But I beg gentlemen to consider the magnitude of the task which was imposed upon the committee. Congress denies him all power in the matter, except those of advice, and has determined to maintain such denial. <> In the States they form the great mass of the loyal men. Thaddeus Stevens was one of the main leaders of the Radical Republican faction in Congress during Reconstruction. Petition to US Congress for Womens Suffrage, President Andrew Jacksons Message to Congress On Indian Removal, Canada Bans Commercial Fishing in Lakes St. Clair and Erie, Great Britain Withdraws from the Concert of Europe. Citizens replaced the foundations of slavery that formerly supported Southern states . Home; Service. If we do not furnish them with Now, sir, it is for these reasons that I insist on the passage of some such measure as this. The leader of the Radical Republicans in the House, Stevens was a lawyer, politician, and staunch abolitionist. The Southern territories could have non-voting representation, and it would be Congress, which would ensure that they could not exercise any power until Congress was convinced they would pose no further threat to the Union. The war was acknowledged by other nations as a public war between independent belligerents. outside or defunct States, and providing proper civil But finding other cemeteries limited as to race by charter rules, I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death the principles which I advocated through a long life, equality of man before his creator.". power, we shall deserve and receive the execration of There they can learn the principles of freedom and eat the fruit of foul rebellion. President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and both branches of Congress repeatedly declared that the belligerent States could never again intermeddle with the affairs of the Union, or claim any right as members of the United States Government until the legislative power of the Government should declare them entitled thereto. . As a politician in Pennsylvania, he supported free public education and suffrage for African Americans. Have not loyal blacks quite as good a right to choose rulers and make laws as rebel whites? However, his plan proved too radical for many war-weary Northerners. ( Thaddeus Stevens, speech to Congress, March 19 1867). The [members of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction] are not ignorant of the fact that there has been some impatience at the delay in making this report . However, he also urged colleagues to remember the crimes of the Confederacy. Rather than making the South go through the process of territorial government, in 1867 and 1868, Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which divided the South into five military districts under the command of a general and provided clear criteria for readmission to the Union, including redrafting their state constitutions to include loyalty to the Union, ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, and guaranteeing former slaves the right to vote. I know of no Republican who does not ridicule what Mr. Seward thought a cunning movement, in counting Virginia and other outlawed States among those which had adopted the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. For these, among other reasons, I am for negro suffrage in every rebel State. Simply allowing the Southern states to rejoin the Union upon the acceptance of federal sovereignty by ten percent of voters and ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment was not even close to sufficient for Stevens, who, like many in the North, held the Southerners completely responsible for four years of unprecedented bloodshed. Whether they should ever have all men of both sections, without exception, agreed would depend on the will of Congress, if the United States were victorious. But the. <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S>> . As the nation edged toward Civil War, Stevens, now living in Pennsylvania, was elected to Congress in 1849 as an antislavery Republican. The freedom of a Government does not depend upon the quality of its laws, but upon the power that has the right to enact them. An Address Delivered to the Citizens of Lancaster, Sept. 6, 1865. They were expected to suggest a plan for rebuilding a shattered nationa nation which though not dissevered was yet shaken and riven by the gigantic and persistent efforts of six million able and ardent men; of bitter rebels striving through four years of bloody war. Our fathers had been compelled to postpone the principles of their great Declaration, and wait for the full establishment till a more propitious time. In this country the whole sovereignty rests with the people, and is exercised through their Representatives in Congress assembled. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! I pronounce it no nearer to a true Republic now when twenty-five million of a privileged class exclude five million from all participation in the rights of government. We have unchained them from the stake so as to allow them locomotion, provided they do not walk in paths which are trod by white men. No one then pretended that the eleven States had any rights under the Constitution of the United States, or any right to interfere in the legislation of the country. Thaddeus Stevens April 4, 1792 - August 11, 1868. our blood and treasure will have been spent in vain. Even that is not left to the Commander-in-Chief. Such a course would soon surrender the Government into the hands of rebels. It is obvious from all this that the first duty of Congress is to pass a law declaring the condition of these outside or defunct States, and providing proper civil governments for them. to the territorial Legislatures, they will necessarily mingle It cannot be denied that this terrible struggle sprang from the vicious principles incorporated into the institutions of our country. If they do not enfranchise the freedmen, it will give to the rebel States but thirty-seven Representatives. The Economy also feel with the panic of 1854. With the basis unchanged the 83 Southern members, with the Democrats that will in the best times be elected from the North, will always give a majority in Congress and in the Electoral college. Congress alone can do it. +(91)-9821210096 | how to say nevermind professionally in an email. He must ask leave of Congress. I. . Dead States cannot restore their existence "as it was." As an important member of the new Republicans, Stevens became actively involved in the Underground Railroad, helping runaway slaves escape to Canada. we had better have left them in bondage. Speech on Reconstruction Domestic Policy Education Federal Government Race and Equality Religion in America Rights and Liberties State Government by Thaddeus Stevens January 03, 1867 Edited and introduced by Scott Yenor Cite Part of these Core Document Collections Reconstruction View Study Questions Let us now refer to the provisions of the proposed amendment. As there are no symptoms that the people of these provinces will be prepared to participate in constitutional government for some years, I know of no arrangement so proper for them as territorial governments. The future condition of the conquered power depends on the will of the conqueror. governments for them. endobj I would not for a moment inculcate the idea of surrendering a principle vital to justice. During the war, as the powerful chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Stevens pushed Lincoln for emancipation of the slaves. We have even given them that highest and most agreeable evidence of liberty as defined by the great plebeian the right to work. But in what have we enlarged their liberty of thought? Congress must create States and declare when they are entitled to be represented. representation among the States from Federal numbers to 2 April 1865-August 1868 (Pittsburgh: I hope I have a heart as capable of feeling for human woe as others. And yet I am amazed and alarmed at the impatience of certain well-meaning Republicans at the exclusion of the rebel States until the Constitution shall be so amended as to restrain their despotic desires. They have determined to defend these rights against all usurpers. Congress is to pass a law declaring the condition of these The In Territories Congress fixes the qualifications of Image 3 of Speech of Hon. The commander of an army who should find his enemy intrenched on impregnable heights would act unwisely if he insisted on marching his troops full in the face of a destructive fire merely to show his courage. Born in Danville, Vermont, in 1792, Stevens grew up poor, yet he graduated from Dartmouth College and became an attorney before entering politics in 1833. They did not claim to raise an insurrection to reform the Government of the country -a rebellion against the laws-but they asserted their entire independence of that Government and of all obligations to its laws. government for some years, I know of no arrangement so acquiring an education, understanding the common laws On April 11, 1835, Thaddeus Stevens gave a speech in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in defense of the Free Schools Act of 1834. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1814, removed to York, Pennsylvania, was admitted to the bar (in Maryland), and for fifteen years practiced at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Possibly with their aid loyal governments may be established in most of those States. . proper for them as territorial governments. After Stevens's death in 1868, the Freedmen's Bureau was chronically underfunded, and although many African Americans held political office in the reconstructed states, the power of the former Confederates rose again through terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan. Call you this a free Republic where four millions are subjects but not citizens? Stevens successfully prevented the first few new state governments implemented under Lincoln and Johnson's Reconstruction plan from being recognized, refusing to seat the senators and representatives elected by those states. In the first place, it is just. There are periods in the history of nations when statesmen can make themselves names for posterity; but such occasions are never improved by cowards. occasion for the conquered rebels and the conqueror to Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" (2012) is a two-and-a-half hour film that zeroes in on a defining moment from near the end of the Civil War -January 1865 and the debate over the proposed amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. Think not I would slander my native land; I would reform it. ?]J2Tw7@F VQ"EQ[?-p_' (E*@zEg* UWQ?-]B[zel}%&H&HR[l`l6$zU~_}s:P)}zVYg7/kxQUDkzd|gno@>nN;q{DG 5%Z. In 1867 Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner led the campaign for full voting rights for African Americans across the nation. To be sure many subordinate items of the policy of each may be easily sketched. But the public mind has been educated in error for a century. Are such men fit to sit in the places of statesmen? As a leader in Congress, Stevens fought to end slavery and promote civil rights and racial equality. Such shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.Constitution United States, art.I, sec. If we do not furnish them with homesteads, and hedge them around with protective laws; if we leave them to the legislation of their late masters, we had better have left them in bondage. . The effect of this provision will be either to compel the States to grant universal suffrage or so to shear them of their power as to keep them forever in a hopeless minority in the national Government, both legislative and executive. But great events fix the eye of history on small objects and magnify their meanness. Title Thaddeus Stevens Papers: Speeches and Writing File, 1835-1868; 1865; Names Stevens, Thaddeus, 1792-1868 An ancient philosopher, whose antagonist admitted that what he required was just but deemed it impolitic, asked him: Do you believe in Hades? I would say to those above referred to, who admit the justice of human equality before the law but doubt its policy: Do you believe in heIl?. [Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens was a Congressman from Pennsylvania and one of the primary champions of Congressional measures like the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Reconstruction Act of 1867. They each raised more than half a million armed men. RECONSTRUCTION. Congressional Globe, 39th Congress, 2nd session, Jan. 3 1867. Stevens's Reconstruction efforts were resisted by President Andrew Johnson, which frustrated the congressman and prompted him to fight back against the president; Stevens introduced the resolution for President Johnson's impeachment and chaired the committee responsible for drafting impeachment articles. Thaddeus Stevens, "Reconstruction" Speech, September 6, 1865. ?)(qUC This doctrine does not mean that a negro shall sit on the same seat or eat at the same table with a white man. Do not tell me that there are loyal representatives waiting for admissionuntil their States are loyal they can have no standing here. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Now, sir, if that decision be the law, then it becomes the more necessary that we should proceed to take care that such a construction as that shall not open the door to greater injuries than have already been sustained. %PDF-1.5 The second section I consider the most important in the article. Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 - August 11, 1868) was a . The policy and personal disputes between Johnson and Stevens helped frame the Reconstruction era, mirroring the divisions present in the nation as a whole. We know Thaddeus Stevens as an ardent abolitionist who championed the rights of blacks for decadesup to, during, and after the Civil War. He might have extended the laws of his empire over them, allowed them to retain portions of their old institutions, or, by conditions of peace, have fixed upon them new and exceptional laws. There is not one word in the Constitution that gives one particle of anything but judicial and executive power to any other department of Government but Congress. He publicly condemned the Confederacy and even initiated the exclusion of traditional Southern senators and representatives from a congressional meeting in 1865. I have long since wished that capital punishment were abolished. endobj If it be just, it should not be denied; if it be necessary, it should be adopted; if it be a punishment to traitors, they deserve it. Without it all are sure to be ruled by traitors; and loyal men, black and white, will be oppressed, exiled, or murdered. I am now confining my arguments to negro suffrage in the rebel States. We may not aspire to fame. ; Hon. In 1848, a third party called the Free Soil Party formed to highlight opposition to extending slavery into western territories that had not yet organized as states. He served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction and chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Congress and in the Electoral college. A majority of Congress desires that treason shall be made odious, not by bloody executions, but by other adequate punishments. By what civil weapon have we enabled them to defend themselves against oppression and injustice? It means, as understood by honest Republicans, just this much, and no more: every man, no matter what his race or color; every earthly being who has an immortal soul, has an equal right to justice, honesty, and fair play with every other man; and the law should secure him these rights. The convention of southern loyalists, lately held in Philadelphia, almost unanimously agreed to such a bill as an absolute necessity. Whatever law protects the white man shall afford equal protection to the black man. If impartial suffrage is excluded in the rebel States then everyone of them is sure to send a solid rebel representative delegation to Congress, and cast a solid rebel electoral vote. It matters but little, with this admission, whether you call them States out of the Union, and now conquered territories, or assert that because the Constitution forbids them to do what they did do, that they are therefore only dead as to all national and political action, and will remain so until the Government shall breathe into them the breath of life anew and permit them to occupy their former position. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'wikisummaries_org-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_1',121,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wikisummaries_org-large-mobile-banner-1-0');By the time Congress arrived to begin its session in December 1865, a confrontation between the two opposing systems of Reconstruction, as well as Johnson and Stevens, was imminent. % No Government official, from the President and Chief Justice down, can do anyone act which is not prescribed and directed by the legislative power. Thaddeus Stevens speech of December 18 1865 The President assumes, what no one doubts, that the late rebel States have lost their constitutional relations to the Union, and are incapable of representation in Congress, except by permission of the Government. There are those who admit the justice and ultimate utility of granting impartial suffrage to all men, but they think it is impolitic. (The Free Soil Party had dissipated by the mid-1850s, and was largely absorbed by the new Republican Party, of which Stevens was a member.) have turned, or are about to turn, loose four million slaves Thaddeus Stevens on black suffrage, 1867 From speech of Thaddeus Stevens (R-Pa) in the House of Representatives, January 3, 1867. There they can They have determined that while in their keeping the Constitution shall not be violated with impunity. The states of the entire southern half of the nation had seceded, but they were again under federal jurisdiction after the Union victory. Mr. Speaker, that charge, as I have stated, is. Congress denies that any State lately in rebellion has any government or constitution known to the Constitution of the United States , or which can be recognized as part of the Union. . . Not in the judicial branch of Government, for it only adjudicates and does not prescribe laws. I know there is between those who are influenced by this cry of negro equality and the opinion that there is still danger that the negro will be the smartest, for I never saw even a contraband slave that had not more sense than such men. The confederate armies and government surrendered unconditionally. requisite qualifications of age, residence, and citizenship; In other words, that they are not out of the Union, but are only dead carcasses lying within the Union. Is their judgment misled by their kindness; or are they unconsciously drifting into the haven of power at the other end of the avenue? An anti-Masonic member of the state legislature (183341), he proved himself a friend of banks, internal improvements, and public schools and a foe of Freemasons, Jacksonian Democrats, and slaveholders. Their government became perfectly organized, both in its civil and military departments. . Thaddeus Stevens was a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who became the face of the opposition to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson's lenient approach to the South after the Civil War. No one then supposed that those States had any governments, except such as they had formed under their rebel organization. endobj Congress refuses to treat the States created by him as of any validity, and denies that the old rebel States have any existence which gives them any rights under the Constitution. acting in the Union, or of being counted as valid States, until Eleven States, possessing a very large extent of territory, and ten or twelve million people, aimed to sever their connection with the Union, and to form an independent empire, founded on the avowed principle of human slavery and excluding every free State from this confederacy. In 1868, he led the charge to impeach Johnson, who was narrowly acquitted in the Senate. our republican Government firm and stable forever. The third section may encounter more difference of opinion here. Another good reason is, it would insure the ascendancy of the Union party. The infernal laws of slavery have prevented them from acquiring an education, understanding the common laws of contract, or of managing the ordinary business of life. Stevens was also a staunch opponent of President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies.] If the doctrine enunciated in that decision be true, never were the people of any country anywhere, or at any time, in such terrible peril as are our loyal brethren at the South, whether they be black or white, whether they go there from the North or are natives of the rebel States. I desire that as early as possible, without curtailing debate, this House shall come to some conclusion as to what shall be done with the rebel States. Heaven forbid that the southern states, or any one of them, should be represented by this floor until such monuments of freedom are built high and firm. . learn the principles of freedom and eat the fruit of foul Thaddeus Stevens on the Great Topic of the Hour. The law has nothing to do with it. With the basis unchanged the 83 South In opposition to these things, a portion of Congress seems to desire that the conquered belligerent shall, according to the law of nations, pay at least a part of the expenses and damages of the war; and that especially the loyal people who were plundered and impoverished by rebel raiders shall be fully indemnified. . Combining patriotic and religious imagery, it depicted Americans rebuilding a pavilion representing the United States. Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was the most famous Radical Republican in the House of Representatives (1849-1853, 1859-1868). The conclusion of the Civil War may have halted the direct warfare between the Union and Confederate armies, but disagreements among Northerners over what to do with the South were just beginning. In States that have never been restored since the rebellion from a state of conquest, and which are this day held in captivity under the laws of war, the military authorities, under this decision and its extension into disloyal States, dare not order the commanders of departments to enforce the laws of the country. Beverly Wilson Palmer and Holly Byers Ochoa, eds., The Selected Papers Image Details A popular print from 1867 was an allegory of Reconstruction. If we fail in this great duty now, when we have the power, we shall deserve and receive the execration of history and of all future ages. In the speech below which Stevens gave in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 3, 1867 supporting the Reconstruction bill then being debated, he issued a response to those who said his call was radical and incendiary with a now famous quotation: I am for negro suffrage in every rebel State. They have torn their constitutional States into atoms, and built on their foundations fabrics of a totally different character. Thaddeus Stevens, Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, gave a speech before Congress that articulated his vision for the period following the Civil War, known as Reconstruction. Thaddeus Stevens was a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who became the face of the opposition to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson's lenient approach to the South after the Civil War. They formed an entirely new constitution; a new and distinct government, called the confederate States of America. They passed their own laws, without regard to any former national connection. Do you find this information helpful? Image Details The Joint Committee on Reconstruction proposed a constitutional amendment to address issues in Southern states. In 1849, Stevens was elected, as a Whig, to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the meantime, the freedmen would become more enlightened, and more fit to discharge the high duties of their new condition. He dominated the House during Reconstruction and proposed the impeachment of President .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Andrew Johnson. The first two years of Congressional Reconstruction saw Southern states rewrite their Constitutions and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. They must suffer constant persecution or be exiled. Not in the Executive, for he only executes and cannot make laws. In either case, it is very plain that it requires the action of Congress to enable I them to form a State government and send representatives to Congress. In No State could order the election of members until Congress had ordered a census and made an apportionment. No said he , I claim the right to chastise the scoundrel. He followed the colored man, took out his revolver, and deliberately shot him dead in the presence of that community. Instead of seeking the quick reconciliation that Lincoln and Johnson promoted, Stevens was comfortable both with the process of Southern reintegration taking years and with Congress being the final arbiter of when each Southern state could rejoin the nation. Whatever law allows the white man to testify in court shall allow the man of color to do the same. 20072023 Blackpast.org. War out west has begun and it seems as the US may be drawn into conflict with its southern neighbors. As a member of the joint Committee on Reconstruction, he played an important part in the preparation of the Fourteenth (due process) Amendment to the Constitution and the military reconstruction acts of 1867. Stevens entered the political sphere in 1833, serving for four years in the state legislature as a member of the Anti-Masonic Party. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. . Corrections? The first section, prohibits the States from abridging the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, or unlawfully depriving them of life, liberty, or property, or of denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This Congress is bound to provide for them until they can governed by martial law. We have broken the material shackles of four million slaves. Since the surrender of the armies of the confederate States of America a little has been done toward establishing this Government upon the true principles of liberty and justice; and but a little if we stop here. Thaddeus Stevens, (born April 4, 1792, Danville, Vermont, U.S.died August 11, 1868, Washington, D.C.), U.S.
thaddeus stevens reconstruction speech summary