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RECONSTRUCTION
VOICES FROM AMERICA’S
FIRST GREAT STRUGGLE
FOR RACIAL EQUALITY
Brooks D. Simpson, editor
LIBRARY OF AMERICA E-BOOK CLASSICS
Volume compilation, introduction, notes, and chronology copyright © 2018 by
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The Library of America—303
Manufactured in the United States of America
Reconstruction:
Voices from America’s First Great Struggle
for Racial Equality
is published with support from
WILLIAM R. BERKLEY
and
THE BERKLEY FAMILY FOUNDATION
Contents
Introduction
PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION, 1865–1866
Frederick Douglass: What the Black Man Wants, January 26, 1865
“Do nothing with us!”: Massachusetts, January 1865
Abraham Lincoln: Speech on Reconstruction, April 11, 1865
Washington, D.C., April 1865
Springfield Republican: Restoration of the Union, April 20, 1865
Forgiving rebels: Massachusetts, April 1865
Andrew Johnson: Interview with Pennsylvania Delegation, May 3, 1865
“Treason is a crime”: Washington, D.C., May 1865
Colored Men of North Carolina to Andrew Johnson, May 10, 1865
Muskets and Ballots: North Carolina, May 1865
Andrew Johnson: Reply to a Delegation of Colored Ministers, May 11, 1865
“Liberty to work”: Washington, D.C., May 1865
Salmon P. Chase to Andrew Johnson, May 12, 1865
Three classes of white citizens: North Carolina, May 1865
Joseph Noxon to Andrew Johnson, May 27, 1865
The necessity of black suffrage: New York, May 1865
Delegation of Kentucky Colored People to Andrew Johnson, June 9, 1865
“Most inhuman laws”: Washington, D.C., June 1865
False ideas of freedom: South Carolina, June 1865
Richard Henry Dana: Speech at Boston, June 21, 1865
“The grasp of war”: Massachusetts, June 1865
Charles Sumner to Gideon Welles, July 4, 1865
“Shame & disaster”: Massachusetts, July 1865
Wendell Phillips to the National Anti-Slavery Standard, July 8, 1865
The Danger of Rebels in Congress: Massachusetts, July 1865
Francis Preston Blair to Andrew Johnson, August 1, 1865
“The white race alone”: Maryland, August 1865
Colored People of Mobile to Andrew J. Smith, August 2, 1865
Defending “pure freedom”: Alabama, August 1865
Jourdon Anderson to P. H. Anderson, August 7, 1865
“Send us our wages”: Ohio, August 1865
Carl Schurz to Andrew Johnson, August 29, 1865
Lawlessness and Disloyalty: Mississippi, August 1865
Christopher Memminger to Andrew Johnson, September 4, 1865
“Indentures of apprenticeship”: North Carolina, September 1865
Thaddeus Stevens: Speech at Lancaster, September 6, 1865
Confiscating rebel estates: Pennsylvania, September 1865
Georges Clemenceau to Le Temps, September 28, 1865
“The question of negro suffrage”: New York, September 1865
George L. Stearns: Interview with President Johnson, October 3, 1865
“We must be patient”: Washington, D.C., October 1865
Andrew Johnson: Speech to the 1st U.S. Colored Infantry, Washington, D.C., October 10, 1865
Washington, D.C., October 1865
Sarah Whittlesey to Andrew Johnson, October 12, 1865
“A lying, lazy people”: Virginia, October 1865
Edisto Island Freedmen to Andrew Johnson, October 28, 1865
“The only true and Loyal people”: South Carolina, October 1865
J. A. Williamson to Nathan A. M. Dudley, October 30, 1865
Fear of armed freedmen: Tennessee, October 1865
Address of the Colored State Convention to the People of South Carolina, November 24, 1865
Claiming the rights of citizenship: South Carolina, November 1865
Andrew J. Hamilton to Andrew Johnson, November 27, 1865
Prospects for the State Convention: Texas, November 1865
Sidney Andrews: from The South Since the War
Travels in the Carolinas and Georgia: September–December 1865
Carl Schurz: from Report on the Condition of the South
“Submission to necessity”: Washington, D.C., December 1865
Ulysses S. Grant to Andrew Johnson, December 18, 1865
“Such universal acquiescence”: Washington, D.C., December 1865
Lewis Hayden: from Caste among Masons
“The Pharaoh of our day”: Massachusetts, December 1865
Harriet Jacobs to The Freedman, January 9 and 19, 1866
Destitution Among the Freed People: Georgia, January 1866
Marcus S. Hopkins to James Johnson, January 15, 1866
“Insane malice against the freedman”: Virginia, January 1866
Andrew Johnson and Frederick Douglass: An Exchange, and Reply of the Colored Delegation to President Johnson, February 7, 1866
Debating Suffrage: Washington, D.C., February 1866
Joseph S. Fullerton to Andrew Johnson, February 9, 1866
Objections to the Freedmen’s Bureau: Washington, D.C., February 1866
Andrew Johnson: Veto of the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, February 19, 1866
Washington, D.C., February 1866
Andrew Johnson: Speech on Washington�
��s Birthday, February 22, 1866
Washington, D.C., February 1866
Andrew Johnson: Veto of the Civil Rights Bill, March 27, 1866
Washington, D.C., March 1866
CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION, 1866–1869
Maria F. Chandler to Thaddeus Stephens, April 1, 1866
Suffrage for Women: West Virginia, April 1866
Harper’s Weekly: Radicalism and Conservatism, April 21, 1866
Defining Radicalism: New York, April 1866
Thaddeus Stevens: Speech in Congress on the Fourteenth Amendment, May 8, 1866
“Accept what is possible”: Washington, D.C., May 1866
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Speech at the National Woman’s Rights Convention, May 10, 1866
“We are all bound up together”: New York, May 1866
George Stoneman to Ulysses S. Grant, May 12, 1866
The Memphis Riot: Tennessee, May 1866
The New York Times: An Hour With Gen. Grant, May 24, 1866
Elihu B. Washburne to Thaddeus Stevens, May 24, 1866
“Butcheries and Atrocities”: Tennessee, May 1866
Cynthia Townsend: Testimony to House Select Committee, May 30, 1866
“They all fired at her”: Tennessee, May 1866
Joint Resolution Proposing the Fourteenth Amendment, June 13, 1866
Washington, D.C., June 1866
Oliver P. Morton: from Speech at Indianapolis, June 20, 1866
Treason and the Democrats: Indiana, June 1866
Philip H. Sheridan to Ulysses S. Grant, August 1 and 2, 1866
The New Orleans Riot: Louisiana, August 1866
Harper’s Weekly: The Massacre in New Orleans
The President’s Responsibility: New York, August 1866
Andrew Johnson: Speech at St. Louis, September 8, 1866
Missouri, September 1866
Thaddeus Stevens: Speech at Lancaster, September 27, 1866
“Congress is the sovereign power”: Pennsylvania, September 1866
Frederick Douglass: Reconstruction, December 1866
“Let there be no hesitation”: December 1866
Thaddeus Stevens: Speech in Congress on Reconstruction, January 3, 1867
“No nearer to a true Republic”: Washington, D.C., January 1867
Mobile Daily Advertiser and Register: No Amendment—Stand Firm, January 9, 1867
“Spurning self-degradation”: Alabama, January 1867
Albion W. Tourgée: To the Voters of Guilford, October 21, 1867
“An Oligarchy or a Republic?”: North Carolina, October 1867
Harper’s Weekly: Impeachment, December 14, 1867
“Doubtful grounds”: New York, December 1867
Albion W. Tourgée: The Reaction, January 4, 1868
Republican timidity: North Carolina, January 1868
New-York Tribune: The President Must Be Impeached, February 24, 1868
“Absolute and despotic power”: New York, February 1868
Thaddeus Stevens: Speech in Congress on Impeachment, February 24, 1868
“His wicked determination”: Washington, D.C., February 1868
Bossier Banner: White Men to the Rescue!
The New State Constitution: Louisiana, March 1868
The Nation: The Result of the Trial, May 21, 1868
The President’s Acquittal: New York, May 1868
Frank P. Blair to James O. Broadhead, June 30, 1868
Overthrowing Reconstruction: Washington, D.C., June 1868
Frederick Douglass: The Work Before Us, August 27, 1868
Electing Grant: August 1868
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Gerrit Smith on Petitions, January 14, 1869
“Universal Suffrage”: New York, January 1869
Joint Resolution Proposing the Fifteenth Amendment, February 27, 1869
Washington, D.C., February 1869
“LET US HAVE PEACE,” 1869–1873
Ulysses S. Grant: First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1869
Washington, D.C., March 1869
Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony: Exchange on Suffrage, May 12, 1869
“The question of precedence”: New York, May 1869
Mark Twain: Only a Nigger. The Buffalo Express, August 26, 1869
A Lynching in Tennessee: New York, August 1869
Georges Clemenceau to Le Temps, November 3, 1869
“Struggle for their existence”: France, November 1869
The New York Times: Reconstruction Nationalized, February 21, 1870
“It secures political equality”: New York, February 1870
William W. Holden to Ulysses S. Grant, March 10, 1870
A Klan Insurrection: North Carolina, March 1870
Ulysses S. Grant: Message to Congress on the Fifteenth Amendment, March 30, 1870
“The greatest civil change”: Washington, D.C., March 1870
Albion W. Tourgée to Joseph C. Abbott, May 24, 1870
Klan Terrorism: North Carolina, May 1870
Robert K. Scott to Ulysses S. Grant, October 22, 1870
“Inhuman and brutal outrages”: South Carolina, October 1870
Horace Greeley and Robert Brown Elliott: Exchange on Amnesty, March 16–17, 1871
“Their evil example”: New York and Washington, D.C., March 1871
Joseph H. Rainey: Speech in Congress on the Enforcement Bill, April 1, 1871
Protecting Rights: Washington, D.C., April 1871
James A. Garfield: from Speech in Congress on the Enforcement Bill, April 4, 1871
Preserving Local Government: Washington, D.C., April 1871
Maria Carter: Testimony to the Joint Select Committee, Atlanta, Georgia, October 21, 1871
The Murder of John Walthall: Georgia, April 1871
Horace Greeley: Reply to Committee of the Liberal Republican Convention, May 20, 1872
Accepting a Nomination: New York, May 1872
Frederick Douglass: Speech at New York City, September 25, 1872
Grant Over Greeley: New York, September 1872
James S. Pike: South Carolina Prostrate, March 29, 1873
“A descent into barbarism”: South Carolina, February 1873
Ulysses S. Grant: Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1873
Washington, D.C., March 1873
THE END OF RECONSTRUCTION, 1873–1877
Levi Nelson and Benjamin Brim: Testimony in the Colfax Massacre Trial, New Orleans, February 27 and March 3, 1874
“Dead men all around me”: Louisiana, April 1873
Robert Brown Elliott: Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill, January 6, 1874
“Perfect equality before the law”: Washington, D.C., January 1874
New York Herald: General Grant’s New Departure, January 20, 1874
“I am tired of this nonsense”: Washington, D.C., January 1874
Richard Harvey Cain: Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill, January 24, 1874
“A nation of croakers”: Washington, D.C., January 1874
James T. Rapier: Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill, June 9, 1874
“I am treated as a pariah”: Washington, D.C., June 1874
William Lloyd Garrison to the Boston Journal, September 3, 1874
“A reign of terror”: Massachusetts, September 1874
Eugene Lawrence to Harper’s Weekly, October 31, 1874
“A war of intimidation”: Louisiana, October 1874
Isaac Loveless to Ulysses S. Grant, November 9, 1874
A Black Veteran’s Appeal: Tennessee, November 1874
Ulysses S. Grant: from Annual Message to Congress, December 7, 1874
Washington, D.C., December 1874
Philip H. Sheridan to William W. Belknap, January 4 and 5, 1875
Suppressing Terrorism: Louisiana, January 1875
Carl Schurz: from Speech in the Senate on Louisiana, January 11, 1875
“A gross and manifest violation”:
Washington, D.C., January 1875
William Lloyd Garrison to the Boston Journal, January 12, 1875
Defending Grant and Sheridan: Massachusetts, January 1875
Ulysses S. Grant: Message to the Senate on Louisiana, January 13, 1875
Washington, D.C., January 1875
John R. Lynch: from Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill, February 3, 1875
Social Rights and Public Rights: Washington, D.C., February 1875
Thomas Whitehead: from Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill, February 3, 1875
“His condition cannot be altered”: Washington, D.C., February 1875
Charles A. Eldredge: Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill, February 4, 1875
“The pride of blood and race”: Washington, D.C., February 1875
James A. Garfield: from Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill, February 4, 1875
“This act of plain justice”: Washington, D.C., February 1875
Hinds County Gazette: How to Meet the Case, August 4, 1875
An Election Plan: Mississippi, August 1875
Ulysses S. Grant to Edwards Pierrepont, September 13, 1875
“The whole public are tired out”: New Jersey, September 1875
Edwards Pierrepont to Adelbert Ames, September 14, 1875
Refusing an Appeal for Aid: Washington, D.C., September 1875
Sarah A. Dickey to Ulysses S. Grant, September 23, 1875
“A kind of guerrilla war”: Mississippi, September 1875
Margaret Ann Caldwell: Testimony to the Select Senate Committee, June 20, 1876
Murder in Hinds County: Mississippi, September–December 1875
Albion W. Tourgée: Root, Hog, or Die, c. 1876
The Failure of Reconstruction: North Carolina, 1876
John R. Lynch: Speech in Congress on Mississippi, February 10, 1876
Defending Republican Rule: Washington, D.C., February 1876
Ulysses S. Grant to Daniel H. Chamberlain, July 26, 1876
The “Barbarous” Hamburg Massacre: Washington, D.C., July 1876
The Nation: The South in the Canvass. The Nation, July 27, 1876
Republican Corruption: New York, July 1876
Robert G. Ingersoll: from Speech at Indianapolis, September 21, 1876
“Every one was a Democrat”: Indiana, September 1876
David Brundage to Ulysses S. Grant, October 14, 1876
Intimidation at the Polls: Georgia, October 1876
Rutherford B. Hayes: Diary, November 12, 1876
The Election Results: Ohio, November 1876