had pardoned nearly all the leaders in the rebellion through the medium
of amnesty proclamations. In each rebel State he had appointed a
provisional governor under whose direction Legislatures, State officers,
and members of Congress had been chosen, and the Legislatures thus
chosen elected the United States Senators for the Southern States in
accordance with the President's plan of reconstruction. To make
restoration to the Union full and complete nothing remained to be done
but to admit to their seats the Senators and Representatives that had
been chosen. In the mean time these different Legislatures had enacted
laws which virtually re-enslaved those that had been emancipated in
their respective States. For this the North would not stand. Sentiment
in that section demanded not only justice and fair treatment for the
newly emancipated race but also an emancipation that should be thorough
and complete, not merely theoretical and nominal.

The fact was recognized and appreciated that the colored people had been
loyal to the Union and faithful to the flag of their country and that
they had rendered valuable assistance in putting down the rebellion.
From a standpoint of gratitude, if not of justice, the sentiment of the
North at that time was in favor of fair play for the colored people of
the South. But the President would not yield to what was generally
believed to be the dominant sentiment of the North on the question of
reconstruction. He insisted that the leaders of the Republican party in
Congress did not represent the true sentiment of the country, so he
boldly determined to antagonize the leaders in Congress, and to present
their differences to the court of public opinion at the approaching
Congressional elections. The issue was thus joined and the people were
called upon to render judgment in the election of members of Congress
in the fall of 1866. The President, with the solid support of the
Democrats and a small minority of the Republicans, made a brave and