South OaroHna  1 — 24
CHAPTEE II.
Various Speeches in the Senate — Crittenden's Eesolutions — Mr.
Johnson's plan of Pacification — Progress of Secession — Its
phase in Tennessee — The coiip d'etat . . . ' 25 — 57
CHAPTEE IIL
Mr. Johnson is appointed Militai'y GoTernor of Tennessee, and
immediately repairs to the scene of action — His efforts to
reclaim his State — His Emancipation Proclamation — The State
is restored and Slavery abolished .... 57 — 71
CHAPTEE IV.
Elected Vice-President of the United States — Mr. Lincoln's death
— Mr. Johnson's Inauguration — His policy — Personal charac
teristics and anecdotes — Domestic relations . . 71 — 88
Appendix  89

LIFE OP
PKESIDENT JOHNSON.

CHAPTEE I.
Hia parentage and early history — Death of his father — Apprentice
ship — Lack of education — Learns the alphabet — Becomes a
student — Kemoves to South Carolina — ^Emigrates to Tennessee,
where he continues to exercise his trade — Becomes Alderman
of QreenviUe — State Legislator in the Lower House ; in the
Upper — ^Elected Member of Congress — ^Twioe Governor of
Tennessee — ^Becomes United States' Senator — Opposition to
Secession in the Senate — Debate with Senator Hammond, of
South Carolina.
AuDEEW Johnson was bom at Ealeigh, the State
Capitol of North Carolina, on the 29th of Decem
ber, 1808. Of his family history it can only be.
said that it belongs to the " short and simple annals
of the poor." His father, a man in humble hfe,
died from the effects of over-fatigue and exposure,
incurred through exertion to save a friend from
drowning. Left in orphanage, and with no heritage
save those quahties of mind, which at last are as

2 LIEE OE PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
superior to mere dead accumulation as the living,
fountain to the tank; a strong and well-balanced
intellect, untiring energy, and innate integrity, he
was thrown upon his own resources at the tender;
age of ten years. His father being dead, and his
mother entirely dependent for support upon her own
unaided labour, she apprenticed Andrew to a tailor
in his native city. He remained with his master
seven years, working steadily through the term of
his indenture. Owing partly to the poverty of his
family, and partly, to the entire want of common
school facilities, which then, even more than now,
characterized the State of North Carolina, Johnson's
early education was totally neglected; indeed, he
never attended school a day in his life. Yet,
like all whose names become familiar to the
world, he ever had within him a latent yet burning
desire to know. This thirst for knowledge, iu his
case, was developed by a very simple incident. A
benevolent gentleman of Ealeigh was in the habit
of going into the shop in which Johnson worked as
apprentice, and reading to the journeymen while
they plied the needle. He was an excellent reader,
and his favourite book, a volume of speeches, prin
cipally of British Statesmen, doubtless chimed
with the latent oratorical proclivities of our subject.
At least Andrew became deeply interested, and his
ambitionr— the first of his life — was roused to equal

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 3
the gentleman as a reader, and to master the con
tents of that book. His first work was to learn the
alphabet. This, with some assistance from his
fellow-workmen, he soon accomplished. He now
applied for a loan of the book which had so capti
vated his fancy. The owner not only made him a
present of it, but good naturedly gave him some
instruction on the use of letters in the formation of
words. His first exercises in speUing were in that
book. Thus, in his rugged path to knowledge, he
was compelled to leap over that very broad chasm
between a knowledge of letters and reading, which
in . the orthodox educational course is generally
spanned with the aid of Dilworth or Webster. By
dint of that toughness and energy of brain, which
afterwards served him in more important matters,
he soon overcame this obstacle, and in due time
learned to read. He now became an earnest and
intense student, snatching for study the hours of
rest and recreation. After ten, and often twelve,
hours of exhausting labour upon the shop-board, he
yet found time for four or five hours of reading.
Having completed his term of apprenticeship in
the autumn of 1824, he went to Lauren's Court-
House, South Carolina, where he worked as a jour
neyman for nearly two years. While residing in
that village he became engaged to be married, but
objections were raised by the family of the girl on

4 LIEE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
the score of youth and want of means in the suitor,
and the match was broken off.
After returning to Ealeigh, and living there for
a brief period, he set out in September, 1823, to
seek his fortune in the West, accompanied by: his
mother, who was now dependent on him for sup
port. He selected Greenville, a small town in East|
Tennessee, for his future home, and commenced
work there as journeyman. After remaining in
that place a year, he went further westward in
search of a better locality for his trade, but faiLingj
to satisfy himself in this particular, he returned to
Greenville, and commenced business. During the
first year of his residence in Greenville he had the'
good fortune to marry an intelligent and estimable!
woman, who from the first exercised a benign in
fluence on his future destiny. From her he obtained
the nearest approach to instruction that it had been
his lot to enjoy. She aided him in completing the
acquisition of those rudiments of knowledge which
he had commenced to master while tailor's appren
tice. He now learned to write, and soon added al
respectable store of miscellaneous information in
other branches. He was not long in putting his
late acquired culture to use. In five years from the
time he set foot in Greenville he entered into the
arena of public life.
A better political field for the "unaccredited

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 5
hero" certainly could not have been selected than
that region in which Mr. Johnson made his start in
hfe. East Tennessee was and is the social antipode
of North and South Carolina. Traversed by the
Blue Eidge Mountains, a spur of the magnificent
Alleghanies, it is a thoroughly Alpine region, both
physically and socially. The people are primitive,
honest, thrifty, warm-hearted, and exuberantly hos
pitable. Without great pretensions to learning and
science they are nearly all possessed of a good
English education. Though in the heart of the
slaveholding States, East Tennessee possessed but
few slaves; their numbers being scarcely in the
proportion of one in twenty of the whole popula
tion. There was, therefore, no slaveocracy in the
country in which Mr. Johnson now made his first
essay in pohtical life, sufficiently powerful to mono
polize offices of honour and profit. Yet even in the
unpretending httle town of Greenville there was the
germ of an aristocratic clique which struggled feebly
and ineffectually to resist the democratic influences
of the country. It was against this straggling off
shoot of the Southern ohgarchy that Mr. Johnson
first tried his strength. The circumstances under
which he was first chosen to office are thus related
by one of his early associates* : —
* This incident was communicated to the author by Alexander
Hawthorne, Esq., now of El Paso, Illinois.

6 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
" While residing during the year 1828 in the villagei
of Greenville, East Tennessee, I made the acquaintance
of Andy Johnson, an industrious tailor, whose little
shop, a twelve feet by twelve log cabin, had gradually!
become the resort in leisure hours of the young men of
the vUlage. Such gatherings were generally the occa
sion of such boisterous merriment as would, with most
minds, have made serious mental occupation utterly
impossible. Andy, however, neither lost his temper nor
suspended his twofold employment of sewing and read
ing ; but no matter how great the surrounding distrac
tion, always exhibited the same good-natured impertur
bability, smiling good-naturedly at the sallies of humour
as if he heard and appreciated all. There he would sit
reading and sewing ; the moment the needle passed
through the cloth, his eye would return to the book, and
anon to the needle again ; and so, enter when you would,
it was ever the same determined read and sew, and sew
and read. His sober industry and intelligence Won the
favour of the grave and sedate, and his genial tolerance
of the jovial groups which frequented his shop, secured
him unbounded popularity with the young men of the
place. The latter determined to give their favourite
substantial proof of their admiration by electing him to
the o£B.ce of alderman. A dozen of us accordingly met
one Satm-day evening (election day being the following
Monday) at the counting-room where I was employed,!
and there made up our ticket. The first name we put
down for alderman was Andy Johnson, the rest were
soon selected, and as there was no printing oflace in the
place we wrote out the ballots. We resolved to keep
everything secret until Monday morning, then we went!

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 7
to the poUs and worked for our candidates. Our whole
ticket was elected by a sweeping majority, and Andy
was then, with the others, installed, and held his oflG.ce
with great credit to himself and much benefit to the
town." After being twice re-elected to that office,
he was in 1830 chosen mayor, which posi
tion he held for three years. In 1886 Mr. John
son was elected member of the State Legislature
for the county of his residence. He was at that
time just twenty-seven years of age. That even
at this early epoch of his history he must have
manifested talents above the common level, is
shown by the fact of his nomination for Speaker
of the House. He had, heretofore, acted with the
Whigs, but in 1839 he gave in his adhesion to the
Democratic party. But he was a Democrat in a much
larger sense than that in which the term is under
stood in America. With him it signified something
more than opposition to a national bank, and to
a protective tariff and intemal improvements by
the general govemment. He was ever in favour of
extending the rights of the people, and increasing
the direct responsibility of government to the
people. From the very commencement of his
public life he raised his voice in indignant protest
against the political encroachments of the slave
holders, who had partially succeeded in erecting an

O LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
aristocracy in the very midst of the Eepublic. In
1834, when the State Constitution was undergoing
revision and amendment, he had used his influence
— feeble then — in abrogating the three-fifths rules
of representation ; and again, during his last
term in the Legislature, he made a . similar at
tempt. It is well-known that the Slave States at the
time of the formation of the Federal Constitution,
made it an indispensable condition of their accession
to the Union that their slaves should form a part
of the basis of representation, and that owing to
the absolute necessity of securing this additional
strength to the infant confederacy, the point was
yielded. Thus the only exception made to the
utter exclusion of property as a force in the
American National Legislature was made in favour
of property in man. It is not so generally known
that a similar anomaly was grafted on the local Con
stitutions of all the Slave States, with possibly one
or two exceptions. This feature of the Slave State
politics was not, however, always peacefully acqui
esced in, and even in South Carohna about twenty
years since, so formidable an opposition was aroused
against it in the northern part of the State that the
low^country planters were forced to seek refuge in
compromise. So immense had been the growth of
the slave power since that date, that Mr. Johnson's

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 9
attempt in the same direction in 1840 failed even in
the Border State of Tennessee.
Hitherto Mr. Johnson's political aspirations had
been confined to the narrow arena of his own State.
His debut into Federal poHtics dates from the pre
sidential contest between General Harrison and
Martin Van Buren in 1840, when, in the capacity, of
elector, he canvassed a large portion of Tennessee.
In this campaign some of the best oratorical talent
of the West canvassed that State in support of the
Whig candidate — Harrison; and the boldness and
skill which Mr. Johnson, then young and compara
tively unknown, displayed in grappling with the
prestige and experience of his veteran adversaries,
greatly extended his reputation as a debater, and
already marked him as a man of promise.
Mr. Johnson continued in the State Legislature
until 1843, when he was elected a member of
Congress. A striking proof of the confidence
reposed by his constituents in his integrity and
abihty as a statesman, is found in the fact that for
ten years he continued, by successive re-elections,
to represent the Congressional district in which he
resided in East Tennessee. Steadily advancing in
his pohtical career, he quickly rose to positions of
yet greater dignity and responsibility. In 1853 he
was elected Governor of Tennessee. Again in
1855 he was re-elected to the same office, which he

10 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
fiUed until 1857, when he was chosen to a seat in
the United States Senate. The main features of
the early part of Mr. Johnson's Congressional career
are his opposition to a protective tariff, and his
earnest advocacy of the Homestead Bill. In 1855
he also strongly opposed the newly-formed " Know-
Nothing" party, whose principal design was the
restriction of the elective franchise to native
citizens. »^s a Democrat he was, of course, equaUy
"hostile to the establishment of a United States
bank, all schemes of internal improvement by Con
gress, and, in short, every effort at investing the
general govemment with the attributes of a quasi-
parental authority to enable it to encourage and foster
jjommerce or manufactures. He was opposed to
governing overmuch in a Eepublic, and beheved that
the " let alone" policy should pervade legislation in
all measures, not excepting those which pertained to
slavery. In common with the body of the Demo
cracy, North and South, he also maintained the doc
trine of the utter incompetency of Congress, under
the Constitution, to legislate upon the domestic in
stitutions of the States, either by way of changing,
abohshing, or preventing (by direct enactment)
their extension over the territories. Accordingly
we find him voting in 1845 for the annexation of
Texas, which he, moreover, thought it probable would
"prove to be the gateway out of which the sable

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 11
sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom,
and become merged in a population congenial to
themselves." Subsequently, basing his course on
the same idea of lack of power in the general
govemment, he supported the memorable compro
mise measures of 1850. For the benefit of those
not specially conversant with American politics,
a brief statement of the nature of this compro
mise may be acceptable, as well as necessary in
tracing satisfactorily the history of Mr. Johnson's
political creed.
The immediate occasion of the introduction of
the bill upon which was based the law known as the
Compromise of 1850, was the conquest of certain
territory from Mexico. The question arose, even
before the end of the Mexican war, whether that
territory should be devoted to slavery or freedom ?
The Abolitionists, as well as many Northern
Whigs — the Eepublican party, eo nomine, not having
then been formed — were in favour of excluding
slavery, by act of Congress, from the whole area ;
the Southern and great part of the Northern Demo
crats held that Congress had no right to inter
meddle with the question at all, while the extreme
pro-slavery Democrats claimed that slavery should be
admitted and protected in that as in all the common
territory. The bill referred to adopted middle
ground, proposing to leave the question to the

12 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
people of the territories, or, in other words, to
admit the new States without referonce to the ques
tion of slavery. Other provisions of great import
ance were incorporated in the bill, of which it wHL
suffice to name two.
Of these, one known afterwards as the Fugitives
Slave Law, rendered more efficient the constitu- 1
tional guarantee in regard to the rendition of ab
sconding Southern slaves, and the other abolished
the slave trade in the district of Columbia. Mr.
Johnson, in common with the mass of his party,
supported all these measures except the last.
He was not a member of Congress at the time
of the passage of the famous Kansas Nebraska
Act of 1856, but was known to favour that adjust
ment. This law only reiterated in more distinct
and unmistakable terms the proposition affirmed in
the Compromise of 1850 — ^namely, that the choicsi
and formation of their own domestic institutions,
slavery included, should be left to the people most
interested; in other words, the inhabitants them
selves of the incipient States. It was but the
assertion and application of that broad Democratic
principle of self-government of which the subjeeti
of this sketch had all his life been the earnest and
laborious advocate. There was one extension, one
apphcation of this maxim which neither he nor any
other Southern statesman had attained. He had not

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 13
yet been- able to leap the barrier of life-long habit.
The prejudices of early association — early education
he had not — still bhnded him to the glaring incon
sistency of complete and perfect franchisement of
the white, but total abnegation of even the lowest
and most obvious rights to the black ! Not least
among the many benefits springing from the blood-
sodden soil of the American Eevolution is the intel
lect-awakening, soul-untrammeling influence which
it has exerted, and will continue to exert, upon men
like Andrew Johnson, whose large and benevolent
minds have heretofore been dwarfed of their fair
proportions by the deadening incubus of an insti
tution at war with all the upward and progressive
tendencies of human nature. Mr. Johnson, how
ever, had never belonged to the Calhoun school of
slavery advocates. Even before the commencement
of the secession movement, at least before any
actual withdrawal had occurred, the future President
gave a very clear indication that he would never
consent to fraternize with that rapidly-growing
pro-slavery clique, which propounded the essential
righteousness of slavery in and for itself. That
doctrine he considered inconsistent with the prin
ciples of free government, and the boldly-uttered
sentiments of its leading- advocates confirmed him
in ,the opinion. A social ohgarchy was, indeed>
already fast forming in the Sohth. Such men as

14 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
Ehett, Yancey, Hammond, and Benjamin, had thrown
off the mask of Democracy, and openly denounced
free institutions and free labour without reference
to race. They held that aU bodily labour is slavery
except in name, and hinted that it would be better
if the masses everywhere, without reference to
colour, were placed in a position where contentment
should take the place of dangerous aspirations. In
short, negro slavery hadrevolutionized opinion in the
Cotton States. This iniquitous system had reacted:
upon the people among whom it subsisted, and
resulted in the development among Southern planters
of more than patrician pride and exclusiveness. In
the very temple of freedom they had erected an
altar to slavery.
Such was the reductio ad ahsiirdum to which the
infatuated advocates of slavery at last carried their
favourite theory. So madly enraptured were they
with this new hypothesis that it bereft them of
common prudence as well as consistency. They
were not satisfied to retain this odious doctrine
for the exclusive edification of the chosen hier
archy of slavery, but persisted in pubhshing it
before that very democracy which they held inca
pable of handhng social questions of such mighty
import. The doctrine was industriously circulated
in almost every periodical, and ventilated in every
important debate. It startled and alarmed many

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 15
even in the South, but the hardihood to meet
and combat this unexpected assault by Democrats
upon the great principle of Democracy, was only
found in, here and there, a solitary individual of
courage as inflexible as his principles. Andrew
Johnson was one of these. An occasion arose soon
after his election in 1857 to the Senate, to define
his position, and thus free himself and the Demo
cratic party from all complicity in such sentiments.
In the spring of 1858, during one of those prelusive
debates on the relative resources of the two sections,
in which North and South, hke two trenchant
champions, sought to intimidate each the other with
much display of superabundant vigour. Senator
Hammond, of South Carohna, after exhausting the
statistical topics common on those occasions, pro
ceeded to exhibit the superiority of his section from
a moral point of view. For " the greatest strength
of the South," he averred, " arises from the harmony
of her political and social institutions." To enable
the reader to understand and appreciate the ap
propriateness, pith, and manly vigour of Mr. John
son's reply, we will give a brief extract of Senator
Hammond's remarks : —
" In all social systems there must be a class to do
the menial duties, to peform the drudgery of life ; that
is, a class requiring but a low order of inteUeot, and but

16 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
httle skiU. Its requisites are vigour, docility, fidelity.
Such a class you must have, or you would not have
that other class which leads progress, civihzation, -and
refinement. It constitutes the very mud-sill of society
and of political government ; and you might as weU
attempt to build a house in the air as to build either
the one or the other, except on this mud-sill. Fortu
nately for the South, she found a race adapted to that
purpose to her hand. A race inferior to her own, but
eminently qualified in temper, in vigour, in docility, in
capacity to stand the climate, to answer all her pur
poses. We use them for our purpose, and call them
slaves. We found them slaves by the ' common consent
of mankind,' which, according to Cicero, ' lex naturcB est.^
The highest proof of what is Nature's law. We are
old-fashioned at the South yet ; it is a word discarded
now by ' ears pohte ' ; I will not characterize that class
at the North with that term ; but you have it ; it is
there — it is everywhere — it is etemal.
" The Senator from New York said yesterday that
the whole world had abolished slavery. By, the name,
but not the thing ; aU the powers of the earth cannot
abolish that. God only can do it when He repeals the
fixit, ' the poor ye always have with, you ;' for the man
whb lives by daily labour, and scarcely lives at that,
and who has to put out his labour in the market, and
take the best he can get for it ; in short, your whole
hireling class of manual labourers and ' operatives,' as
you call them, are essentially slaves. The difference
between us is, that our slaves are, hired for life, and well
compensated ; there is no starvation, no begging, no
want of employment among our people, and not too

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 17
much employment either. Yours are hired by the day,
not cared for, and scantily compensated, which may be
proved in the most painful manner, at any hour, in any
street, in any of your large towns. Why, you meet
more beggars in one day, in any single street of the city
of New York, than you would meet in a lifetime in the
whole South. We do not think that whites should be
slaves either by law or necessity.
" Our slaves are black, of another and inferior race.
The status in which we have placed them is an eleva
tion. They are elevated from the condition in which
God first created them, by being made our slaves. None
of that race on the whole face of the globe can be com
pared with the slaves of the South. They are happy,
content, unaspiring, and utterly incapable, from intel
lectual weakness, ever to give us any trouble by their
aspirations. Yours are white, of your own race ; you
are brothers of one blood. They are your equals in
natural endowment of intellect, and they feel galled by
their degradation. Our slaves do, not vote. We give
them no political power. Yours do vote, and being the
majority, they are the depositaries of all your political
power. If they knew the tremendous secret, that the
ballot-box is stronger than ' an army with banners,'
and could combine, where would you be ? Your society
would be reconstructed, your government overthrown,
your property divided, not as they have mistakenly
attempted to initiate such proceedings, by meetings in
parks, with arms in their hands, but by the quiet pro
cess of the ballot-box. You have been making war
upon us to our very hearthstones. How would you like
for us to send lecturers and agitators North, to teach

18 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
these people this, to aid in combining, and to lead
them? " Mr. Wilson and others — Send them along.
" Mr. Hammond — You say send them along. There
is no need of that. Your people are awaking. They
are coming here. They are thundering at our doors for
homesteads, one hundred and sixty aores of land for
nothing, and Southern Senators are supporting them.
Nay, they are assembling, as I have said, with arms in
their hands, and demanding work at 1000 dols. a year for
six hours a day. Have you heard that the ghosts of
Mendoza and Torquemada are stalking in the streets of
your great cities ? That the inquisition is at hand ?
There is afloat a fearful rumour that there have been
consultations for Vigilance Committees. You know
what that means.
Transient and temporary causes have thus far been
your preservation. The great West has been open to
your surplus population, and your hordes of semi-bar
barian immigrants, who are crowding in year by year.
They make a great movement, and you call it progress.
Whither ? It is progress ; but it is progress towards
Vigilance Committees. The South have sustained you
in a great measure. You are our factors. You bring
and carry for us. One hundred and fifty million dollars
of our money passes annuaUy through your hands.
Much of it sticks ; all of it assists to keep your ma
chinery together and in motion. Suppose we were to
discharge you ; suppose we were to take our business
out of your hands ; we should consign you to anarchy
and poverty.
"You complain of the rule of the South: that has

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 19
been another cause that has preserved you. We have
kept the government conservative to the great purposes
of govemment. We have placed it, and kept it,
upon the Constitution ; and that has been the cause of
your peace and prosperity. The Senator from New
York says that that is about to be at an end ; that you
intend to take the government from us ; that it will
pass from our hands. Perhaps what he says is true ;
it may be ; but do not forget — it can never be forgotten
— it is written on the brightest page of human history
that we, the slaveholders of the South, took our country
in its infancy, and, after ruling it for sixty out of the
seventy years of its existence, we shall surrender it
to you without a stain upon its honour, boundless in
prosperity, incalculable in strength, the wonder and
the admiration of the world. Time will show what you
will make of it ; but no time can ever diminish our
glory or your responsibihty."
In striking contrast with the narrowness and acri
mony of Mr. Hammond's speech came Mr. Johnson's
reply, couched in the language of a wise modera
tion, and at once mildly rebuking and unmercifully
demolishing the heterodox and untenable positions
of the Southern aristocrat. The concluding portion
only is given : —
" In this portion of the Senator's remarks I concur.
I do not think whites should be slaves ; and if slavery is
to eiist in this country, I prefer black slavery to white
slavery. But what I want to get at is, to show that my
worthy friend from South Carolina should defend the
2

20 life op PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
homestead policy, and the impolicy of making the in
vidious remarks that have been made here in reference
to a portion of the population of the United States. Mr.
President, so far as I am concerned, I feel that I can
afford to speak what are my sentiments. I am no aspirant
for anything on the face of God Almighty's earth. I have
reached the summit of my ambition. The acme of all
my hopes has been attained, and I would not. give the
position I occupy here to-day for any other in the United
States. Hence I say I can afford to speak what I believe
to be true.
" In one sense of the term we are all slaves. A man
is a slave to his ambition ; he is a slave to his avarice ;
he is a slave to his necessities ; and, in enumerations of
this kind, you can scarcely find any man, high or low in
society, but who in some sense is a slave ; but they are
not slaves in the sense we mean at the South, and it wih
not do to assume that every man who toils for his living
is -a slave. If that be so, all are slaves ; for all must toil
more or less, mentally or physicaUy. But, in the other
sense of the term, we are not slaves. Will it do to
assume that the man who labours with his hands — every
man who is an operative in a manufacturing establish
ment or a shop — is a slave ? No, sir ; that will not do.
wm it do to assume that every man who does not own
slaves, but has to live by his own labour, is a slave ?
That will not do. If this were true, it would be very
unfortunate for a good many of us, and especially so for
me. I am a labourer with my hands, and I never con
sidered myself a slave, in the acceptation of the term
slave in the South. I do own some ; I made them by
my mdustry, by the labour of my hands. In that sense

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 21
of the term I should have been a slave whUe I was earn
ing them with the labour of my hands.
" Mr. Hammond. — Will the Senator define a slave ?
" Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee. — What we understand
to be a slave in the South, is a person who is held to
service during his or her natural life, subject to, and
under the control of, a master who has the right to ap
propriate the products of his or her labour to his own
use. The necessities of life, and the various positions
in which a man may be placed, operated upon by avarice,
gain, or ambition, may cause him to labour ; but that
does not make a slave. How many men are there in
society who go out and work with their own hands, who
reap in the field, and mow in a meadow, who hoe corn,
who work in the shops ? Are they slaves ? If we were
to go back and follow out this idea, that every operative
and labourer is a slave, we should find that we have had
a great many distinguished slaves since the world com
menced. SocrateSj who first conceived the idea of the
immortality of the soul. Pagan as he was, laboured with
his own hands — yes, wielded the chisel and the maUet,
giving polish and finish to the stone ; he afterwards
turned to be a fashioner and constructor of the mind.
Paul, the great expounder, himself was a tent-maker,
and worked with his hands : was he a slave ? .Archi
medes, who declared that, if he had a place on which to
rest the fulcrum, with the power of his lever he could
move the world : was he a slave ? Adam, our great
father and head, the lord of the world, was a tailor by
trade : I wonder if he was a slave ?
" When we talk about labourers and operatives, look
at the columns that adorn this chamber, and see their

22 LIFE 01' PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
finish and style. We are lost in admh-ation at the archi
tecture of your buildings, and their massive columns.
We can speak with admiration. What would it have
been but for hands to construct it ? Was the artisan
who worked upon it a slave ? Let us go to the South
and see how the matter stands there. Is every man that
is not a slaveholder to be denominated a slave because
he labours ? Why indulge in such a notion ? The
argument cuts at both ends of the line and this kind
of doctrine does us infinite harm in the South. There
are operatives there ; there are labourers there ; there
are mechanics there : are they slaves ? Who is it in
the South that gives us title and security to the institu
tion of slavery ? Who is it, let me ask every Southernei'
around me ? Suppose, for instance, we take the State
of South Carolina — and there are many things about her
and her people that I admire— we find that the 384,984
slaves in South Carolina are owned by how many whites?
they are owned by 26,556. Take the State of Tennes
see, with a population of 800,000 ; 239,000 slaves are
owned by 33,864 persons. The slaves in the State of
Alabama are owned by 29,296 whites. The whole num-
.ber of slaveholders in all the Slave States, when summed
up, makes 347,000, owning three and a half milUon
slaves. The white population in South Carolina is
274,000 ; the slaves greater than the whites. The
aggregate population of the State is 668,507.
" The operatives in South Carolina are 68,649. Now,
take the 26,000 slaveowners out, and a large propor
tion of the people of South Carolina work with their
hands. WiU it do to assume that, in the State of South
Carolina, the State of Tennessee, the State of Alabama,

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 23
and the other slaveholding States, all those who do not
own slaves are slaves themselves ? Will this assump
tion do ? What does it do at home in our own States ?
It has a tendency to raise prejudice, to engender oppo
sition to the institution of slavery itself. Yet our own
folks will do it.
"Mr. Mason.*— Will the Senator from Tennessee
allow me to interrupt him for a moment ?
" Mr. Johnson. — Yes, sir.
" Mr. Mason. — The Senator is making an exhibition
of the very few slaveholders in the Southern States, in
proportion to the white population, according to the
census. That is an exhibition which has been made
before by Senators who sit on the other side of the
Chamber. They have brought before the American
people what they allege to be the fact, shown by the
census, that of the white population in the Southern
States, there are very few who are slaveholders. The
Senator from Tennessee is now doing the same thing.
I understand him to say there are but some — I do not
remember exactly the numbers, but I think three hun
dred thousand or a fraction more — of the whites in the
slaveholding States, who own three million slaves ; but
he made no further exposition. I ask the Senator to
state the additional fact that the holders of the slaves
are the heads of families of the white population ; and
neither that Senator nor those whose example he has fol
lowed on the other side has stated the fact that the white
population in the Southern States, as in the other States,
embraces men, women, and children. He has exhibited
only the number of slaveholders who are heads of families.
* J. M. Mason, " Confederate Commissioner" to England.

24 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
" Mr. Johnson.— I was stating the fact, that accord
ing to the census tables three hundred and forty-^
seven thousand white persons owned the whole num
ber of slaves in the Southem States. I was about
to state that the families holding these slaves might
average six, or eight, or ten persons, all of whom are
interested in the products of slave labour, and many of
these slaves are held by minors and by females. I was
not alluding to the matter for the purpose the Senator
from Virginia seems to have intimated, and I should
have been much obliged to him if he had waited until he
heard my application of these figures. I was going to
show that expressions like those to which I have alluded
operate aigainst us in the South, and I was following the
example of no one. I was taking these facts from the
census tables, which were published by order of Con
gress, to show the bad policy and injustice of declaring
that the labouring portion of our population were slaves
and menials. Such declarations should not be apphed
to the people either North Or South. I wished to say
in that connection, that, in my opinion, if a few men at
the North and at the South, who entertain extreme
views on the subject of slavery, and desire to keep up
agitation, were out of the way, the great mass of the
people. North and South, would go on prosperously and
harmoniously under our institutions."
Meantime, Mr. Johnson intimates very plainly to
the extremists of his own party, among whom was
Mr. Hammond, that they need not count on him in
the revolutionary measures which they had already
predetermined.

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 25
CHAPTEE II.
Various Speeches in the Senate — Crittenden's Eesolutions— Mr.
Johnson's plan of Pacification — Progress of Secession — Its
phase iu Tennessee — The coup d!etat.
Two years after the debate above recounted,
the secession scheme was ripe. Most of the Gulf
States had, through their legislatures,- pledged
themselves in advance to a declaration that the
election of a " black Eepublican " candidate to the
Presidency should be considered proof of a settled
design on the part of the people of the Northern
States to wage a perpetual conffict upon Southem
institutions, and resolutions were adopted making it
the duty of the governors of their respective States,
upon the happening of such an event, to forthwith
convene the legislatures for the purpose of devising
some adequate means of warding off its perils. This
important Step effected, it only remained to ensure
the happening of the event ostensibly so much
dreaded, but secretly desired.
Notwithstanding the Preesoilers had received a
very great accession of strength from its coahtion
with the Whigs-^thus forming the Eepubhcan party
— ^no Southem pohtician entertained a doubt of the
abihty of the Democratic party, should it continue
undivided, to prevent the election of a Eepublican
candidate ; and this confidence caused many to enter

26 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
into the pledge of conditional secession just men7
tioned who would otherwise have been far from
doing so. It was a part of the plan, however, that
the Democratic organization should be broken up.
Mr. Douglas, of Illinois, the originator of the
Kansas Nebraska Bill, and the great expounder and
advocate of the doctrine of popular sovereignty, as
the most prominent of the leaders of the Democratic
party, had heretofore been considered the most
eligible exponent of its principles in the coming
Presidential election. His nomination for the presi
dency had been tacitly or expressly agreed upon, and
had met almost universal approbation at the South,
His refusal to support the Kansas Lecompton
Constitution, and consequent misunderstanding
with Mr. Buchanan, had already injured his pro
spects, and the pubhcation of his famous article in
" Harper's Monthly Magazine" rendered the breach
with the extremists of his party complete. That
party, which had hitherto ignored, or conveniently
kept in the background the differences which, from
the compromise of 1850, had prevailed in its ranks
upon the subject of popular sovereignty, now broke
into open dissensions. And yet the point of differ
ence upon which the ultra wing of the party seceded
from the main body was so metaphysical, as to
strengthen the accusation of their opponents, that
they sought only a pretext to destroy the organiza-

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 27
tion. The Douglas Democrats held that the people
of a Territory, even hefore its admission as a State,
might keep slavery from their midst by refusing to
protect it ; but that this protection might be
attained by appealing in each particular case to the
United States courts, as in the Dred Scott decision.
The ultra, or Secession Democrats, on the other
hand, maintained that this question having once
been decided in the Dred Scott case, not only the
parties in that trial, but the Congress of the United
States through all time, were bound to legislate in
accordance with the decision, and protect slavery in,
the Territories against the local courts and legis
latures. The Democratic Convention assembled at Char
leston, South Carohna, on the 23rd of April, 1860,
and these two wings of the Democracy brought
forward two separate platforms, embodying the
conflicting views just described. The ultra, or pro-
slavery members found themselves in the minority,
withdrew from the body, and soon after nominated
a separate candidate in the person of John C.
Breckenridge. Meanwhile, the regular Convention,
after many ballotings — during which Mr. Johnson,
among others, was put in nomination, and received
the entire vote of the Tennessee delegation — united
upon Stephen A. Douglas.
The Democratic party being thus shorn of half

28 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
its strength, Mr* Lincoln's election was ensureds
Indeed, the secession leaders, assured of the result,
occupied the six months of the presidential canvass
not so much in attempting to affect its result, as in
secret preparations for precipitating the intended
revolution. When Mr. Lincoln's election was announced in
the following November, everything was ripe, and
by a concerted movement the Cotton States with
drew almost simultaneously from the Union. With
the Cotton States, indeed, the leaders of the con
spiracy had but little difficulty ; but, when the last of
these had withdrawn from the Union, there was a
portentous lull._. !iNotwithstanding the almost frantic
efforts of the ultra Democrats in the Border States,
these still sullenly stood aloof from all participation in
a movement which they wisely persisted in terming
precipitate and ill-advised.
Of all the Border States, that which Mr. Johnson
represented in the United States Senate — namely^
Tennessee— was perhaps the most opposed to a
dissolution of the Union. Unfortunately for that
State, however, Isham G. Harris, a Secessionist, at
that important crisis fiUed the office of Governor,
and he immediately inaugurated the , movements
which had proved so successful in other States. He
issued an inflammatory appeal, in the shape of a
message, to the Legislature, urging the policy and

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 29-
necessity of immediate co-operation with the other
Southern States, and recommending that a conven
tion of the people should be assembled to determine
upon the future course of the State. A preliminary
test vote was, however, allowed the people to decide
for themselves whether they would have such a con
vention. The people decided by an overwhelming
majority that it was needless to hold a convention.
This result did not take the Secessionists by sur
prise. Had it been at all probable that they could
count upon Tennessee, the question of " Secession
or no Secession " would have been put directly as it
was in other States ; but since a negative vote upon
this direct issue would have been, perhaps, final and
irrevocable, the pohcy of the course pursued is
obvious. The Eevolutionists had now satisfied
themselves that Tennessee was not to be withdrawn
from the Union by the ballot-box and ordinance
formula alone. A heroic remedy was required in
her case, and they determined in due time to
apply it.
In the meantime Andrew Johnson was batthng
for the Union in the United States Senate. Had
he been in Tennessee at this juncture, he could have
done far more than any other man in that State in
the cause of moderation and peace. Whatever could,
be done at a distance from the arena of the con
spiracy, by eloquent remonstrance, pathetic dis-

30 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
suasion, and the force of distinguished example, he
did. On the occasion of the introduction of Mr*
Crittenden's resolutions, December 19, 1860, for
an amendment of the constitution, Mr. Johnson
took emphatic ground against the right of seces
sion, and caUed for the employment of force in
upholding the laws. He said : —
" The duties now are the same as in 1793 and 1832 ;
the consequences belong to God. He intended to dis
charge his duty, whatever the consequences may be.
Have we not the power to enforce the laws in the State
of South Carolina, as well as in the State of Vermont
or any other State ? And, notwithstanding they may
resolve and declare themselves absolved from all alle
giance to this Union, yet it does not save them from the
compact. If South Carolina drives out the Federal
Courts from the State, then the Federal Government
has a right to re-establish the Courts. If she excludes,
the mails, the Federal Government has a right and the
authority to carry the mails. If she resists the collec
tion of revenue in the port of Charleston, or any other'
ports, then the Government has a right to enter and
enforce the law. If she undertakes to take possession
of the property of the Govemment, the Government has
a right to take all means to retain that property, And
if they make any eflTort to dispossess the Govemment,
or to resist the execution of the judicial system, then
South Carolina puts herself in the wrong, and it is the
duty of the Govemment to see the judiciary faithfully
executed. Tes, sir, faithfully executed. In December,
1806, South Carolina made a deed of cession of the land

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 31
oh which these forts stand — a full and free cession —
with certain conditions, and has had possession of these
forts till this day. And, now, has South Carolina any
right to attempt to drive the Government from that
property ? If she secedes, and makes any attempt of
this kind, does she not come within the meaning of thd
Constitution, where it speaks of levying war ? And in
levying war, she does what the Constitution declares to
be treason. We may as well talk of things as they are,
for if anything can be treason within the scope of the
Constitution, is not levying war upon the Government
treason ? Is not attempting to take the property of the
Govemment, and expel the Government soldiers there
from, treason ? Is not attempting to resist the coUec-
tion of the revenue, attempting to excli\de the mails,
and driving the Federal court from her borders, treason ?
What is it ? I ask, in the name of the Constitution,
what is it ? It is treason, and nothing but treason."
This speech caused Mr. Johnson to be assailed
with the utmost virulence, both by the secessionists
who still lingered in Congress and throughout the
seceded States. He was met with a shower of
taunts, hisses, reproaches, and, lastly, threats. He
was denounced by the Southern press as a traitor
who deserved nothing short of hanging, and, even
in his own State, Tennessee, was burnt in effigy.*
In fine, all the hackneyed artifices of terrorism were
brought to bear in order to bully him into a partici
pation with the conspiracy, or at least silence his
* At Memphis, December 22nd.

32 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
opposition to it. The plan had succeeded with
thousands of loyal Southerners, who were left the
alternative of fleeing the country and thus leaving|
their substance to be sequestered by the pseudo-i
governments of the seceded States, or yielding a
pretended acquiescence in the rebellion. Andrew
Johnson was made of sterner material. Eegardleas|
ahke of taunts, vituperation, and menaces, he con
tinued to denounce secession as treason veiled in a
specious fallacy. On the 5th of February, 1861, he
again addressed the Senate in a most forcible and
vehement speech : —
" In his former speech he had planted himself on the
Constitution, beside its fathers, and against the doctrine
of nullification and secession, which he considered to be
a national heresy. As far back as 1833 he had planted;
himself on the same principles, and believed .the doctrine
of secession to be a heresy, which, if sustained, would
lead to the destruction of the Government ; and he op
posed this doctrine to-day for the same reasons. He
believed that it would be the destruction also of any
Govemment which might be formed subsequently. He
looked upon this doctrine as a prolific political sin ; as a
production of anarchy, which was the next step to
despotism. For his speech on the 19th of December
he had been attacked and denounced ; but he was in
spired with a confidence that he had struck treason a
blow, and men who were engaged in being traitors felt
the blow. His object now was to meet attacks.
"He then referred to Benjamin's speech of the pre-

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 33
vions day regarding Louisiana's right to leave the
Union, showing that the General Government had paid
sixty miUions of francs for the soil and sovereignty of
the State — had given her constant protection ever since,
even to levying a sugar duty for her special benefit ;
and what was the return ? Let the pages of history
teU ! Let robbed mints, pillaged arsenals, seized forts,
and usurpations over the people tell ! Benjamin, but a
short time previous to his lugubrious lamentations over
Louisiana's ' wrongs,' had characterized disunionists as
those who shot arrows at the bright sun. What had
made him so oblivious to his late sentiments ? Had
any ' wrongs ' been perpetrated in the mean time ?
" The speaker then quoted from the Richmond
' Enquirer ' of 1814, where, discussing the proceedings
of the Hartford Convention, it assumed the position
that no State had a right to withdraw from the Union —
that resistance against the laws was treason, calling on
the Government to arrest the traitors, for the Union
must be saved at aU hazards. Mr. Johnson said he
subscribed fuUy to those opinions. But what is Treason?
The Constitution says, ' Treason consists in levying war
against the United States, or adhering to an enemy, and
giving him aid and comfort.' Does it need any search
to find men levying war, and giving aid and comfort to
enemies against the United States ? Treason ought to
be punished. North and South ; and if there are traitors,
they should be entitled to traitors' reward. He said
that South Carolina early had a prejudice against a
Government by the people, and that secession was no
new thing in that State. He referred to the early
history of South Carolina, who claimed, at one time.

34 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
rthat they were ready to go back under the dommim^
teng GeqrgeV He read an address of the people of
CharTeston to King George, 1780, saying that the/!
never intended to dissolve that union, lamenting the
Struggle of independence, professing affection and zeal
for that Government,, the King, etd'."' He then referred
to the attempt to break up the Government, in 1838, by
South Carolina. Then they were restrained and their
pride humbled, and men who speak in their Convention
now say they have had an intention to dissolve the
Union for forty years. The question now is, Are the
other States going to allow themselves to be precipi->-|
tated into ruin by South Carolina ?"
It will be seen from the tenor of this as well as
his preqeding' speech, that Mr. Johnson took no
half-way grounds upon the question of secession.
He did propose, indeed, with Mr. Crittenden of
Kentucky, to appease the discontent* of the Seceding
States by constitutional amendments for the better
security of the rights of the South in respect to
slavery. That discontent, he himself held to be
to some extent well founded, but the Southern
States had placed themselves in an attitude of
rebellion, and he maintained that, as long as they
continued to defy the Government with arms in
their hands, a firm as well as conciliatory pohcy
became the administration.
While, therefore, he warmly and earnestly sup
ported the measures introduced by Mr. Crittenden,

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 35
as well as their modification by the Peace Con
ference, he did not the less continue to wholly deny
the right of Secession in any event. But as the
election of Mr. Lincoln had been determined upon,
and carried by the efforts of the Secessionists them
selves, in order to manufacture a factitious ground
of discontent, so they dehberately defeated the con
ference resolutions with a like object. Those reso
lutions granted the South everything which could
reasonably be demanded, and more than they had
ever before dreamed of asking. They proposed
to embody the Dred Scott decision* in the Consti
tution, prohibited the abolition of slavery in the
district of Columbia, and surrounded the Fugitive-
Slave Law with such guarantees as would secure in
aU future time the full benefit of its*provisions to
the slave interest. It was all in vain, for whatever
the other benefits which might flow from this com
promise, it had one feature which doomed it to
defeat. It would, if adopted, have pacified the
sections, and for ever prevented the birth of that
new slave empire which had now been fully deter
mined upon.
Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, having introduced
an amendment to the resolutions, which, if passed,
would nulhfy them, six Southem Senators purposely
withheld their votes, whereupon the amendment
* Vide Q-reeley's " American Conflicti"

36 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
was carried by a majority of only two, thus demon
strating that the Southern members could have
carried the measures of pacification by four votes.
Indignantly reverting, a year after the event, to the
duplicity and fraud which characterized the conduct
of the Southern Senators on that occasion, Mr,
Johnson said : —
" I sat right behind Mr. Benjamin, and I am not sure
that my worthy friend [Mr. Latham] was not close by,
when he refused to vote, and I said to him, ' Mr. Benja
min, why do you not vote ? Why not save this propo
sition, and see if we cannot bring the country to it ? '
He gave me rather an abrupt answer, and said he would
control his own action without consulting me or any
body else. Said I, ' Vote, and show yourself an honest
man.' As soon as the vote was taken, he and others
telegraphed Steuth, ' We cannot get any compromise.'
Here were six Southern men refusing to vote, when the
amendment would have been rejected by four majority
if they had voted. Who then has brought these evils
on the country ? Was it Mr. Clark ? He was acting
out his own policy ; but with the help we had from the
other side of the chamber, if all those on this side had
been true to the Constitution and faithful to their con
stituents, and had acted with fidelity to their country,
the amendment of the Senator from New Hampshire
could have been voted down, the defeat of which the
Senator from Delaware says would have, saved the
country. Whose fault was it ? Who is responsible for
it ? I think that it is not only getting the nail through,
but clinching it on the other side, and the whole staple

-LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 37
commodity is taken out of the speech. Who did it ?
Southern traitors, as was said in the speech of the
Senator from California. They did it. They wanted
no compromise. They atfeomplished their object by
withholding their votes ; and hence the country has
been involved in the present diflBculty. Let me read
another extract from the speech of the Senator of
California [Mr. Latham] : —
" ' I recollect full well the joy that pervaded the faces
of some of those gentlemen at the result, and the sorrow
manifested by the venerable Senator from Kentucky
[Mr. Crittenden]. The record shows that Mr. Pugh,
from Ohio, despairing of any compromise between the
extremes of ultra-Eepublicanism and disunionists, work
ing manifestly for the same end, moved, immediately
after the vote was announced, to lay the whole subject
on the table. If you will tum to page 443, same
volume, you will find, when at a late period Mr.
Canieron, from Pennsylvania, moved to reconsider the
vote, appeals having been made to sustain those who
were struggling to preserve the peace of the country,
that vote was reconsidered ; and when, at last, the Crit
tenden propositions were submitted on the 2nd day of
March, these Southern States having nearly all seceded,
they were then lost by but one vote.
" ' If these seceded Southem States had remained,
there would have passed, by a large vote (as it did
without them), an amendment, by a two-third vote,
forbidding Congress ever interfering with slavery in the
jStates. The Crittenden proposition would have been
iudorsed by a majority vote, the subject finally going
before the people, who have never yet, after considera-

38 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
tion, refused justice, for any length of time, to any
portion of the country.
" ' I beUeve more, Mr. President, that these gentle
men were acting in pursuance of a settled and fixed
plan to break up and destroy the Government.'
" When we had it in our power to vote down the
amendment of the Senator from New Hampshire, and
adopt the Crittenden resolutions, certain Southern!
Senators prevented it ; and, yet, even at a late day of
the session, after they had seceded, the Crittenden pro
position was only lost by one vote. If rebelhon, and
bloodshed, and murder have followed, to whose skirts
does the responsibihty attach? I summed up all these
facts myself in a speech during the last session, but I
have preferred to read from the speech of the Senator
for California, he being better authority, and having
presented the facts better than I could."
Amongst the various plans of adjustment now
brought forward to save the govemment from
destruction, Mr. Johnson himself submitted a
scheme of a somewhat unique description.
The whole was embodied in a proposition of
amendment of the Constitution of the United]
States. One of the projected changes provided that
the Supreme Court should be divided into three!
classes ; the term of the first class to expire in
four years from the time that the classification:
is made; of the second class in eight years;
and of the third in twelve ; and as these vacancies
occurred, they were to be filled by persons chosen,

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 39
one half from the Slave States, and the other half
from the non- slaveholding States ; also that either
the President or Vice-President should be chosen
from the slaveholding States.
Besides these provisions of a merely local charac
ter, there were other features of a far more general
scope, which might appear at first glance to have
but httle bearing upon the great and difficult con
troversy then agitating the Eepublic. One of these
proposed to change the mode of election of the
President and Vice-President of the United States,
by transferring it from the electoral college to the
direct vote of the people. The other amendment
proposed that the Senators of the United States
should also be elected by the people instead of by
the Legislatures of the several States.
The unavoidable effect of these modifications in
the Federal Constitution would have been tb render
the Government at once more democratic and more
consohdated. The result of a presidential election,
if conducted in accordance with this scheme, would
reflect the wishes of the people as one undivided
unit rather than of the States as distinct sovereign
ties. Mr. Johnson indeed was a Democrat of the
Jacksonian rather than the State Eights school, and
was desirous that some means should be adopted to
strengthen the hands of the general Government.
He had but little faith in the many special and

40 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
empirical remedies for the cure of party dissensions
that were brought forward at this juncture. Such
temporary expedients would be futile to ensure!
future peace and security to the Eepublic, as longj
as the fallacious and disintegrating doctrine of the
right of secession was allowed to manifest itself in
open acts of defiance to the general authority. Iti
was to this mistaken idea, that a State could com
mit no treason, that he attributed much of the
trouble then perplexing the councils and threaten
ing the existence of the nation. He preferred rather
to strike at the root of the evil by some measure,
lessening, if possible, that overweening State pride,
which preferred, on every slight provocation, to
menace the Government with rebellion rather than.
approach it in the attitude of petition for the redress !
of wrong. In his remarks accompanying his proposition of
pacification, he professed to aim at the same objects
with his Southern friends, but hoped to secure
them by far different means. Secession was no
remedy for the evils complained of. "I think,"
said he, " this battle ought to be fought not out-i
side but inside of the Union, and upon the battle
ments of the Constitution itself. So far as I am-
concerned — and I believe I may speak with some
degree of confidence for the people of my State — i
we intend to fight that battle inside and not out-

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 41
side of the Union ; and if anybody must go out of
the Union, it must be those who violate it. We do.
not intend to go out. It is our Constitution — ^it is
our Union, growing out of the Constitution; and
we do not intend to be driven from it or out of the
Union." He was opposed to seceding or breaking up the
Union until aU honourable means had been ex
hausted in trying to obtain from the Northern
States a comphance with the spirit and letter of the
Constitution and all its guarantees. He denied the
right of any State to secede from the- Union without
the consent of the other States which made the
compact. Behoving that the opinion Ijhat a State
had a right to secede, had resulted from the Vir
ginia resolutions of 1798 and 1799, he examined the
;subject,. and said : " Take the resolutions ; take the
report- of Mr. Madison upon them ; take Mr. Madi
son's expositions of them in 1832 and 1833 ; his
letter to Mr. Trist; his letter to Mr. Webster; his
letter to Mr. Eives ; and when all are summed up,
this doctrine of a State, either assuming her highest
pohtical attitude or otherwise, having the right of
her own will to dissolve all connection with this
Confederacy, is an absurdity, and contrary to the
plain intent and meaning of the Constitution of the
United States. I hold that the Constitution of the
United States makes no provision, as said by the

42 LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
President of the United States, for its own destruc
tion. It makes no provision for breaking up the
Government, and no State has the constitutional
right to secede and withdraw from the Union.
" I know that the inquiry may be made, how is
a State, then, to have redress ? There is but one'
way, and that is expressed by the people of Ten
nessee. You have entered into this compact; it
was mutual; it was reciprocal; and you of your!
own vohtion have no right to withdraw and break
the compact, without the consent of the other:
parties. What remedy, then, has the State ? Iti
has a remedy that remains and abides with every!
people upon the face of the earth — when grievances
are without a remedy, or without redress, when
oppression becomes intolerable, they haVe the great
inherent right of revolution, and that is all there
is of it.
" Sir, if the doctrine of secession is to be carried
out upon the mere whim of a State, this Govern
ment is at an end. I am as much opposed to a
strong, or what may be caUed by some a consoli
dated Govemment, as it is possible for a man to be ;
but while I am greatly opposed to that, I want a
Government strong enough to preserve its own
existence ; that will not fall to pieces by its own
weight, or whenever a little dissatisfaction takes'
place among its members. If the States have the:

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 43
right to secede at will, for real or imaginary evils
or oppressions, I repeat again, this Government is
at an end ; it is not stronger than a rope of sand ;
its own weight wiU tumble it to pieces, and it
cannot exist."
This position was fortified by reference to the
views of Mr. Jefferson, Chief-Justice Marshall,
Mr. Webster, and General Jackson.
" In traveUing through the instrument," he con
tinued, '' we find how the Govemment is created and
perpetuated, and how it may be enlarged in refer
ence to the number of States constituting the Con
federacy ; but do we find any provision for winding
it up, except on that great inherent principle that it
may be wound up by the States — not by a State, but
by the States which spoke it into existence, and by
no other means. That is a means of taking down
the Govemment that the Constitution could not
provide for. It is above the Constitution ; it is
beyond any provision that can be made by mortal
man. " The Constitution was intended to be perpetual.
In reference to the execution of the laws, what do
we find? As early as 1795, Congress passed an
excise law, taxing distilleries throughout the country,
and what were called the whiskey boys of Penn-,
sylvania resisted the law. The Govemment wanted
means. It taxed distilleries. The people of Penn-

44 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
sylvania resisted it. What is the difference between
a portion of the people resisting a constitutional
law, and aU of the people of a State doing so?'
But because you can apply the term coercion m one
case to a State, and in the other call "it simply the
execution of the law against individuals, you say
there is a great distinction. We do not assume the
power to coerce a State, but we assume that Con
gress has power to lay and collect taxes, and
Congress has the right to enforce that law when
obstructions and impediments are opposed to its
enforcement. Such was the action of Washing
ton, and similar was the action of Jackson in
1832." In considering the comphcations which might
arise in consequence of secession, he alluded to the
free navigation of the Mississippi.
" Was it at ah probable that the people of the
United States, after purchasing the territory of
Louisiana, partly with the very view of holding and
controhing the navigation of that great river from
its source to its mouth, would allow that territory
to set up a separate government, and exclude the
other States from the free use of the Mississippi ?
Mr. Slidell had said that it was not the intention of.
Louisiana to do so ; but what guarantee was fur
nished the United States against the possibihty of
such an event ? If .Louisiana is an independent]

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 45
nationality, she necessarily has the absolute control
of all streams flowing through her territory."
The right has been claimed by the United States
to occupy foreign territory on the ground of its
importance to the safety of the institutions of the
country. On this principle the Govemment acted
in the case of Florida. This was the principle
announced at Ostend, where the American ministers
to the three principal courts pf Europe met and
considered the grounds upon which the Government
would be justified in acquiring Cuba. How would
this doctrine bear upon Louisiana when out of the
Union and holding thq key to the Gulf — the outlet of
the commerce of the West.
While Andrew Johnson, in the Senate of the
United States, was thus straming every nerve to
prevent the dismemberment of the Union, by the
withdrawal of the Cotton States, increased efforts
were being made for involving the Border States iai
the movement. It had become evident, however,
that everything would prove unavaihng, unless some
step should be taken which would render the
neutral position assumed by these States untenable..
In case of war between the extreme sections, it was
evident that the intermediate sections must take
sides, and war was therefore determined on. On
the evening of the day previous to its inauguration
by the attack on Fort Sumter, Mr. Pryor, of

46 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
Virginia, the leading Secessionist of that State, in a
speech to the citizens of Charleston, made the fol
lowing declarations : —
" As sure as to-morrow's sun shall rise upon us,
just so sure will old Virginia be a member of this
Southern Confederation. And I will tell you,
gentlemen, what will put her in the Southern Con
federation in less than an hour by Shrewsbury clock.!
Strike a blow ! . . . The moment the conffict'
begins, old Virginia will dispute with South Caro
lina the precedence in this great combat."
The revolutionists displayed in this measure
much of astuteness, if not of wisdom. In five days
after the, event, Virginia had passed an ordinance of
secession, and Arkansas and North Carolina followed
in quick succession. Tennessee seceded about
the same time, but she, even yet, clung to the
Union with such tenacity, that it was considered'
necessary to resort to the devious arts of the
diplomatist to effect her co-operation.
As Mr. Johnson's history is almost identical with
that of his State, from the date of his appointment
to the office of military governor, it will serve
materiaUy to elucidate the account hereafter
given of his administration of the dehcate and
important duties of that office, to present here a
brief summary of the main events which accom
panied and closely followed the act of secession in

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 47
Tennessee. The narrative will also serve another
purpose ; it will illustrate, by a simple statement of
facts, the true nature of the Southern rebellion ; it
will demonstrate that, in the instance of the State
of Tennessee at least, fraud,, dissimulation, terror
ism, and a shameless disregard of law characterized
the whole movement from beginning to end.
It has been seen that the test-vote had failed,
the people having decided, that so far from desiring
to secede from the Union, they were even unwilhng
that a convention should be cahed to consider the
question. No further movement was made, either
to test the willingness of the people of the State to
embark their fortunes in the new Confederacy, or to
urge them to that course. The leaders quietly
waited for that first blood which they beheved would
have the effect they desired. Fort Sumter was
bombarded on the 12th April, and on the 15th of
the same month Mr. Lincoln issued his memorable
proclamation, calhng for seventy-five thousand
troops to put down the rebelhon. The looked-for
opportunity had now arrived. The secession
" stump orators " and newspapers, who had been
husbanding their wrath and indignation for this
express and long-expected occasion, now joined in
a chorus of phihppics against the Union, and vehe
ment exhortations to the people of Tennessee to
dissolve at once their pohtical connection there-

'48 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
with. Govemor Harris, with a show of honest'
indignation, peremptorily refused to furnish his
quota of troops in answer to Mr. Lincoln's call, and
summoned an extra Session of the Legislature
instead, upon whom he urged the pohcy and abso
lute necessity of immediate secession. It was now
determined that the question of separation or no
separation should be submitted directly to the
people. Stihit was feared that Tennessee might
not be quite ripe; that she might even yet
prefer to remain in the Union, although at the risk
of being compehed to assist in putting down the
xebehion of her sister Southern States. Somethmg
must be done to influence, if not command the
ballot-box. The policy adopted to this end was
httle less than a cowp d'6tat on the !part of the
State Executive and Legislature. It comprised
three distinct measures — to wit, the seizing and
appropriating to the use of the State all the funds
of the United States in the hands of the coUeotor
at Nashville ; the organization of an army ; and
lastly, the formation of an alliance with the Con
federate States. The first measure was assumed by
the Govemor on his own responsibility. The two;
latter were the offspring of the Legislature. MrJ
Henry W. HiUiard, of Alabama, Commissionerj
from the " Confederate States," on the 30th of April,'
appeared before the Legislature with a proposition

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 49
for a " temporary" alhance between Tennessee and
-the Confederate States, ''to continue until Ten
nessee, in primary convention, should decide for or
against adopting the Constitution of that Govern
ment, and becoming one of the Confederate States."
The Legislature did not hesitate to close with
this astonishing proposal.
In secret session on the day following that on
which Mr. Hilliard's proposition was submitted for
consideration, a joint resolution of both Houses was
passed, directing the Governor to enter into a
military league with the Confederate States, and to
place under their control the whole military force of
the State.
Govemor Harris immediately appointed three
Commissioners, instructed as follows : — " To enter
into a mihtary league with the authorities of the
(Confederate States, and with the authorities of such
lother slaveholding States as may wish to enter into
it, having in view the protection and defence of the
entire South against the war that is now being
carried on against it."
On May 7th, but six days after the resolution
was passed, the Govemor stated the result in a
message to the Legislature : — " The said Com
missioners met the Hon. H.enry W. HiUiard, the
accredited representative of the Confederate States
at Nashville on this day, and have agreed upon and

50 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
executed a military league between the State of
Tennessee and the Confederate States of America,
subject, however, to the ratification of the two
Governments, one of the duplicate originals of
which I herewith transmit for your ratification or
rejection. For many cogent and obvious reasons,
unnecessary to be rehearsed to you, I respectfully
recommend the ratification of this league at the
earliest practicable moment."
The following is the Convention or League
referred to : —
" Convention between the State of Tennessee and the
Confederate States of America.
" The State of Tennessee, looking to a speedy
admission into the Confederacy, estabhshed by the
Confederate States of America, in accordance with
the Constitution for the Provisional Government of
said States, enters into the following temporary
convention, agreement, and mihtary league with
the Confederate States, for the purpose of meeting
pressing exigences affecting the common rights,
interests, and safety of said States, and said Con
federacy : —
" 1st. Until the said State shall become a
member of said Confederacy, according to the
Constitutions of both powers, the whole mihtary

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 51
force and military operations, offensive and defen
sive, of said State, in the impending conflict with
the United States, shall be under the chief control
and direction of the President of the Confederate
States, upon the same basis, principles, and footing,
as if said State were now and during the interval a
member of the said Confederacy; said forces,
together with those of the Confederate States, to be
employed for the common defence.
" 2nd. The State of Tennessee will, upon
becoming a member of said Confederacy, under the
permanent Constitution of said Confederate States,
if the same shall occur, turn over to said Confederate
States, all the public property, naval stores, and
munitions of war, of which she may then be in
possession, acquired from the United States, on
the same terms and in the same manner as the
other States of said Confederacy have done in like
cases. '^ 3rd. Whatever expenditure of money, if any,
the said State of Tennessee shall make before
she becomes a member of said Confederacy, shall
be met and provided for by the Confederate
States." This Convention was ratified by a vote of 14 to
6 in the Senate, and 42 to 15 in the House.
In the meantime. May 6th, the Legislature
passed an ordinance, entitled " An Act to submit to
4.

52 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
a vote of the people a Declaration of Independencesi
and for other purposes."
The first section provided that the poUs' should
be opened, throughout the State on the Sth of the
foUowing June.
The second section provided a Deelaratioia of
Independence, to be submitted to the voters for
their ratification or rejection.
The third section provided that the voting should
be by ballots,, inscribed " Separation " and "N'o
separation"; and, if the majority were given for
separation, the Governor should issue his proclama
tion, declaring " all connection by the State of Teiv
nessee with the Federal Union dissolved, and that
Tennessee is a free, independent Government, free
from all obligations to or connection with the Federal
Government." The fifth section submitted to the popular vote
an ordinance making Tennessee a member of the
Confederacy. Another Act required the Governor to raise,,
organize, and equip a force of 55,000 men, and by
this Act he was authorized to caU out the whole
available military strength of the State, to detea?!
mine where it should serve and to direct it accord
ingly. He was further provided with the sinews of
war in the power to issue and dispose of 5>000,000
doUars in the bonds of the State.

LIEE, OE PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 53.
Before^ the day on. which the people were
nominally to decide their destiny the Governor had
about 2&,000 men on foot and in camp, equipped
with United States munitions which, were in the
State, and with a part of those which had been
seized at the United States arsenal at Augusta,
Georgia. Let us now examine- the character of
these proceedings.
The State Constitution contained a provision
that the Govemor and each member of the Legis
lature, with every Tennessee official, before assuming
his office should take an oath to support the Consti
tution and Laws of the United States. The State
Declaration of Eights acknowledges the supremacy
of the Constitution of the United States, and most
clearly d,eclares that the people of the State have not
the right of exercisin-g sovereignty, except in so far as
is consistent with the Constitution of the United
States. This Constitution had been ordained by
the people of Tennessee, and it provided the only
legal method for its own amendment. By its pro
visions the General Assembly could only recommend
an amendment. This recommendation could not be
made in secret session, but must be entered on the
journal of the General Assembly, with the ''ayes"
and "noes" thereon. The proposal must then be
referred by the General Assembly originating it to
the General Assembly next, chosen, having been first

54 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
pubhshed six months before their election. If the
proposal should be agreed to by two-thirds of all
the members elected to each House of such second
General Assembly, then it must be submitted to the
people, and if the people approved and ratified it
by a majority of all those who voted for the mem
bers of the Assembly, then, and then only, could it
legally become a part of the Constitution of the
State of Tennessee.
Legally the people were, therefore, fully protected.
The Governor and Legislature had no power to alter
or infringe the State Constitution, or to absolve
themselves from their oaths of office, and therefore
in establishing a league with the enemies of the
Federal Government they perjured themselves, and
committed treason against the express laws of the
State of Tennessee, as well as those of the United:
States. This would be none the less true whether
there be a legal right of secession or not, for this
league was made while Tennessee was stiU a mem
ber of the Federal Union, not only by the express
vote of the people, but by the admission of the
Governor and Legislature themselves in the very
terms of the ordinance requiring another vote of the
people to rescind the one but lately taken.
The Constitution of the United States prescribes
that " This Constitution, and the laws of the United
States made in pursuance thereof, shall be the

LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 55
supreme law of the land, and the judges in every
State shaU be bound thereby, any thing in the
Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding." — Article VI.
This "Supreme law of the land" further de
clares that " No State shaU enter into any treaty,
alhance, or confederation." .... "No State
shall, without the consent of Congress, keep troops
or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another State, or with a
foreign power, or engage in war unless actually in
vaded, or in such imminent danger as wiU admit
of no delay." — Article I., Sec. 10.
Yet they not only entered into a treaty with
other States, but raised troops, and equipped them
from the arsenals of the Government which they
sought to overturn.
Thus there was an utter disregard of oaths, and
the most solemn obhgations of legal and constitu
tional duty. It was a gigantic conspiracy against
the Federal Government, and also against the hber-
ties of the people of the State. By a combination
of fraud and violence, its leaders had obtained the
absolute control of the Legislature, and the people
went to the poUs on the morning on which they
were required to rescind their former votes, con
scious for the first time that they were no longer
free. With the whole power of the State Govern-

56 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
ment, and a formidable army in the hands of thieir
officials, the people might reverse their vote 'ot
Febraary 9th and be taken into 'the favottr of their
self-constituted masters ; but by dechning to reverse
that vote, by refhsing to absdlve their officers from
their broken oaths, by declining to accept the Con-
federateOonstitntion,-they could not Tweak the fetters
that bound them. The coup d'Stcd was afready
accomphshed, and by their struggling against it
they could scarcely expect to xeap anything bu!t
danger or disaster to themselves. But the leaders
of the conspiracy were not satisfied with the accom
phshed fact; they required the prestige of a strong
popular vote in their favour, 'and to obtain it they
did not scruple to use direct violence and fraud =&t
the poUs. Secession was consequently accepted by
an apparent majority of 57,667 votes, and at &st
'sight it is surprising that over 47,000 men had the
cburage to Tote against it.
But while terrorism was thoroughly B^taibHShe'd
in the middle and westem portions of the State,
E^ast ^Tennessee, being a mountainous region far
removed from the headquarters of the conspif aCy,
enjoyed a greater degree of freedom, and about two-
thirds of the votes against separation were cast in
that sparsely settled portion of the 'State.
No sooner had the East Tennesseans manifested
the audacity to vote in favour of retaining -^Mir

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. &7
aHegianoe to the Federal Govemment, and to the
.Constitution of Tennessee, than the leaders of the
movement put in vigorous operation that sy^em
of tenrorism which had wrought so well in other
portions of the State.
But although this Short method had succeeded
^ewhere in producing that wonderful unanimity so
much boasted of by the Confederates, it was ttdt
[successful with the hardy mountaineers of Ea^t
Tennessee. Many thousands fled thefr homes tc
LServe as common soldiers in the armies of the Union,
-and, wrought to the highest pitch of indignation b^y
the reooileotionof their wrongs, fought with a deter
mination -which went far to establish that wonderful
morale tov which the Federal armies in the West
Boom Jbeoa/me noted.

CHAPTEE III.
"Mr. Johnson is appointed Military Governor of Tennessee, and
immediately .repairs to the scene of action— His efforts to
reclaim his State — His Emancipatipn iProolamation — The .State
is restored and Slavery abolished.
Tdse CoBfederate gHfpremacy in Tennessee was of
short duration. The .captiuje of Fort Donelson in
Febmary, 1862,;reB:dered NashviUe untenable, amd
on the 23Td of the -same month, that city, the capital

58 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
of the State, was evacuated by the Confederate
troops. Martial law was immediately proclaimed by
General Grant, and the organized armies of the
Confederates were soon driven out of a large por-i
tion of the State.
It was now the part of Mr. Liucoln, by clemency;
and conciliation, tempered with firmness, to bring
order out of the chaos of lawlessness and passion
which was raging in the State of Tennessee. To
carry out these designs he could find no other per
son so weU qualified as Andrew Johnson. Twice
Governor, by the choice of the people, he was weU-
known in the State. His abihty and fii*mness had
shone conspicuous when he had stood alone among
Southem senators, battling for the Union. His
expatriation, the subsequent loss of his property, his:
personal p'erils, and the sufferings of his famUy had!
sealed his devotion. He was appointed mihtary!
Governor with the rank of Brigadier- General of
Volunteers. He reached Nashville on May 12th,
and the next evening delivered an address, which!
he afterwards pubhshed as an "Appeal to the
People of Tennessee."
In this appeal he recounted the history of seces
sion, and the repressive measures thus far adopted by
the Federal Government. He said that the national
flag again floated undisputed over the capital of the
State, but the State Government had disappeared ;

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 59
the Executive had abdicated ; the Legislature dis
solved, and judiciary wa.s in abeyance. The ship of
State with its precious cargo of human interests and
hopes, had been abandoned by its officers and
idutinous crew, and left to the winds and the rovers
of the deep. The archives had been desecrated,
the public property stolen and destroyed, the State
Bank violated and its treasures robbed even of the
funds carefuUy gathered and consecrated for all time
for the education of the children  The
National Govemment was now attempting to dis
charge its high constitutional obhgation to guarantee
to every State in the Union a Eepubhcan form of
Government, He (Mr. Johnson) had been appointed
in the absence of the regular authorities as military
Govemor for the time being, to preserve the pubhc
property, to give to the citizens the protection of
the law, and to restore the Govemment to the con
dition obtaining before the rebelhon. He invited
the people to aid him in this arduous undertaking ;
he should temporarUy fill the offices vacated by
abandonment, or by subversion of their functions to
a power in hostility to the fundamental law of the
State, and he required that these temporary officers
should be respected. " To the people themselves,"
he said, " the protection of the Govemment is ex
tended. -AU then- rights will be duly respected, and
their wrongs redressed when made known. Those

60 LIFE OP PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
who through the dark and weary night of the rebel-
Kon have maintEffined their aUegiance to the Federal
^Government, wiU be honoured. The erring anS
misguided wUl be welcomed on their return ; and
w'hile it may become necessary in vindicating the
violated majesty of the law, and in re-asserting its
imperial sway, to punish inteUigent and conscioufi
treason in high places, no merely (retahatory or vin
dictive policy will be adopted. To those especiatBy
who, in a private unofficial capacity, have] assumed
an attitude of hostflity to the Government, a full
and complete amnesty for all past acts and deelaxa-
tions is offered upon the one condition of their
again yielding themselves peaceful citizens to 'She
jnst supremacy of the laws. This I advise them to
do for their own good, and for the peace and wdl-
Tare of our beloved State, endeared to me by the
aissociations of long and active years, and by th^e
enjoyment of her highest honoursi"
The measures of Governor Johnson had great
effect in restoring order in the State. There were
thousands whose hearts had never been enhsted in
the Confederate cause, but who, led away by the
excitement of the hour, and by sympathy for
fidends, neighbours, and relatives among the OOfi-
federates, had %een imperceptibly drawn into thfe
current of revolution iSiey ¦scarcely knew how or
why. They had long since repented, and they were

1IPE "G5P PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 61
now glad to take the 'oath of aUeglance, which was
tendered them, in condonation of their offence.
Uany prominent leaders of secession who would
not ToluntarUy rettaee their steps welcomed the
compulsory oath as at once saving their pride of
'conmstency, and Turnishinga valid excuse for repair
ing what they now regarded as a serious blunder.
Among these was ex-GovernoT Neil S. Brown, who
aSPterwards became a proniineirt advocate of the
Union. But notwithstanding these encouraging
signs, a must not be supposed that the task of
'Governor Johnson was an easy one. 'Secession
stiU claimed among its earnest supporters, cevert or
open, nearly every '^aveholder of Tennessee, and
the power of that class Was as yet by no means
"broken. They were used to act in concert, and
thoroughly skilled in the 'arts of domination.
Paradoxical as it may seem, they derived a double
¦strength from the fact that their peculiar privilege
of holding slaves laboured under the moral repro-
¦^bationof mankind, for while that fact 'did ndt affedt
their consciences, it caused them to watch wiiJi
•^eeifless vigilance, and to guard against the
"^ghtest indication of danger to their interest.
'They had become in effect a ^gamtic trades' union,
¦and almost the entire wealth and inteihgence of
¦the Stsite was directed to the prdtedtion of the one
tmSe in Forced labour.

62 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
Despite the opposition and counter efforts of
this class of citizens, and the stiU more serioug J
obstacles thrown in his path by continual incursions
of Confederate cavalry sent into the State for tlie
express purpose of hindering and controlling the
action of the people, the work of restoring Ten
nessee to the Union steadily prospered. Towards
the latter part of the year 1862, the State was
deemed to be sufficiently reclaimed to render
advisable the initiation of formal steps of re-organi
zation. In a speech dehvered in September, 1862,
at NashviUe, Tennessee, Mr. Johnson foreshadowed
the measures for reconstruction shortly afterwards
set on foot by Mr. Lincoln. He said : —
" Where are we now ? There is a rebellion ; this
was anticipated as I said. The rebel army is driven
back. Here is your State ; a sick man in his bed,
emaciated and exhausted, paralyzed in all his powers,
and unable to walk alone. The physician comes.
Don't quarrel about antecedents, but administer
to his wants ; and cure him as quickly as possible.
The United States sends an agent, or a mihtary
governor, whichever you please to call him, to aid
you in restoring your Government. Whenever you
desire, in good faith, to restore civil authority, you
can do so, and a proclamation for an election ¦wUlj
be issued as speedUy as it is practicable to hold
one. One by one aU the agencies of your State

LIPE OP PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 63
Government ¦wiU be set in motion. A Legislature
will be elected; judges will be appointed tem
porarily, until you can elect them at the polls ; and
SO of sheriffs, county-court judges, justices, and
other officers, until the way is fairiy open for the
people, and all the parts of ci'vil Government resume
their ordinary functions. This is no nice, intricate,
metaphysical question. It is a plain, common-
sense matter, and there is nothing in the way but
obstinacy." President Lincoln soon afterwards (October 21st)
recommended an election for members of Congress
to be held in several districts of the State, and in
structed the military commanders to take measures
to facUitate the execution of the order. Accordingly,
Govemor Johnson, in the early part of December,
issued a proclamation, caUing for an election of repre
sentatives to the thirty-seventh Congress, to be held
on the 29th, in the ninth and tenth Congressional
district of Tennessee. Ever on the watch against
the insidious designs of Secessionists, he was ca,reful
to accompany his proclamation with notice that " no
person will be considered an elector qualified to vote
who, in addition to the other quahfications required
by laWj does not give satisfactory evidence to the
judges holding the election of his loyalty to the
Government of the United States."
And thus at last, chiefly by the exertions of

64 LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
Andrew Johnson, the wealthy and important Stafeg
of Tennessee was in great part reatoEed to the
Union, and, by the hberal and clement policy of
Mr.. Lincoln, promptly aUowed to resume hbvi old
place in the national councils.
In a few months-after this event came the famous
emancipation proclamation, formaUy abrogating the
institution of slavery in certain specified Statea
declared to be in rebelhon against the United States..,
Tennessee was excluded from the operation of this
executive measure by Mr. Lincoln, who was doubtless
fearful of extending too far a pohcy only justified bj
mUitary necessity. This restriction of the generahtj
of the measure, however, was. not free from serious
objection. Thousands of slaves in Teimessee,,belong-
ing to loyal as weU as rebeUious masters, had done)
and were stiU doing, good service in the United
States armies. It was the height of absurdity to
expect them to continue the trae and zealous
adherents of a cause which contemptuously ignored
their rights, and threatened, when the term of thm
service was expfred, to remand them to a degrading
bondage. Moreover, viewed in the light of policy
alone, such a course held out poor encouragementto
the thousands of coloured men on the estates,/ who
only awaited a favourable opportunity to flock to the
armies of the Union. Apart from aU these consi-
¦derations, it was an inconsistency, an anomaly  ^nay.

LIFE. OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 65
aoiimpoBsibUity — that slavery could retain vitality in
aa insigmficant member after its veiry trunk: had
been destroyed.- The proclamation, had pierced its
heart; how then could a remote and feeble hmb. be
saved ? And why at last so much solicitude to fan
tiiis dying fficker of slavery.. Was not that sin at
the foundation of the rebeUion ? Was it not this
balefiil excrescence, this, corroding canker,, that had
poisoned the arieries of the republic and threatened
its death ? Thus thought Andrew Johnson, and
¦with him to think and to act are one. " You have
kUlied slavery," said he, "by engaging in this
rebelhon. I did all I could to prevent you, but you
would kill slavery, and now you may bury it." He
was not long in exercising what he considered to be
his power, as Mihtary Govemor of Tennessee, in
finishing what Mr. Lincoln had left undone. Mr.
Lincoln, as President of the United States, and
commander-in-chief of its ai'mies, had proclaimed
universal emancipation- in the rebeUious States,, con
fident that Congress would ratify and sanction the
act. ImpeUed by a like noble impulse, and a hke
confidence in the loyal citizens of Tennessee,
Andrew Johnson djetermined, in his capacity as Mih
tary Govemor, to assume the responsibihty of the
immediate and complete abohtion of slavery in the
particular State which he controUed. It was a scene
worthy of the age in which we hve-— a spectacle

66 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
filled with moral grandeur — when Andrew Johnson
stood upon the steps of the State Capitol, in the'
midst of a vast multitude of the oppressed but long-i
suffering and meek children of Africa, and solemnly'
proclaimed them free. " Never," says Mrs. Harriet]
Beecher Stowe, "in any other moment of his hfe did!
he pronounce words more worthy of the higher and
better nature with which he was so largely endowed."
" Coloured men of Nashville," he said, " you have
all heard of the President's proclamation, by which he
announced to the world that the slaves in a large por
tion of the Seceded States were thenceforth and for ever
free. For certain reasons which seemed wise to the
President, the benefits of tbat proclamation did not
extend to you or your native State. Many of you,
consequently, were left in bondage. The taskmaster's
scourge was not yet broken, and the fetters still galled
your limbs. Gradually this iniquity has been passed
away ; but the hour has come when the last vestiges of
it must be removed. Consequently I, too, without
reference to the President or any other person, have a
proclamation to make ; and, standing here upon the
steps of the Capitol, with the past history of the State
to witness, the present condition to guide, and its future
to encourage me, I, Andrew Johnson, do hereby pro
claim freedom, full, broad, and unconditional, to every
man in Tennessee !"
An eye-witness thus describes the scene that
foUowed : — '
" It was one of those moments when the speaker

LIFE OP PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 67
seems inspired, and when his audience, catching the
inspiration, rises to his level and becomes, one with him.
Strangely as some of the words of this imm.ortal utter
ance sounded to those uncultivated ears, I feel con
vinced that not one of them was misunderstood. With
breathless attention those sons of bondage hung upon
each syllable ; each individual seemed carved in stone
until the last word of the grand climax was reached,
and then the scene which followed beggars all descrip
tion. One simultaneous roar of approval and delight
burst from three thousand throats. Flags, banners,
torches, and transparencies were waved wildly over the
throng, or hung aloft in the ecstasy of joy. Drums,
fifes, and trumpets added to the uproar, and the mighty
tumult of this great mass of human beings rejoicing for
their race, woke up the slumbering echoes of the
Capitol, vibrated throughout the length and breadth of
the city, rolled over the sluggish waters of the Cum
berland, and rang out far into the night beyond."
" ' I am no agrarian,' continued the speaker, ' I wish
to see secured to every man, rich or poor, tho fruits of
his honest industry, effort, or toil. I want each man to
feel that what ho has gained by his own skill, or talent,
or exertion is rightfully his, and his alone. But if,
through an iniquitous system, a vast amount of wealth
has been accumulated in the hands of one man, or a few
men, then that result is wrong, and the sooner we can
right it the better for all concerned. It is wrong that
Mark Cockrill and W. D. Hairding, by means of forced
and unpaid labour, should have monopolized so large a
share of the lands and wealth of Tennessee ; and I say
if their immense planta.tions were divided up and par
celled out among a number of free, industrious, and
honest farmers, it would give more good citizens to the
commonwealth, increase the wages of our mechanics, 5

68 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
enrich the markets of our city, enliven aU the arteries
of trade, improve society, and conduce to the greatness
and glory of the State. . . . Looking at this vast
crowd of coloured people, and reflecting through what
a storm of persecution and obloquy they are compelled
to pass, I am almost induced to wish that, as in the
days of old, a Moses might arise who should lead them
safely to their promised land of freedom and happiness.'
" ' Tou are our Moses !' shouted several voices, and
the exclajuation was caught up and cheered until the
Capitol rung again.
" ' God, no doubt,' continued the speaker, ' has pre
pared somewhere an instrument for the great work He
designs to perform in behalf of this outraged people ;
and in due time your leader will come forth ; your
Moses will be revealed to you.'
" ' We want no Moses but you !' shouted the as
sembly. " ' Well, then,' replied the speaker, ' humble and
unworthy as I am, if no other better shall be found, I
win indeed be your Moses, and lead you through the
Red Sea of war and bondage to a fairer future of liberty
and peace. I speak now as one who feels the world his
country, and all who love equal rights his friends. I
speak, too,' as a citizen of Tennessee. I am here on my
own soil ; and here I mean to stay and fight this great
battle of truth and justice to a triumphant end. Rebel-!
lion and slavery shall, by God's help, no longer pollute!
our State. Loyal men, whether white or black, shall
alone control her destinies ; and when this strife in
which we are all engaged is past, I trust, I know, wei
shall have a better state of things, and shaU all rejoice
that honest labour reaps the fruit of its own industry,;
and that every man has a fair chance in the race of hfe.'
"It is impossible to describe the enthusiasm which

LIFE OF 'PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 69
followed these words. Joy beamed in every counte
nance. Tears and laughter followed each other in
quick succession. The great throng-moved and swayed
back and forth in the intensity of emotion ; and shout
after shout rent the air.
" The great Tribune descended from the steps of the
Capitol. As if by magic, the dense throng parted to
let hini through. And all that night long his name was
mingled with the execrations of the traitor and oppressor,
and with the blessings of the oppressed and poor."
In sis months from the date of this address, the
people of Tennessee met in primary convention for
the purpose of remodeUing the State Constitution.
In doing this the chief object was the abohtion of
slavery. For although this measure had already
been practioaUy accomphshed through Mr. Johnson's
proclamation, it was deemed advisable that the
people themselves should add their sanction. That
they were ripe for, the change Mr. Johnson was
satisfied, when, in the capacity of Mihtary, Govemor,
he assumed {he responsibihty of anticipating their
wishes. Many thousands of the negroes were
already free, thousands were in the Union army,
where they had fought side by side with those who
had formerly been their masters. Nay, there were
those in the Convention itself who had served with
them and messed with them. The prejudice of
colour dissipated, few difficulties remained. Indeed,
as Mr. Johnson Remarked in his speech to the Con-

70 LIFE OP, PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
vention,* slavery was "already a huge offensivei
carcase, and needing only to be put out of the wayy
and buried out of sight." The Convention were
quite unanimous, and the requisite amendment was
speedily draughted and incorporated in the Consti
tution. This great work accomplished, the question of;
the future status of the negro in the Commonwealth
arose. Should he at once be politically as well as
socially franchised ? Shall he be entrusted "with a
vote ? Upon this point the same unanimity by no
means prevailed as in the discussion of the great
question of emancipation. The debate became
vehement and heated. Mr. Johnson, -with his
habitual and natural conservatism, counselled the
postponement of this issue. "First," he said, "let
us re-organize ; time and experience will regulate
the rest. Let us, like wise men, hold ourselves in
readiness to manage the new questions which may
rise in the future." Upon another question of even:
greater difficulty and delicacy he displayed equal
moderation and good temper. The question arose
whether those who had been engaged in the rebel
lion should be disfranchised. Upon this point his
remarks are worthy to be quoted at some length : —
" He advised them to make as few changes in the!
organic law as possible. These are revolutionary times ;
• See Appendix.

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 71
the minds of men are agitated and feverish, and it
would be dangerous to attempt too much. There would
be no end of it  As to the disfranchisement
of the rebels, he would advise them, if they desired to
exclude any from the poUs, not to do so by any pro
vision permanently incorporated in the Constitution, but
by temporary enactments to that effect. The day would
soon come when such allusion, if found in the Constitu
tion, would awaken unpleasant recollections. Permanent
changes should be made sparingly. Public opinion is
subject to rapid changes. Five years ago, if five hun
dred men had come into that hall, and giving forth such
utterances as they have touching slavery, they would
have been hanged in the city. Such modifications as
were not absolutely necessary for present safety and
consistency should be left to the slow correction of
years."

CHAPTEE IV.
Elected Vice-President of the United States — Mr. Lincoln's death
— Mr. Johnson's Inauguration — His policy — Personal cha
racteristics and anecdotes — Domestic relations.
Me. Johnson's services in restoring to the Union one
of its most important members were too important
to pass without recognition. He had worked for
the cause of nationality at a time and under cir
cumstances which made it dangerous to be neutral,
and impossible to be loyal 'without expatriation.

72 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
Tiu-s he had braved and suffered, and the people
gave a proof of their appreciation of trath and
fidelity by' placing him upon the ticket -with Mr.
Lincoln, in the election of 1864, and making him
Vice-President of the United States. In a speech
dehvered at NashviUe, soon after his nomination-
June 9, 1864— he marked out the policy which he
should favour, if elected. He said that "the
representatives of all the States in that Convention
had declared in his nomination that they did not
recognize that one State could withdraw or secede
from the United States. He had held that doctrine
from the first, and now the nation's representatives
had, in Convention assembled, declared with him
that no State could secede, and, in going into a
State which had rebelled to select a candidate for
the Vice-Presidency, had asserted that Tennessee
never had been out of the Union, and had never a
right to secede. They had acted as the representa
tives, not of States, but of the whole Government,
and recognized no right of a part to dismember the
whole. In accepting the nomination, I shall stand
on the principles I here enunciate, let the conse
quences for good or evil be what they may.
A distinguished Georgian had told him in Wash
ington, after the election of Mr. Lincoln, and just
before his inauguration, that the people of Georgia
would not submit to be govemed by a man who

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 73
had risen from the ranks. It was one of the prin
cipal objections of the people of the South to Mr.
Lincoln. What would they do now, when they had
to take two rulers who had risen from the ranks ?
This aristocracy was antagonistic to the principles
of free Democratic government, and the time had
come when it had to give up the ghost." After
leondemning severely the conduct of those com
manders who had protected rebel property, he
returned to the rebel aristocracy, and announced,
in the cold, impressive manner of a judge pronounc
ing sentence upon a criminal, " that the time had
'come when this rebeUious element of aristocracy
must be punished. The time had come when their
lands must be confiscated. The day when they
teould talk of their three and four thousand acres of
land, tiUed by their hundreds of negroes, was past,
iand the hour for tihe division of these rich lands
among the energetic and labouring masses was at
hand. The field was to be thrown open, and he
now invited the energetic and industrious of the
North to come and occupy it, and apply here the
same skUl and industry which had made the North
so rich. He was for putting down the aristocracy,
and dividing out their possessions ' among the
worthier labourers of any and all colours."
Addressing himself to any black man -who might
'be within the reach of his voice, he then told thera

74 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
that they were set loose and free. They had been
admitted into the great field of competition, where
industry and energy alone thrived, and advised
them, that if they were not industrious and econo
mical, they would have to give way to those of such
habits, and that they would be driven from the field
if they did not work. " Freedom," he said, " means
liberty to work, and then to enjoy the fraits and
products of your labour. This is the philosophy of
it. Let all men have a fair start and an equal
chance in the race of life, and let merit be rewardedi
without regard to colour."
He further declared, that in the reorganization!
of the State as a member of the Union, with all her
former rights and privileges, he was heartily in
favour of discarding the discordant and incongruous
element of slavery — that curse which had brought
war and misery upon the land, which had caused
the shedding of so much innocent blood, and made
so many widows and orphans. He advised the
people now to leave slavery out. He graphically!
pictured the condition of the State, resulting from
the war, and again urged them, in reorganizing the
State, to leave slavery out of the code of its
regenerated laws.
The convention adjourned on the 14th of January,
1865. On the 4th of March following, Mr. Johnson
was inaugurated Vice-President of the United

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 75
States. It had even now become e'vident to all that
the term of the new administration would be passed
in a state of peace. That decisive train of military
events ushered in -vrith the Georgia campaign, had
already brought to the war-worn people an assurance
that the end was near. It was indeed nearer than
was supposed. The energy of the rebellion had far
exceeded its resources, and still maintained the
semblance of strength when the reality was gone.
Many expected that the decadence though so sure
and near would be gradual. Fortunately the des
truction of the factitious organization of the Con
federacy was as sudden sis it was complete and
overwhelming. In one brief month from the inau
guration the war was virtually over.
Scarcely had the fate of the rebellion been
sealed, by the surrender of Lee and his army,
when the nation was precipitated from the very
summit of ecstatic jubilation to the lowest depth
of grief, by the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. It
had been the fond -wish of the people that the
well-tried and faithful ruler, who had restored
peace and nationality to the country, should also
lead the way in the work of re-organizing the
lUnion. It was a task which well befitted the calm,
!dispassionate, and judicial character of his catholic
mind. But Providence had ordained otherwise, and
the high duties and immense responsibilities of the

76 LIFE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
position devolved upon Andrew Johnson. An m-
:dividual better fitted for the place could hardly have
been selected. Of his administrative abilities he
had given most ample and convincing proof, and his
integrity and patriotism had been tried in the fierce
flames of civil war. He had already restored one re
bellious State to the Union under oircumstancesthe
most difficult and trying ; and he had presented that
State to the nation wan and emaciated, indeed, from
the terrible ordeal through which she had passed, yet
renovated by the infusion into her Constitution of
wider and loftier principles of freedom. Was it not
a reasonable inference that he would be equally
successful -with the other revolted States ? That
Mr. Lincoln's loss could be wholly compensated no
one hoped, but it was fortunate for the American
people that an able and experienced statesman, who
though a Southerner, had refused to be factious, who
though a slaveowner had refused to prefer slaveryto
liberty and Union, and who, though fond of popu
larity, had freely sacrificed that too upon the altar
of his country, submitting to be burnt in effigy and'
driven with hisses and execrations from amidst that
people whose idol he had been, was now by the
mere act of the constitutional law of succession to
take the place of the great and good man of whom
the nation had been bereaved.
Mr. Johnson's published utterances give a very

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 77
clearindicationof the pohcy likely to characterize his
.administration. Upon the leaders of the rebeUion
wiU be -visited condign punishment. Clearly com
prehending the tremendous and terrible conse
quences of their acts, they dehberately plunged a
happy and prosperous people into the terrible abyss
of ci-vil war. As a retribution upon "that greatest
of crimes — treason," and as a terrible warning to all
lambitious leaders who might hereafter be tempted
to conspire against their country, they-wiU doubtless
iauffer the extreme penalty denounced by the laws
[against crime. On the other hand, policy as well as
justice -wUl doubtless dictate the exercise of leniency
to those who have been driven into participation by
terrorism, the force of circumstances, or a -vague and
misplaced sympathy with thefr friends and neigh
bours. It is not to be expected that a perfectly
deliberate and well considered system of measures
should be matured so soon after the termination of
the conffict. Nay, it would be un-wise and rash in
the midst of the fierce passions engendered by it to
lay down beforehand any fixed and unalterable rule
of pohcy in deahng with a question of so much
gra-vity. It is satisfactory to the friends of America
to know that in the most cautious and deliberate ex
pressions of Mr. Johnson may be found indications
of a wise and con servative disposition to be swayed
by circumstances as they rise. In his inaugural

78 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
address he said, "As to any indication ef any
policy which may be pursued by me in the adminis
tration of the Government, I have to say that that
must be left for development as the administration
progresses. The message or declaration must be
made by the acts as they transpire." These are
¦wise utterances, and strongly and agreeably remind
one of the instinctive prudence of his great pre
decessor, in whose footprints he has promised
his countrymen to tread. That he ¦will redeem
this promise is all that could be desired by the
lovers of progress and humanity throughout the
world. Of Mr. Johnson's ability to fulfil honourabM
and with distinction all the functions of his high;
office, no one can doubt, after being acquainted
¦with his career. Few men from so low a starting
point in hfe have ever attained so great an elevation.
Bom in utter obscurity and poverty, thrown entirely
upon his own resources whUe yet in childhood, lite
raUy ignorant of the very alphabet of the English
language at that period of life when more for
tunate youths are engaged in completing their
collegiate course, toUing at a mechanical trade until
mature age, at no period of his life receiving any
of those adventitious aids which constitute some
thing of the elements of almost every success, he
yet progressed step by step through nearly every

LIPE OF PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 79
intermediate grade of ci-vil promotion to the highest
office in the gift of a great nation. Successively
the alderman of a village. State legislator, first iu
the Lower, then in the Upper House, Member of
the Lower House of Congress, Governor of his
State, member of the Federal Senate, Vice-Presi
dent, and finally. President of the United States —
the whole career accomplished between the age of
twenty-seven and fifty-seven years — he certainly
cannot be considered a new man in the American
sense of the term. He who, in the face of such
obstacles, is capable of achieving such a success,
must be possessed of all the sturdiest qualities
!of the Anglo-Saxon type of inteUect. Energy,
jboldness, and tenacity, with perfect honesty and
directness of purpose, form the groundwork of
Andrew Johnson's character, and constitute the
main elements of his success. To these qualities of
mind and disposition he added a thorough sympathy
and consequent assimilation with the tone of the
society and institutions of the American Eepubhc.
He was both by circumstance and nature a Democrat
in the fuUest and strongest sense of the term, and
he felt towards his sovereign — the people — aU the
enthusiastic loyalty, respect, and veneration which
in monarchies is concentrated upon the "Lord's
Anointed." With him, therefore, to court the favour
!of the people, was a pleasant and not an irksome

80 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
task; and what from others would have been adu
lation, feU from his lips as a natural effusion of
devoted loyalty. Who that reads his life can doubt:
the sincerity with which, in his address before the
great primary Convention of Tennessee,* wherein
the people had resumed those functions of inherent
sovereignty which had hitherto been delegated to a
faithless Legislature, Mr. Johnson said — " What are
governments ? They come from the people.- You
are the people ; hence you can do no ¦wrong."
It has been said that Mr. Johnson belonged to
the Jacksonian type of Democracy. The resem
blance between Andrew Jackson and Andrew
Johnson is very striking; and Mr. Johnson appa
rently recognizes this resemblance to his prototype,
and models himself to make the resemblance more
visible. He is always talking of him, and always
quoting him. The analogy of career is not confined
to similarity of ¦views and principles. Both were of
plebeian origin, born of poor and obscure parents ;
both were natives of the CaroUnas ; both migrated
beyond the AUeghanies in early youth, and settled
inTennessee; both had defective education; and
both were attracted to political life as soon as they
were entitled to a vote; — ^neither of them sought
the alhance of wealthy or influential families as a
stepping-stone for promotion ; and both have shown
* See Appendix.

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 81
themselves the unwavering champions of the people
from whom they rose, and with whom they ever
retained an unbounded popularity.
As executive officers, the resemblance is as
marked as in the facts of their personal history.
No magistrate was ever more firm in his positions
than General Jackson. No blaze of eloquence, no
pressure of personal influence, no social blandish
ments, could avail to turn him from a line of policy
which he had once dehberately adopted. During
the past four years, Mr. Johnson has displayed
similar quahties. A man who, born a Southerner,
raised himself into the idol of slave-owning Demo
crats, and then, convinced that slavery was an evil,
flung himself down from his position — down to the
Ivery bottom, a homeless, landless, friendless man —
and then fought his way back to the very top, as
chief of the anti-slavery Democrats, is not a man to
be " guided" by softer politicians.
While there appeared many years ago, in Mr.
Johnson, quahties which were thought likely to
raise him to high place, it is to his bearing during
the EebeUion that his -present position is mainly
due. Of aU the pubhc men in the revolting States
he only from the first, and at aU stages of the
struggle, kept his allegiance firm and pure, indif
ferent alike to the promises and the threats of the
plotters of Secession. Not only so, but he kept

82 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
with him and with the fortunes of the Union the
hearts and minds of his constituents in that part of|
Tennessee which had been the theatre of his earlier
political aspirations. He recognized in the move
ment the doctrines of the school of politics which
he had steadily opposed from the outset of his!
career ; the creed of the Virginia and South Caro
lina aristocrats ; the system that makes Govern
ment an engine for lifting the soft-handed man of
ease and fortune to high place, and clothing him!
with arbitrary power over the labouring man, of'
whatever colour ; the system that creates mono
polies, and masses capital in the hands of the few ;
that builds up great estates, establishes gigantic
banks, and aids in the accumulation of colossal
private fortunes.
He saw in the Secession movement, if successful,
only an agency that would make the rich richer,
and the poor poorer ; that would widen the interval
between the labourer and the employer, and accu
mulate the lands into the hands of a few, and reduce
non-slaveholding whites to the level of the African
slave. Against such a movement, and the establish
ment of a system with such tendencies, his whole
nature rose in unflinching antagonism. Let those
who have failed to discover during this crisis those
outbursts of glowing eloquence that characterize
revolutionary epochs, read the appeals of Andrew

LIPE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON 83
Johnson to the people of Tennessee in the dark
months of 1861 and 1862. He was at that time
cordially hated by all the South, but his own neigh
bours, persecuted, driven from his State, hunted
like a wild beast through the fastnesses of the
mountains; yet, wherever he could collect a group
of Tennessee Unionists, he exhorted them to die on
the mountain-tops, and make the everlasting hills
their sole monument, rather than give up those
lovely vaUeys to the unresisted march of armed
bands of traitors. Such was the power of these
appeals, and the weight of his personal influence,
that East Tennessee not only refused to join the
Secession movement, but remained heartily loyal to
the Union.
Out of a voting population of thirty-five thou
sand, only five thousand votes were cast for
disunion ; and from that population, almost with
out exception poor and rural, twenty-five thousand
men enlisted in the Union armies.
While Mr. Johnson is thoroughly Democratic in
his principles and bearing, his manner as a public
man is ever grave, collected, and dignified. He has
nothing to do -with the ad captandum arts by which
American politicians often seek votes, by stooping
from their natural decorum.
Whether in the Senate Chamber or before the
people, Mr. Johnson carefully abstains from per-

84 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
sonalities, and never uses the weapons of sarcasm
and ridicule except in self defence.
Mr. Johnson has never ceased to think and
labour and speak in behalf of the poor man. In
Congress, his great work was to advocate, modify,
and finally to procure the enactment of the " Home
stead BUI," the effect of which is to donate one
hundred and sixty acres of the public land to the
emigrant who wiU settle thereon, erect buUdings,
and make it his permanent home. Until the break
ing out of the EebeUion, this Act had constituted
his principal claim to national reputation, and he
was' called by the thousands whom this Act had
so benefited "Andy Johnson, the Poor Man's
Friend." Mr. Johnson's Democratic procU-vities foUowed
bim in his private and domestic relations. He h&s
ever been plain, unostentatious, and inexpensive in
his habits and mode of hfe, though, like nearly all
East Tennesseeans, keeping "open house," and
extending a profuse hospitality to all comers. It is
almost needless to say that, like Mr. Lincoln, he
was and is proud of his origin, and fond of revert
ing to it. An anecdote is often told of him which
humorously illustrates his peculiarly American
pride of origin. WhUe Governor of Tennessee,
Mr. Johnson, betaking himself for a season to
the exercise of his old craft, turned out a splendid

LlPa OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 85
suit of clothing in the latest fashion, which he
sent as a present to his friend Governor M'Goffin,
of Kentucky. The Kentucky governor, who had
once been a blacksmith of no mean skiU, at once
returned the comphment, by forging -with his
own hands and sending to Mr. Johnson a very
serviceable shovel and pair of tongs, which he
hoped would serve to keep ahve the flame of their
old friendship.
Mr. Johnson has always paid marked attention to
men of his o-wn trade, and can hardly pass a taUoris
shop without going in and exchanging comphments
¦with the knights of the goose and needle, with whom
he once wrought. In the heat of a hard-fought
pohtical campaign, a friend asked him what he
should do if by chance he were defeated ? " Open a
taUor's shop and go to work," was his prompt reply.
In person, Mr. Johnson is a httle above the average
height, compactly framed, and capable of great and
protracted exeriion, either of mind or body. He is
abstemious in his personal habits, and indifferent to
the pleasures of the senses. The first impression
his presence gives is that his extraction is plebeian,
and that he is largely endowed with rugged and
hardy sense. Afterwards you see signs of power in
the strong features, and impression is made upon
you that there is no predicting what such a man may
aot achieve,- what difficulties he may not overcome,

86 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
what position he may not win. There is, also, in his
face an expression of great self-reliance and firmness,
as though no influence could be made to swerve him
from what he conceives to be the path of duty or of
sound pohcy. Yet there is nothing vindictive in
the temperament of Mr. Johnson ; his hatreds are
for obnoxious principles, not for political antagonists.
And so, too, of his aggressiveness, he does not care
to enlarge the domains of the Great Eepublic, or to
propagate American Eepublicanism, even though he
reveres it as the best of all existing governments.
The pohtical subjects on which he has been most
interested relate to the domestic interests of the
Eepublic, rather than to its relations with foreign
countries. At present, and for the earlier months
of his administration, his attention is and will be
quite engrossed with the great and absorbing pro
blem of the reorganization of society in those States
that have recently been the theatre of civil war.
Questions of foreign policy will of course arise, but
to their adjustment Mr. Johnson brings no pet
theories of international pohcy, no special admira
tion for what Americans call " the Monroe Doctrine."
He has not defined the foreign pohcy that wiU in
general rule his administration, except so far as to
express the utmost cordiahty towards Great Britain.
His speech to Sir Frederick Bruce, in which he.
declared the amity of the two countries essential to

LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON. 87
civilization, was httle more than a repetition of a
speech he made when Mihtary- Governor of Tennes
see. He then made an admission not frequent with
American pohticians, " that the British Government
was in essence popular ; that the fresh infusions of
popular ideas kept it contlnuaUy ¦vigorous and
flourishing." His tone was full of friendhness ; as
fiiU as the remarkable saying in which, addressing
Sir F. Bruce, he recognized the States-men and the
Canadians as branches of the same American people,
though swayed by two governments, who, in their
joint responsibility, ought to find a reason for an
enduring peace. Mr. Johnson's main work is at
home, and here he finds ample scope for his promi
nent pohtical prochvities, his love of the masses,
and his radical antipathy to aristocracy.
In his relations ¦with his family, Mr. Johnson
.exhibits the same estimable qualities which won for
him among the people that great personal popu
larity for which he was noted. In his intercourse
¦with his children, he is at once firm and affection
ate, dignified and yet free, natural and playful. The
famUy of the President is smaU. He has now only four
chUdren — namely, Andrew, Eobert, Mrs. Patterson
and Mrs. Stover. One of his sons. Dr. Charles
Johnson, whUe a surgeon in the volunteer service,
was suddenly kUled in 1863 by being thro^wn from
his horse. Mrs. Stover is a -widow, her husband.

88 LIFE OP PEESIDENT JOHNSON.
Colonel Stover, of 4th Tennessee Volunteers, having
been kUled on the 18th of December, 1864, whUe
gallantly leading his regiment at the battle of
NashviUe. This lady, in consequence of the ad
vanced age and ill health of Mrs. Johnson, pre
sides at the White House.

APPENDIX.

In a reply to the speech of Senator Lane, of Oregon,
the foUowing remarks on secession, coercion, the Terri
torial question, and the Peace Conference propositions,
were made by
Senator Johnson, of Tennessee : — Mr. President, it
is painful for me to be compelled, at this late hour of
the session, to occupy any of the time of the Senate upon
the subject that has just been discussed by the Senator
from Oregon. Had it not been for the extraordinary
speech he has made, and the singular cousse he has
taken, I should forbear from saying one word at this
late hour of the day and of the session. But, sir, it
must be apparent, not only to the Senate, but to the
whole country, that, either by accident or by design, there
has been an arraugement, that any one who appeared iu
the Senate to vindicate the Union of these States should
be attacked. Why is it that no one, in the Senate ot
out of it, who is in favour of the Union of these States,
has made an attack upon me ? Why has it been left to
those who have taken both open and sera-et ground, in
violation of the Constitution, for the disruption of the
Government ? Why has there been a concerted attack

90 APPENDIX.
upon me from the beginning of this discussion to the
present moment, not even confined to the ordinary
courtesies of debate and of senatorial decorum ? It is a
question which lifts itself above personalities. I care
not from what direction the Senator comes who indulges
in personalities toward me ; in that I feel that I am
above him, and that he is my inferior. [Applause in the
galleries.] Mr. President, they are not arguments ;
they are the resort of men whose minds are low and
coarse. Cowper has well said —
" A truly sensible, -well-bred man
¦Will not insult me ; no other can."
Sir, have we reached a point at which we cannot
talk about treason ? Our forefathers talked about it ;
they spoke of it in the Constitution of the country;'
they have defined what treason was ; is it an offence, is
it a crime, is it an insult to recite the Constitution that
was made by Washington and his compatriots ? What
does the Constitution say :
"Treason against the United States shaU consist
only in le^vying war against them, or in adhering to
their enemies, giving them aid and comfort."
There it is defined clearly that treason shall consist
only in levying war against the United States, and
adhering to and giving aid and comfort to their enemies.:
Who is it that has been engaged in conspiracies ? Who
is it that has been engaged in making war upon the
United States? Who is it that has fired upon our
flag? Who is it that has given instructions to take
our arsenals, to take our forts, to take our dock-yards,
to take the pubhc property ? • In the language of the

APPENDIX. 91
Constitution of the United States, have not those who
have been engaged in it been guilty of treason ? We
make a fair issue. Show me who has been engaged in
these conspiracies, who has fired upon our flag, has
given instructions to take our forts and our custom
houses, our arsenals and our dock-yards, and I -will show
you a traitor. [Applause in the gaUeries.J
Mr. President, if individuals were pointed out to me
who were engaged in nightly conspiracies, in secret
conclaves, and issuing orders dfrecting the capture of
our forts and the taking of our custom-houses, I would
show who were the traitors ; and that being done, the
persons pointed out coming within the purview and
scope of the provision of the Constitution which I have
read, were I the President of the United States, I would
do as Thomas Jefferson did, in 1806, with Aaron Burr ;
I would have them arrested, and, if convicted, within
the meaning aud scope of the Constitution, by the
Eternal God I would execute them. Sir, treason must
be punished. Its enormity and the extent and depth of
the offence must be made known. The time is not
distant — if this Govemment is preserved, its Constitu
tion obeyed, and its laws executed in every department
— when something of this kind must be done.
We know how the Senator from Oregon stands upon
popular or squatter sovereignty. On that subject he
spoke at Concord, New Hampshire, where he main
tained that the inhabitants of the Territories were the
best judges ; that they were the very people to settle
aU these questions ; but when he came here, at the last
Congress, he could make a speech in which he repeated,
I cannot teU how many times, " the equahty of the

92 APPENDIX,
States, the rights of the States in the Union, and their
rights out of the Union ;" and he thus shifted his
course. If the conflict between his speech made ia
Concord in 1856, and his speech made here on the 26th
day of May last, can be reconcaled, according to all rules
of construction, it is fair to reconcUe the conflict. If
the discrepancy is so great between his speech made
then and his speech on the 25th of May last, of course
the discrepancy is against him ; but I am willing to let
one speech set off the other, and to make honours easy,
so far as speech-making is concerned.
Then, how does the matter stand ? There is one
speech one way, and there is another speech the other
way. Now, we wiU come to the sticking-point. Tou
have seen the equivocation to-day. Tou have seen the
cuttle-fish attempt to becloud the water, and elude the
grasp of his pursuer. I intend to stick to you here
to-day as close and as tight as what I think I have heard
called somewhere "Jew David's Adhesive Plaster." How
does your vote stand as compared with your speeches ?
Tour speeches being easy, I shall throw in the scale
against you the weight of what you swore. How does
that matter stand? I intend to refer to the record.
By referring to the record, it -will be found that Mr.
Clingman offered the following as an amendment to the
fourth resolution of the series introduced by Mr. Davis :
" JResohed, That the existing condition of the Terri«
tories of the United States does not require the inter
vention of Congress for the protection of property ia
slaves." What was the vote on the amendment proposed to
that resolution by Mr. Brown, to strike out the word

APPENDIX. 93
" not" ? I want the Senator's attention, for I am going
to stick to him, and if he can get away from me he has
got to obliterate the records of his country. How Would
it read to strike out the word " not" ?
" That the existing condition of the Territories of
the United States does require the intervention of Con
gress for the protection of property in slaves."
Among those who voted against striking out the
word "not," who declared that protection of slavery in
the Territories by legislation of Congress was unneces
sary, was the Senator from Oregon. When was that ?
On the 25th day of May last ? The Senator, under the
oath of his office, declared that legislation was not
necessary. Now where do we find him ? Here is a
proposition to amend the Constitution, to protect the
institution of slavery in the States, and here is the pro
position brought forward by the Peace Conference, and
we find the Senator standing against the one, and I
beheve he recorded his vote against the other.
But, let us travel along. We have only applied one
side of this plaster. The Senator voted that it was not
necessary to legislate by Congress for the protection of
slave property. Mr. Brown then offered the amendment
to the resolution submitted by Mr. Davis, to strike out
aU after the word " resolved," aud to insert in lieu
thereof —
" That experience having -already shown that the
Constitution and the common law, unaided by statutory
enactment, do not afford adequate and sufficient pro
tection to slave property — some of the Territories
having failed, others having refused, to pass such
enactments — it has become the duty of Congress to

94 APPENDIX.
mterpose, and pass such laws as wiU afford to slave pro-
perty in the Territories that protection which is given
to the other kinds of property."
We have heard a great deal said here to-day of
" other kinds," aud every description of properiy. There
is a naked, clear proposition. Mr. Brown says it is
needed ; that the court and the common law do not give
ample protection; aud then the Senator from Oregon
is called upon ; but what is his vote ? We find, in the
vote upon this amendment, that but three Senators
voted for it ; and the Senator from Oregon records his
vote, and says "no," it shaU not be estabhshed; and
every Southem man, save three, voted against it also.
When was that ? On the 25th day of May last. Here
is an amendment now, to protect and secure the States
against any encroachment upon the institution within
the States ; and there the Senator from Oregon swore
that no further legislation was necessary to protect it in
the Territories. WeU, his speeches in honours being
easy, and he having swom to it in the last Congress, I
am inclined to take his oath in preference to his
speeches, and one is a fair set-off against the other.
Then, all the amendments being voted down, the Senate
came to the vote upon the resolution —
" That if experience should at any time prove that
the judicial and executive authority do not possess
means to insure adequate protection to constitutional
rights in a Territory, and if the territorial government
should faU or refuse to provide the necessary remedies
for that purpose, it will be the- duty of Congress to
supply such deficiency, -within the limits of its constitu
tional powers."

APPENDIX. 95
Does not the resolution proceed upon the idea that
it was not necessary then ; but if, hereafter, the Terri
tories should refuse, and the courts and the common
law could not give ample protection, then it would bo
the duty of Congress to do this thing ? What has
transpired since the 25th day of May last ? Is not the
decision of the court ¦with us ? Is there not the Con
stitution carrying it there ? Why was not this resolu
tion, declaring protection necessary, passed during the
last Congress ? The Presidential election was on hand.
I have been held up and indirectly censured, because
I have stood by the people ; because I have advocated
those measures that are sometimes called demagogical.
I would to God that we had a few more men here who
were for the people in fact, and who would legislate in
conformity with their 'will and wishes. If we had, the
difficulties and dangers that surround us now would be
postponed and set aside ; they would not be upon us.
But in May last we could not vote that it was necessary
to pass a slave code for the Territories. Oh, no ; the
Presidential election was on hand. We were very
-willing then to try to get Northern votes ; to secure
their influence in the passage of resolutions ; and to
crowd some men down, and let others up. It was all
very well then ; but since the people have determined
that somebody else should be President of the United
States, aU at once the grape has got to be very sour,
and gentlemen do not have as good an opinion of the
people as they had before ; we have changed our views
about it. They have not thought quite as weh of us as
we desired they should ; and if I could not get to be
President or Vice-President of aU these United States,

96 APPENDIX.
rather than miss it altogether, I wou,ld be perfectly
willing to be President of a part ; and therefore we wiU
divide— yes, wa wUl divide. I am .in favour of secession ;
of breaking up the Union ; of having the rights of the
States out of the Union; and as I signally failed in
being President at all, as the people have decided against
me, we have reached that precise point of time at which
the Govemment ought to be broken up. It looks a
little that way.
But, sir, I aUuded to the fact that, secession has been
brought about by usurpation. During the last forty
days, sis States of this Confederacy have been taken
out of the Union. How ? By the voice of the people ?
No ; it is demagogism to talk of the people. By the
voice of the freemen of the country ? No. By whom
has it been done ? Have the people of South Carohna
passed upon the ordinance adopted by their Conven-
¦tion ? No ; but a system of usurpation was instituted,
and a reign of terror inaugurated. How was it in
Georgia ? Have the people there passed upon the ordi
nance of secession ? No. We know that there was a
powerful party there, of passive, conservative men, who
have been overslaughed, borne down ; and tyranny and
usurpation have triumphed. A Convention passed au
ordinance to take the State out of the Confederacy ; and
the very same Convention appointed delegates to go to
a congress to make a Constitution, without consulting
the people. So with Louisiana ; so with Mississippi ; so
¦with aU the six States which have undertaken to form a
new Confederacy. Have the people been consulted?
Not in a single instance. We are in the habit of saying
that man is capable, of self-government ; that he has the

APPENDIX. 97
right, the unquestioned right,, to govern himself; but
here a govemment has been assumed over him ; it has
been taken out of his hands, and at Montgomery a set of
usurpers are enthroned, legislating, and making Consti
tutions, and adopting them without consulting the free
men of the country. Do we not know it to be so ?
Have the people of Alabama, of Georgia, of any of those
States, passed upon it ? No ; but a Constitution is
adopted by those men, with a provision that it may be
changed by a vote of two-thirds. Four votes in a con
vention of six can change the whole organic law of a
people constituting six States. Is not this a coup d'etat
equal to any of Napoleon ? Is it not a. usurpation of
the people's rights ? In some of those States even our
Stars and our Stripes have been changed. One State
has a palmetto, another has a pelican, and the last that
I can enumerate on this occasion is one State that has
the rattlesnake, run up as an emblem. On a former
occasion I spoke of the origin of secession, and I traced
its early history to the Garden of Eden, when the
serjDent's wile and the serpent's wickedness beguUed
and betrayed our first mother. After that occurred, and
they knew light and knowledge, when thefr Lord and
Master turned to them, they seceded, and hid them
selves from his presence. The, serpent's wile aud the
serpent's wickedness first started secession; and now
secession brings about a retum of the serpent. Tes,
sir ; the wily serpent, the ' rattlesnake, has been substi
tuted as the emblem on the flag of one of the seceded
States ; and that old flag, the Stars and Stripes, under
which our fathers fought, and bled, aud conquered, and
achieved our rights and our liberties, is pulled down

98 APPENDIX.

aud trailed in the dust, and the rattiesnake substituted.
WiU the American people tolerate it ? They -wUl be
indulgent ; time, I think, is wanted, but they will not
submit to it.

SPEECH BEFORE THE PRIMARY CONVENTION'
OF TENNESSEE.
The Governor said he appeared before them, by invi
tation, to address them, or rather to hold a famUiar
conversation -with them, upon the great topics which
were at present engaging their attention. He had no
set speech prepared, as he had not intended to address
them. The people of Tennessee had assembled to con
sult together. He felt that this was simply a primary
meeting, and that, as one of thefr o-wn number, he might
speak freely and familiarly to them. He had no other;
motive than to express to them his honest sentiments.
What had he to ask of them ? Without arrogance, he
might say he had achieved all that was in their gift ; he
had attained the highest honours, and no one could'
accuse him of seeking aught else than to find out what
was the best for the country. He had no motive for
double-dealing or demagogism to-night. Our country|
has passed through great and fiery trials — trials which!
should unite us all, and make us all put far away from
us all petty jealousies and discords, and unite in a hearty
and honest effort to promote the welfare of our common
country. All his life long he had fought rebellion and
traitors, and he was not willing to cease yet ; he would
pour out his last libation, he would offer up his last

APPENDIX. 99
tribute on the altar of his country. In past times there
had been parties and warring factious. Let us, to-night,
forget all these things ; let us not quarrel while the old
ship still struggles in the breakers; when she safely
rides in the port of safety, then quarrel, if we must.
Let parties sink to-night, and be forgotten ; let prin
ciples — hving and etemal principles — alone engage our
attention. Of all governments that obtain among men, a demo
cracy is the strongest, the most enduring. Not a
monarchy in all the world would have stood the test
that ours has in this war. England would have fallen
to pieces long since, and gone to dissolution, but for the
democratic element in her Government. Men talk of
the fickleness and instability of the populace, the ingrati
tude of Republics, and all that ; but where is there a
!govemment more firm and enduring than om-s ? Eng
land changes her rulers oftener than we ; every time she
caUs for a change in the Ministry there is a radical
change in her policy. Her Ministers are changed oftener
than we elect a new President. And yet it was that
same feature that gave the Govemment strength — that
fresh infusion of popular ideas kept it continually
rigorous and flourishing. So long as the popular voice
was heard, and the popular influence felt in her councils,
so long would she continue to be potent and respected
lamong the nations. Democracies best conduct wars.
How has President Lincoln conducted this war ? He
has uot conducted it at all. It is the democracy of the
country that has conducted it ; not democracy of the
Vallandigham sort ; not democracy of the George B.
M'Clellan sort; but the true, the real, the national
7

100 APPENDIX.
democracy. It was the throbbing of the great popular
heart which had furnished and strengthened the sinews'
of this war. We should not distrust the indications of
the popular heart ; they were right, they were whole
some. The people had decreed that the rebeUion should
be put down for ever. If the war had rested on Mr.
Lincoln alone — if the people had not sustained him — he
would have fallen beneath his burden. Fox said, in the,
Enghsh Parliament, that the strength of his Government
was in the people ; when it was attacked they were
attacked, because they were the Govemment, and uot
the king. So in our country. Attack the nation, the
Constitution, you attack the people ; aud you -will
faU, because they will preserve thefr lives at all

It had been often charged by the enemies of the
administration — the enemies of the people, he called
them — that it has assailed the Constitution, and violated
its provisions, habeas corpus, etc., and that its safe
guards have been trampled under foot. But this was
necessary. The people have been forced to commit some
irregularities that law might be preserved — that the life
of the nation itself might be maintained. When a man
is thrust back to the waU by a bloody assassin, who
clutches at his throat and brandishes a knife in the air,
and threatening his life, it was a violent and desperate
act to take that assassin's life, but it must be done to
save his own. So the people must, sometimes, take the
law in their own hands, and commit desperate and frre-
gular acts to save the life of the nation.
It is pre-eminently an age of invention. We are a
nation of inventors. We had been engaged in it too

APPENDIX. 101
exclusively. We should tum our attention more to dis
covery. Discovery it was, and not invention, which
opened up this great hemisphere to the world. Dis
covery is more fruitful than invention. There are great
and deep laws governing the mechanism of the world,
and if we can only find out those laws, we shall see that
all things go on smoothly. So in governments. They
obey laws, and if we can only discover those laws and
respect them, we shaU have harmony and peace. What
are those laws ? Are monopolies, entails, perpetuations,
in accordance with them ? They are contrary to the
first principles of free government. Now is a time,
above all others, when we should recur to first prin
ciples ; now, when all is chaos and distraction. Entails
are mischievous, fatal, ruinous to any country. By them
property passes along through centuries, accumulating
in ihe hands of a famUy, tiU finally there comes agrarian-
ism of the worst sort, aud the very foundations of society
are broken up. So with monopolies. They are unjust,
and injustice wiU always work the ruin of any people
who practice it. Slavery is a monopoly — a vast and
[infamous monopoly — and one of such audacity that it
reared its head defiantly, and struck at the life of the
nation that had tolerated it. It is a devouring and in
satiable monopoly — insatiable as the grave — and either
it or the Govemment on which it made war must go
down. Which shall it be? The great popular heart
had said that slavery should go down, and that the
Govemment should live. The day has come when the
issue was to be tried, and the issue was a -rital one, not
an abstraction and a myth. There was a great consti
tutional question to be tested. Slavery should go down.

102 APPENDIX,
not only because it is a monopoly, but also because it is
slavery. The Governor again protested against any charges
of demagoguery being made against him. He had no
other possible motive than to speak the truth in honesty;
he had no favours to ask, no offices to win, no honours
to aspire for. In days agone they might, perhaps, have
charged it against him with a show of plausibUity that
he sought simply to tickle the ears of a dominant party,
but now no longer. His highest ambition had been
gratified ; and now, in the presence of high Heaven, he
disclaimed for himself any other purpose than to adrise
them for thefr good. He would devote his remaining
years aud the best energies of his life to the work of
crushing the great curse for ever.
Even if they should commit some irregularities, they
must remember that their Government m.ust have a
beginning somehow. What are governments ? They
come from the people. Tou are the people ; hence yon
cannot do wrong. Violate constitutional law ! Hard
to do that when there is none to violate ! If you do
some irregular things none can blame you, for law you
must have, and that speedily. Lincoln was charged
with irregularity in saving the law ; but he saved it, and
all the people said "Amen !" He quoted, as Mfrabeaa,
did, the example of the Roman consul, when he had
found it necessary, in order to crush a great conspiracy
against the life of his country, to overstep the laws, he
had been brought before the tribunes of the people, and
required to swear that he had not riolated the laws of
the country. Holding up his hands to heaven, he said to
them — " I swear to you that I have saved the Republic !"

APPENDIX. 103
May it be your proud privUege to claim that for your
selves ! Let it be uppermost in your plans — to save the
Republic. Put away from you the petty bickerings and
the wranglings which you have allowed to disturb your
deliberations, and give yourselves like men to the great
business of saving the Republic.
We stand to-night on the edge of a sepulchre, fuU of
all rottenness and dead men's bones. We want a State
Govemment. We have had among us a lot of croakers
and fault-finders who would not put their shoulders to
the wheel, and who have done nothing and proposed
nothing to bring us out of our calamities. Put them
aside. Several attempts had been made to call a Con
vention to reorganize the Govemment before this, but
each time it had been frustrated by the presence of a
hostile army in the midst — Longstreet, Forrest, Wheeler,
and, lastly, Hood. They had tried faithfully to do the
work that needed to be done, but had been kept back
from it by these occurrences. Now there was a time of
quiet, let them strike at once and earnestly.
To be practical, then, he would recommend to them
certain measures. First, there was slavery — the mon
strous monopoly — already a huge, offensive carcase, and
needing only to be put out of the way and buried out of
their sight. He would submit a simple proposition to
the people, abolishing it for ever and unconditionaUy —
(great cheers) — and denying to the Legislature the
power ever to establish property in human flesh. The
fiat had gone forth that it should die, and if they were
not speedy in their action there would be an amendment
in the national constitution in advance of them. He had
received a despatch to-day from Governor Fletcher,

104 APPENDIX.
announcing in brief and glorious words, " Missouri is
free !" (Loud cheers.) God bless Missouri. Should
Tennessee be behind her sister State ? Tou stand here
to-night representing the whole State. Tour declara
tion of the same great and happy consummation going
forth to the people of the North would send such a thriU
among them, such as would sound its death-knell
through the land. Do uot deny yourself this proud
honour. When the soothsayer and the jugglers pass
each other they laugh and smirk at the tricks they play
upon the people. To-day is no time for deception; we
meet here to speak together as honest men, dealing with
the facts as they are. Let us be honest, and confess
there are among us some who claim to be Union men,
but still have a lingering fondness for thefr negroes — a
hankering for the flesh-pots of Egypt. The negro is the
only remaining cord that binds them to thefr idolp.
Cut that cord and they'U feel better — they'll feel relieved
— (laughter) — they'll wonder they didn't have it done
before. It was with them just as it was with the wives
and mothers of rebels. If once they could get thefr
husbands and sons out of the rebel army, their love for
the rebeUion was gone, gone for ever. While Hood was
in front of NashviUe, tearful and pleading mothers had
come to him, beseeching him to get their erring sons out
of the rebel ranks ; but it was in vain. At Franklin,
and in front of NashviUe, and aU along the disasfroufl
road of their retreat, they had fallen out, never to rise
more, or had been taken captive ; and now that they
were no more, or were in Northern prisons, the stricken
relatives had given over aU thoughts of continuing in
rebelhon. So it would be with the slaveholder. Cut

APPENDIX. 105
off from him all hope of holdhig his negroes as property,
and he wiU abandon them at once, fall into the Union
ranks, and leave his treasonable ways. Do it at once.
These men counsel delay, for in it there is hope. Slavery
is naught in the present ; but they will not abandon their
hopes that the future may, by a fortunate turn, give
them again thefr chattels. There wUl be no trouble in
disposing of them. We will make apprentices of them.
It won't hurt them. He was one himself once, aud
could pick more cotton than two of the best of them.
Men were finding out, too, that white men could pick
cotton as well as black.
Is there any impropriety iu making this proposition
to the people ? They are the source of law, and can
make and unmake it as they wUl. Why want another
CoUvention ? It would only be doing at a later day
what must be done in any event. Their whole work
must be submitted to them. He who did uot propose to
do this is a usurper and a despot. Delays are danger
ous. Tou are a part of the people — ^the same material
out of which another Convention would be composed.
He had always found that if he wanted' anything undone,
he had only to leave it to another ; if he wanted it done,
he had to do it for himself. So must they do. Then,
too, there^used to be some talk in past times of such a
thing as economy ; and if ever a people were in need of
paying attention to that, they were just about in that
condition. Another Convention would cost much, and
for two years now the Government had been making
heavy drafts on the future to meet expenses.
He advised them to make as few changes in the
organic law as possible. These are revolutionary times ;

106 APPENDIX.
the minds of men are agitated and feverish, and it would
be dangerous to attempt too much. There would be no
end of it. Let them first sweep the rebellion and its
cause, get the State righted up and in running order,
and tbe law corrected in the essentials, and afterward
let the smaUer changes be made.
As to the disfranchisement of rebels, he would adrise
them, if they desired to exclude any from the polls, not
to do so by any provision permanently incorporated in
the Constitution, but by explicit and temporary enact
ments to that effect. The day would soon come when
such allusion, if found in the Constitution, would awaken
unpleasant recollections. Permanent changes should be
made sparingly. Public opinion is subject to rapid
changes. Five years ago, if 500 men had come in that
room and given forth such utterances as they had touch
ing slavery, they would have been hanged in the city.
Such modifications as were not absolutely necessary for
present safety and consistency should be left to the slow
correction of years.
He did not believe in the doctrine that the State had
ever voted itself out of the Union. Such a thing was
impossible. Still, as a matter of form^ — as a solemn
declaration of the popular condemnation of those trea
sonable acts, he was in favour of passing a formal reso
lution declaring the Acts of Secession, the League with
the Confederate States, and all subsequent laws made
under them, void from the beginning.

HAHEILD, I'EINTBB, LOKSOIT.

APPENDIX. 107
ment which was over us, nor the honour of belonging to
the mightiest confederation of Free States that ever
existed on the earth. Let us make haste to get back.
We have little more to fear from the mUitary power of
the rebeUion. It is crushed and broken. There might
possibly be ephemeral raids of cavalry hereafter upon us,
but he did not believe there would ever again stand
¦within thefr Borders a rebel regiment of infantry.
If our Government passes through this ordeal, it wUl
survive the thfrd and last trial through which every
great and enduring nation must sooner or later pass —
birth, foreign attack, and domestic insurrection. We
have breasted every storm hitherto, we shall not go
down in this. In our free democratic institutions is our
strength ; in them we shaU hve, and by them we shall
conquer. The haughtiest monarchies of the old world
bear witness to the truth of this assertion. Alexander
on his throUe had converted 20,000,000 serfs into free
men, that he might add their mighty strength to his own,
and be able thus to prevail over the turbulent aud re
bellious nobles of his empfre. The unerring instinct of
power told them that so far forth as he admitted these
masses to hold a part and lot in the Government of the
land, to that degree did he attach them to it, and insure
its preservation against aU assaUants. Let us not fail to
learn the lesson afforded by his example. The unchange
able fiat of the Almighty has gone forth that the African
slave of this country should return no more to his bond
age and his chains. If Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson
Davis should meet in an unholy alliance, and put forth
their combined strength, they could not again bind his
hmbs about with the shackles. The Maker of the uni-

108 APPENDIX.
verse has given forth his decree, and let us not be found
fighting against it, but let us acquiesce in, and further it
according to our abihty. Let us, like the crafty autocrat,
hesitate not to summon to our aid, against the troublers
of our peace, the assistance which these humble but
confiding chUdren of toU -will gladly briug us, if only we
win permit them. Let us, at all costs and at any sacri-'
fice, get quiet and stability for our country. Let us
establish order and law throughout our Borders, so that
every man may sit under his o-wn rine and fig-tree, with
none to molest. Tennessee is a great State — a noble
State ; it is only the sins of her people that have brought
us distraction. We shall receive God's blessing, if only
we hang some rebels. The leaders only, he meant — not
the rank and file ; they should be pardoned and for
given. Treason must be made odious ; traitors must he
punished and impoverished ; and that impoverishment
should be conducted in such a way that it should contri
bute to restore to the thousands of suffering poor the
little substance they have lost by the devastations and
burnings of this war.
In conclusion, the Governor feelingly aUuded to the
fact that he was soon to go from among them. He
returned his sincere thanks to them for the kindness they
had all along shown to him, especially when he began life
a pennUess and friendless boy. He earnestly counselled
young men to do, in public life, as he had done — trust
in, aud labour for, the people. The people are true ;
they will not forget their friends, nor permit them to go
unrewarded.

APPENDIX. 109

REPLT TO SIR FREDERICK A. BRUCE.
Sfr Frederick A. Bruce, the British Minister, in the
presentation of his credentials, on the 20th of AprU,
1865, ha-ving expressed his sincere condolence for the
recent calamity which had befaUen the American people,
in the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, and fehcitated
Mr. Johnson on his accession to the dignity of the
presidential office. The President rephed as foUows :' —
Sfr Frederick A. Bruce, — The very cordial and
friendly sentiments which you have expressed on the
part of her Britannic Majesty, give me great pleasure.
Great Britain and the United States, by the extended
and various forms of commerce between them, the
contiguity of portions of thefr possessionSj and the
similarity of thefr language and laws, are drawn into
constant and intimate intercourse. At the same time,
they are, from the same causes, exposed to frequent
occasions of misunderstanding, only to be averted by
mutual forbearance. So eagerly are the people of the
two countries engaged — throughout almost the whole
world, in the pursuit of simUar commercial enterprises,
accompanied by natural rivalries and jealousies — that at
first sight it would almost seem that the two Govern
ments must be enemies, or at best cold and calculating
friends. So devoted are the two nations throughout all
thefr domain, and even in thefr most remote territory
and colonial possessions, to the principles of civil rights
and constitutional hberty, that, ou the other hand, the
superficial observer might erroneously count upon a
continued concert of action and sympathy amountiag to
an alhance between them. Each is charged with the

110 AFPENDK.
development of the progress of the human race, and
each in its sphere is subject to difficulties and trials not
participated m by the other. The interests of civUiza-
tion and of humanity requfre that the two should be
friends. I have always known and accounted as a fact
honourable to both countries, that the Queen of England
is a sincere and honest well-wisher to the United States.
I have been equally frank and expUcit in the opinion
that the friendship of the United States toward Great
Britain is enjoined by all considerations of,. interest and
of sentiment affecting the character of both. Tou -wiU,
therefore, be accepted as a Minister friendly and weU-
disposed to the maintenance of peace and the honour of
both counfries. Tou wUl find myself and aU my asso
ciates acting in accordance with the same enlightened
policy and consistent sentiments ; and so I am sure that
it wiU not occur iu your case that either yourself or this
Govemment will ever have cause to regret that such an
imporiant relationship existed at such a crisis.

ADDRESS TO COLOURED PEOPLE.
On Thursday, May 11th, 1865, President Johnson
gave an audience to a number of coloured men. They
were introduced by Rev. E. Turner, the President of
the National Theological Institute for Coloured Minis
ters, the centre of whose operations are in the city of
Washington. Mr. Turner said, iu the course of his
address, that some of them were members of the Insti
tute, and pastors of churches, while others had been
preaching to their own people in different sections

APPENDIX. Ill
of Vfrginia, coming in contact with a coloured
population of probably uot less than two or three
hundred thousand souls, thus exerting a healthful in
fluence on thefr social and moral condition. He gave to
the President a copy of the resolutions passed by them
with reference to the assassination of President Lincoln,
and expressive of thefr gratitude for the Emancipation
Proclamation, and thefr loyalty to the constituted
authorities, etc.
President Johnson, in response, remarked that it
was scarcely necessary for him to repeat what his course
had been in relation to the coloured man, as everybody
within the reach of information had already been made
acquainted with it. It was known that, though he was
born and raised in a Slave State, and had owned slaves,
yet he had never sold one, and they have aU gone free.
There was a difference in the responsibUity which per
sons who reside in the Slave States have to take on the
subject of emancipation from those who reside out of
them. It was very easy for men who hve beyond thefr
borders to get up a sympathy, and talk about the con
dition of coloured persons, when they knew nothing
about it. Their great sympathy was uot reduced to prac
tice. It was known that there were men in the South,
notwithstanding the two classes once occupied the
position of master and servant, who felt a deep interest
in their welfare, and did much to ameliorate the condi
tion of the Freedmen. He repeated that it would be
unnecessary for him to make a profession of what he
had done on the subject of Emancipation, for which he
met with taunts, frowns, and jibes, and incurred all
kinds of dangers to property, life, and limb. He

112 APPENDIX.
claimed no merit for this, because he was only carrying
out the principles he had long enteriained — namely, that
man could uot hold property in man. Aud he was the
first who stood in a slave community, and announced
the fact that the slaves of the State of Tennessee had as
much right to be free as those who claimed them as
thefr property. When the tyrant's rod is bent, and the
yoke broken, the passing from one extreme to the other,
from bondage to freedom, is difficult ; and in this tran
sition state, some think they have nothing to do but
fall back upon the Government for support, iu order
that they may be taken care of in idleness and de
bauchery. There was an idea which those -whom he
addressed ought to inculcate — namely, that freedom
simply means liberty to work and to enjoy the product
of a man's own toil, and how much he may put into his
stomach and on his back. He meant this in its most
extensive sense. Gentlemen in Congress, and people of
the North and South, talk about Brigham Toung and
debauchery of various kinds existing among the Mor
mons, but it was known that four millions of people
within the limits of the South have always been in open
and notorious concubinage. The correction of these
things is necessary in commencing a reform in the social
condition, and in this there must be a force of example.
He would do all in his power to secure thefr protection
and ameliorate thefr condition. He expressed the hope
that the efforts for their social and moral improvement
would be successful, and in this he promised his co
operation ; and, in conclusion, he thanked his audience
for thefr manifestations of kindness and the eridences
.of thefr friendship.

APPENDIX. 113

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Gentlemen, — ^I must be permitted to say that I have
been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the
sad event which has so recentiy occurred. I feel incom
petent to perform duties so imporiant aud responsible as
those which have been so imexpectedly thro-wn upon
me. As to an indication of any pohcy which may be
pursued by me in the administration of the go-vemment,
I have to say that that must be left for development as
the administration progresses. The message or declara
tion must be made by the acts as they transpire. The
only assurance that I can now give of the future is by
reference to the past. The course which I have taken
in the past in connection with this rebelhon must be
regarded as a guarantee of the future. My past pubhc
life, which has been long and laborious, has been
fotmded, as I in good conscience beheve, upon a great
principle of right, which hes at the basis of aU things.
The best energies of my life have been spent in en
deavouring to establish and perpetuate the principles of
free govemment ; and I believe that the Government, in
passing through its present trials, wUl settle down upon
principles consonant with popular rights more per
manent and enduring than heretofore. I must be per
mitted to say, if I understand the feelings of my own
heart, I have long laboured to amehorate and alleviate
the condition of the great mass of the American people.
ToU, and an honest advocacy of the great principles of
free government, have been my lot. The duties have
been miner— the consequences are God's. This has been
the foundation of my pohtical creed. I feel that in the

114 APPENDIX.
end the Govemment will triumph, and that these great
principles wUl be permanently established. In con
clusion, gentlemen, let me say that I want your
encouragement and countenance. I shall ask aud rely
upon you and others in carrying the Government;
through its present perils. I feel, in making this re
quest, that it will be heartily responded to by yon, and
aU other patriots and lovers of the rights and interests
of a free people.

BRIEF STNOPSIS OP THE AMERICAN FEDE
RATIVE STSTEM OP GOVERNMENT.
The follo'ffing is a brief explanation of that mixed political sys
tem of government peculiar to America, 'with the practical opera
tions of which Mr. Johnson is so intimately connected : —
It must be remembered that the "United States G-OTemment is
not Hke the British Govemment, having one centre of pohtical hfe ;
but that while there is a National Government for the administra
tion of national and chiefly external affairs, there are also separate
State Oovernments, whose powers are entirely confined to local and
internal affairs. By Section Sth, Article 1st, of the Constitution,
the States have delegated to Congress the power to declare war, to
mate peace, to enter into treaties, coin money, regulate commerce,
and, iu short, all acts characteristic of national sovereignty, and by
Sec. 10, the exercise of these national powers by the States is prohi
bited. -Also by Article 10th of the Amendments, the powers not
delegated to Congress are " reserved to the States or to the people."
Therefore, the powers to enact municipal laws — i.e., all laws which
concern only the States directly and immediately, are among the
reserved rights of the States and the people, and are vested, by the
people, in the State Legislature.
Thus the separate States are sovereign in a municipal capacity,
whUe the General Government is sovereign in a national capacity,
and is represented and known officially as one nation throughout
the world.
The leading provisions of the State Constitutions are analogous
to those of the National Constitution. Indeed, the latter has in a
great measure been the model of all the State Constitutions formed

APPENDIX. 115
since its adoption, and that again was formed from the English
Constitution, amended and adapted to the Federative system.
The powers of the State Governments are divided into three
departments — Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Legislative
department is likewise divided iuto two branches— the Senate and
House of assembly — the former representing oountiei| the latter the
people at large. They are governed by the same rules of precedence
as the National Government. These, also, are derived from the
rules of the British ParUament, except where the peculiar circum
stances of Republican government render them inadmissible. They,
like Congress, decide on the quahfications of their own members,
and determine the rules of their own proceedings.
Every Bill requires the signature of the Governor to become a
law, and if vetoed by him, it is rejected, unless subsequently passed
by a majority of two- thirds of both Houses.
The following are some of the chief functions exercised by the
separate State .Governments : —
Mrst. The enactment of domestic and municipal laws, and the
enforcement of them by a proper organization of judicial courts ;
such as those which relate to corporate and public bodies, incorpor
ating, railway, a^id stock companies, chartering banks, and literary
and public institutions, taxation, etc. — Police regulations, and the
punishment of crimes, except crimes committed against the General
Government — those which concern private property and rights —
tliose which relate to the institution of slavery, the States having
the power — exercised already by the Northern States — to aboUsh it
entirely. Second. The co-operation in the amendments of the Constitu
tion, three-fourths of the States being required to assent to every
amendment. Third. The mode of choosing the President of the United States,
appointing the " electors" in such manner as the State Legislatures
shall direct.
The following is a synopsis of the " Articles of Confederation"
under which the United States terminated the war of tbe Eevolution.
They continued till the adoption of the present Constitution in
1787 :—
1st. That the style of the Confederacy should be the " United
States of America."
2nd. That each State should retain its sovereignty, independence,
and such rights as were not delegated to the General Congress.
3rd. That the object of the league was the general welfare, and
the common defence against foreign aggression.
4th. That the citizens of one State shall have the privileges of
citizens in another, and that full fciith and credit shall be given to
the records, acts, and judicial proceedings in another State.
5th. That for the management of the general interests, delegates

116 APPENDIX.
shall be annually appointed to meet in Congress, each State not hav
ing less than two nor more than seven ; and that in determining
questions in Congress, each State shall have one vote.
6th. That no State shall, without the consent of Congress, enter
into any treaty or alliance vrith any foreign power or nation, or with
any other Statj ; nor lay any imposts or duties interfering with any
stipulations contained in any treaty made by Congress ; nor keep
any vessels of war or armed forces in time of peace, except such
as Congress may deem necessary ; nor engage in any war without
the consent of Congress, unless the State be actually invaded, or the
danger imminent : nor grant letters of marque, unless such State be
infested with pirates.
7th. All charges for the general welfare shall be defrayed out of
a common treasury, which shall be levied in proportion to the value
of land within each State.
Sth. The " United States in Congress assembled" shall have the
exclusive right of making peace and war ; entering into treaties and
alliances ; granting letters of marque, and establishing courts and
rules for the. trial of piracies and felonies, and determining questions
in relation to captures ; and that the Congress have the power to
determine all questions and differences between two or more States,
concerning any cause whatever, which authority shall be exercised
hy instituting a court in manner and form as provided, where judg
ment shall be final and decisive ; and that they have power to fix
the standard of weights, measures, and coin ; establish post-offices
and commission-officers ; that they shall have power to appoint
a Committee of the States, and such other civil officers as may be
necessary to manage the general affairs of the United States under
their direction ; to elect their President ; to fix the sums of money
to be raised ; to borrow money and emit bills of credit ; to agree
on the number of forces to be raised, which are to be distributed
among the States in proportion to their white inhabitants ; that the
" United States" shall not exercise these powers unless nine States
assent to the same, nor shall any question except that of adjourn
ment be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the States.
9th. It is further provided that the Committee of the States, or
any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of
Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States, or
any nine of them, shall think proper to vest them with.
10th. All debts contracted under the authority of Congress
shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United
States, for which the pubUo faith is pledged.
11th. That every State shall abide by the determinations of Con
gress upon the questions submitted to it, and the union shall be
perpetual.

fastMon 0f t\t ftM Ste.

PREAMBLE.
We, the People of the United States, in order to form
a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquillity, proride for the common defence, promote
the general 'welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Constitution contains seven articles, to which
have been added several miscellaneous amendments.
Article 1st. Relates to the Legislative Power.
Article 2nd. To the Executive Power.
Article 3rd. To the Judicial Power.
Article 4th. To the vahdity of Public Acts and
Records — ^the rights of Citizenship — the admission of
new States — and the forms of State Governments.
Article 5th. Relates to the mode of amending the
Constitution. Article 6th. To the national faith and the binding
force of the Constitution.
Article 7th. To the mode of its ratification.
ARTICLE I.
Of the Legislative Power.
SECTION I.
AU legislative powers herein granted shall be Vested
in a Congress of the United States, which shaU consist
of a Senate and House of Representatives.

118 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
SECTION II.
1. The House of Representatives shaU be composed
of members chosen every second year by the people of
the several States, and the electors in each State shall
have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the State Legislature.
2. No person shall be a Representative who shall
not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and
been seven years a citizen of the United _ States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that
State in which he shall be chosen.
3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor
tioned among the several States which maybe included
within this Union, according to their respective numbers,
which shall be determined by adding to the whole num
ber of free persons — including those bound to service
for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed —
three-fifths of all other persons.* The actual enumera
tion shall be made within three years after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within
every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as
they shall by law direct. The number of Representa
tives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but
each State shall have at least one representative ; and
until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New
Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachu
setts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one,
Connecticut five. New York six, New Jersey four,
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Vir
ginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and
Georgia three.
4. When vacancies happen in the representation from

* The other persons referred to are slaves, and consequently the slave
holding states have a repiesentation in the Souse of Representatives, lot
three-fifths of the number of slaves. This provision was the result of a
eompromise, without which it is probable the Uuion would nevei- have
been formed.

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. HC
any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue
writs of election to fill such vacancies.
6. The House of Representatives shaU choose their
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole
power of Impeachment. SECTION III.
L The Senate of the United States shall be composed
of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legis
lature thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall
have one vote.
2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in con
sequence of the first election, they shall be divided as
equally as may be into three classes. The seat.a of the
senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira
tion of the second year, of the second class at the ex
piration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the
expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be
chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen by
resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may
make temporary appointments until the next meeting of
the Legislature, which shaU then fill such vacancies.
3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years
a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall
be chosen.
4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless
they be equally divided.
5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also
a President pro tempore, in the absence pf the Vice-
President, or when he shall exercise the office of
President of the United States.
6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all
Impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of

120 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shaU pre-
side ; and no person shaU be convicted without the con
currence of two-thirds of the members present.
7. Judgment in, cases of Impeachment shall not ex
tend further than to removal from office, and disqualifica
tion to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or
profit under the United States ; but the party convicted
shaU nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment,
trial, judgment, aud punishment, according to law.
SECTION IV.
1. The times, places, and manner of holding electiom
for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in
each State by the Legislature thereof ; but the Congress
may at any time by law make or alter such regulations,
except as to the places of choosing Senators.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in
December, unless they shall by law appoint a different
day. SECTION ¦y.
I. Each House shall be the judge of the elections,
returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a
majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ;
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and
may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent
members, in such manner and under such penalties, as
each House raay provide.
2. Each House may determine the rules of its pro
ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour,
and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings,
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such
parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the
yeas and nays of the members of either House on any
question shall, at the desfre of one-fifth of those present,
be entered on the journal.
4. Neither House, during the session of Congresss

TEE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 121
shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more
than three days, nor to any other place thau that in
which the two Houses shall be sitting.
SECTION VI.
1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by
law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States.
They shaU in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and
in going to and returning from the same ; and for any
speech or debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other place.
2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the
time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil
office under the authority of the United States, which
shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time ; aud no person.
holding any office under the United States, shaU be a
member of either House during his continuance in office
SECTION vn.
1 , All biUs for raising revenue shaU originate in the
House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose
or concur with amendments as on other bills.
2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of
Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes
a law, be presented to the President of the United States ;
if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return
it, with his objections, to that House in which it shaU
have originated, who shaU enter the objections at large
on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it.* If after
such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree
* This power of the President has been frequently exercised — by
George Washington, in respect to a Bill fixing the ratio of representation
— by President Monroe, on the Internal Improvement Bill — by President
Jackson, ou the United States Bank — by President Taylor, on tha Tariff
Bill, and iu other cases .

122 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the ob
jections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise
be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that
House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the
votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and
nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against
the bill shaU be entered on the journal of each House
respectively. If any biU shall not be returned by the
President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it
shaU have been presented to him, the same shall be a
law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the
Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in
which case it shall not be a law.
3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the con
currence of the Senate and House of Representatives
may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment),
shall be presented to the President of the United States ;
and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved
by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed
by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representa
tives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in
the case of a bill. SECTION VIII.
The Congress shaU have power : —
1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and
excises, to pay the debts and provide for the Common
defence and general welfare of the United States ; but
all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform through
out the United States ;
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States ;
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes ;
4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization,* and

In pursuance of this power Congress has passed laws prescriVmg
the mode of naturalization. They provide that any alien of fuU age shall
be admitted to citizenship in the following manner : — Ist. He shall declare
on oath that it is his intention to become a citizen of the United States,

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. J 23
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout
the United States ;
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof,* and
of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and
measures ;
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting
the securities aud current coin of the United States ;
7- To establish post-offices and post-roads ;
8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts,
by securing for limited times to authors and inventors
the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis
coveries ;¦]•
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme
Court ;
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies com
mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of
nations ;
11. To declare' war, grant letters of marque and
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and
water ;
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation
pf money to that use shaU be for a longer term than two
years ;
13. To provide and maintain a navy ;
14. To make rules for the govemment and regulation
of the land and naval forces ;
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute

and renounce for ever all foreign allegiance. 2iid. That he shall declare
ou oath that he will support the Constitution of the United States. 3rd.
That the Court admitting such alien shall be satisfied that he has resided
within the United States the continued term of five years next preceding
his admission, aud that during that time be has behaved as a man of good
moral character:
* The coinage is entirely decimal. The Spanish milled dollar is taken as
the unit, and all smaller coin is in tenth parts, and all gold coin is in
fcnths above. Five dollars are equal to one pound sterling.
t The term for which a patent may be obtained is seventeen years. The
cost of obtaining which is thirty-five dollars. Copyrights are secured for
twenty-eight years. 9

124 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
the laws of the Uuion, suppress insurrections and repel
invasions ;
16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin
ing the militia, and for governing such part of them
as may be employed in the service of the United States,
reserving to the States respectively the appointment of
the officers, and the authority of training the militia ac
cording to the discipline prescribed by Congress ;
17- To exercise exclusive legislation inaU cases, what
soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square)
as may, by cession of particular States, and the accep
tance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of
the United States,* and to exercise like authority over aU
places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the
State in which the same shaU be for the erection of forts,
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful
buildings; and
18. To make all laws which shaU be necessary and
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers,
and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the
Government of the United States, or in any department
or officer thereo£ SECTION IX.
L The migration or importation of such persons as
any of the States now existing shall think proper to
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a
tax or duty may be imposed upon such importation, not
exceeeding ten dollars for each person.f
¦* In pursuance of this power Congress, in 1790, accepted of a grant
from the States of ¦Virginia aud Maryland, of ten miles square, on the
Potomac, for the seat of Government, which is the present District of
Golvmbia, in which the City of Wafihington is situated; and iu April,
1862, in exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction guaranteed by this olanae,
abolished slavery therein.
t The persons here referred to were slaves, and the effect of this
clause was to permit the slave trade till 1808. After that date Congress
prohibited it in every dh-eotion, and affixed to it the penalties of piracy.

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. ' J25
2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not
be suspended, unless when in cases of rebeUion or invasion
the public safety may require it.
3. No biU of attainder or ex post facto law shaU be

4. No capitation, or other direct tax, shall be laid,
unless in proportion to the -census or enumeration herein
before directed to be taken.
5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported
from any State. No preference shaU be given by any
regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one
State over those of another; nor shaU vessels bound
to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or
pay duties in another.
6. No money shall be dra'wnfrom the treasury, but in
consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a
regular statement and account of the receipts and expen
diture of all public money shall be published from time
to time.
7 • No title of nobihty shall be granted by the United
States ; and no person holding any office of profit oi
trust under them, shaU without the consent of Congress,
accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any
kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
SECTION X.
1. No State shall enter into any treaty, aUiance, or
confederation ;* ^rant letters of marque or reprisal ; coin
money ; emit biUs of credit ; make anything but gold
and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any
biU of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
2. No State shaU, without the consent of the Congress,
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except
* When the States parted with this power to enter into any treaty,
alliance or confederation, they parted with one of those characteristics
¦^rhich had previously made them independent of each other, and thus they
divested themselves of national sovereignty. — Mansfield's
lIaimdl.—p»Vl.Q.

126 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
what may be absolutely necessary for executingits in
spection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and
imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, sh^U
be for the use of the treasury of the United States ; and
all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control
of the Congress.
3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay
any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time
of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with
another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war,
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as
will not admit of delay.
ARTICLE IL
Of the Executive Power,
SECTION \.
1. The executive power shall be vested in a President
of the United States of America. He shall hold his
office during the term of four years, and, together with
the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected,;
as follows : —
2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors,
equal to the whole number of Senators and Represen
tatives to which the State may be entitled in the Con
gress : but no Senator or representative, or person hold
ing an office of trust or profit under the United States,
shall be appointed an Elector.
[* The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by
Fallot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant
of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all
the pserson voted for, and the number of votes for each ; which list they
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The
President of the Senate shall, in tbe presence of the Senate and House of
Bepresentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be
* This clause within brackets has been superseded and annulled by the
twelfth amendment.

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 127
counted. The person having tbe greatest number of votes shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors
appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and
have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall
immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no per
son have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House
shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing tbe President,
the votes shall be taken by States, tbe representation from each State
having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or
members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States
shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the
President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the
Electors shall be tbe Vice-President. Bat if there should remain two or
more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot
the Vice-President.]
3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing
the Electors, and on the day on which they shall give
their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the
United States.
- 4. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen
of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ;
neither shall any person be eligible to that office who
shaU not have attained to the age of thirty-five years,
and been fourteen years a resident within the United
States. 5. In case of the removal of the President from office,
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the
powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve
on the Vice-President,*and the Congress may bylaw
provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or
inabihty, both of the President and Vice-President,
declaring what officer shall then act as President, and
such officer shall act accordingly, until the disabihty
be removed, or a President shaU be elected.
6. The President shall at stated times, recei've for his
services a compensation, which shall neither be increased
nor diminished during the period for which he shaU hare
* Under this T>roT!»ionVie«-Frew.d.« It Tyler, iu I84I, succeeded Presi
dent Harrison, who died just one month after his inauguration; -i Vice-
President Fillmore also succeeded President Taylor under this provision in
1850, and Andrew Johnson succeeded President Lincohi^pril 15, 1865.

128 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
been elected, and he shaU not receive within that period
any other emolument from the United States, or any of
them.* 7. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he
shall take the following Oath or Affirmation :
" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and
will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and
defend the Constitution of the United States."
SECTION II.
I. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia
of the several States, when called into the actual service
of the United States; he may require the opinion, in
writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of
their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant
reprieves and pardons for offences against the United
States, except in cases of Impeachment.
2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other
officers of the United States, whose appointments are
not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law : but the Congress may by law vest
the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think
proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or
in the heads of departments.
3, The President shaU have power to fill up aU vacan
cies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by
granting commissions which, shall expire at the end of
their next session.

• Congress has permanently fixed the salary of the Prebident at
3d,000 dollars per annum, and that of the Vice-President at 5,000 dollars.

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 129
SECTION in.
He shaU from time to time give to the Congress in
formation of the^ state of the Union, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as he shall judge
necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary
occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and
in ca,se of disagreement between them, with respect to
the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such
time as he shaU think proper ; he shaU receive ambassadors
and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws
be faithfully executed, and shall commission aU the
officers of the United States. SECTION IV.
The President, Vice-President, and aU civil officers of
the United States, shaU be removed from office on im
peachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or
other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE IIL
Of the Judicial Powen
SECTION I.
The judicial power of the United States shall be
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior
courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and
establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good
behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their
serrices a compensation, which shaU not be diminished
during^ their continuance iu office.
SECTION II.
1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of
the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be
made, under th«rr authority j to all cases affecting
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; — to aU

130 S^HB FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; — to
controversies to which the United States shall be a party ;
— to controversies between two or more States ; — between
a State and citizens of another State ; — ^between citizens
of different States, — between citizens of the same State
claiming lands under grants of different States, and
between a State, or the citizen thereof, and foreign States,
citizens, or subjects.
2. In all cases aff"ecting ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall
be party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris
diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the
Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as
to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such
regulations as the Congress shaU make.
3. The trial of all crimes except in cases of Impeach
ment, shall be by jury : and such trial shall be held in
the State where the said crimes shall have been com
mitted ; but when not committed within any State, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may
by law have directed. SECTION III.
1. Treason against tbe United States shaU consist only
in levying war against them, or in adhering to their
enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shaU
be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two
witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court. 2. The Congress shaU have power to declare the
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shaU
work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during the
life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE IV.
Of the Validity of Public Acts and Records — the Rights of
Citizenship — the Admission of New States, and ihe forms
of State Governments.

THE FEDERAL OONSTITUTIOK. I31
SECTION I.
Full faith and credit shaU be given in each State to
the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every
other State. And the Congress may by general laws
prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and
proceedings shaU be proved, and the effect thereof.
SECTION II.
1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to aU
privUeges and immunities of citizens in the several
States. 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony,
or other crime, who shaU flee from justice, and be found
in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive
Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered
up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the
crime. 3. No person held to service or labor in one State,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shaU, in
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis
charged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor
may be due.* SECTION in.
1. New States may be admitted by the Congress
into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or
erected within the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor
any State be formed by the junction of two or more
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the
Legislatures of the States concerned as weU as of the
Congress. 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and
make aU needful rules and regulations respecting the
territory or other property belonging to the United
States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
" ' ^ JT"
* This clause refers to the slaves of the Southern States^ who may
escape and take refuge iu the Northern States.

132 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION,
construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States,
or of any partieular State. SECTION IV.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in
this Union a republican form of government, and shaU
protect each of them against invasion ; and on applica-1
tion of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the
Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic
violence.
ARTICLE V.
Of ihe Mode of Amending, the Constitution.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses
shaU deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this
Constitution, or, on the application of the Legislature?
of two-thirds of the several States, shaU caU a conven
tion for proposing the amendments, which, in either
case shall be valid to aU intents and purposes, as part of
this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in
three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of
ratification may be proposed bj the Congress, provided
that no amendment which may be made prior to the
year one thousand eight hundred and eight shaU in any
manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
section of the first Article ; and that no State, without
its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the
Senate.
ARTICLE VI.
Cy the Motional Faith and the Bmdmg Force of ihe
Constitution. \
1. An debts eontracted and engagemKats entered into^
before the adoption of this Constitution^ shaU be as valid
against the United States under this Constitution, as
under the Confederation.

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 133
2. This Constitution and the laws of the United
States which shaU be made in pursuance thereof; and
aU treaties made, or which shall be made, under the
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law
of the land; and the judges in every State shall be
bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws 0/
anv. State to the contrary notwithstanding.
3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned4
and the members of the several State Legislatures, and
all executive' and judicial officers, both of the United
States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath
or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to
any office or public trust under the United States.
ARTICLE VII.
Of the Mode of its Ratification.
The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall
be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution
between the States so ratifying the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the
States present, the seventeenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof
we have hereunto subscribed our names,
GEO. WASHINGTON,
Fresidt. and Deputy from Virginia.
Here foUow the signatures of the other members
fi-om the thirteen states.

134 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTIOS.
.A.E,TTCLBS
IK ADDITION 10, AMD AMENDMENI OF, THB
Constitution of the United States of Amenca,
PROPOSED BY CONGEESS, AND RATIFIED BY THE
LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PURSUANT
TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE ORIGINAL CON
STITUTION. ARTICLE I.
Congress shaU make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
ARTICLE II.
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear
arms shaU not be infringed. ARTICLE IIL
No soldier shaU, in time of peace, be quartered in any
house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

THB FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 135
ARTICLE V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the mihtia, when in actual
service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process
of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public
use without just compensation.
ARTICLE VL
In aU criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury
of the State and district wherein the crime shall have
been committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process
for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the
assistance of counsel for his defence.
ARTICLE VII.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury
shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be
otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States,
than according to the rules of the common law.
ARTICLE VIII.
Excessive bail shaU not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

136 THE FEDERAL OONSXITUTION.
ARTICLE IX.
The enumeration iu the Constitution, of .eertam rights,
shaU not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people.
ARTICLE X.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are re
served to the States respectively, or to the people.
ARTICLE XI.
The judicial power of the United States shall not be
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com
menced or prosecuted against one of the United States
by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects
of any foreign state.
ARTICLE XIL
1. The Electors shall meet in their respective States^
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one
of whom, at least, shaU not be an inhabitant of the same
State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots
the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots
the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall
make distinct lists of aU persons voted for as President,
and of aU persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the
number of votes for each, which lists they shaU sign and
certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Govern
ment of the United States, directed to the President of
the Senate. The President of the Senate shaU, in pre
sence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open
all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.
The person having the greatest number of votes for Presi
dent shall be the President, if such number be a majority
of the whole number «f Electors appointed ; and if nopei

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 137

son have such majority, then from the persons having the
highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those
voted for as President, the House of Representatives
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But
in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by
States, the representation from each State having one
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shaU consist of a mem
ber or members from two-thirds of the States, and a
majority of all the States shaU be necessary to a choice.
And if the House of Representatives shaU not choose a
President whenever the right of choice shall devolve
upon them, before the fourth day of March next foUow
ing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in
the case of the death or other constitutional disabUity
of the President.
2. The person having the greatest number of votes as
Vice-President shaU be the Vice-President, if such
number be a majority of the whole number of Electors
appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then from the
two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose
the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shaU
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators,
and majority of the whole number shaU be necessary
to a choice.
3. But no person constitutionaUy ineligible to the
office of President shaU be eligible to that of Vice-
President of the United States.

DATES OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CON
STITUTION AND OF THE AMENDMENTS.
The Constitution  17th September, 1787.
The first ten Amendments  15th December, 1791.
The eleventh Amendment  8th January, 1798.
The twelfth Amendment  25th September, lb04.

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