Volume 13 — ENFRANCHISEMENT AND PROTECTION OF FREEDMEN. ACTUAL CONDITION OF THE REBEL STATES.

Speech in the Senate, on a Bill to maintain Freedom in those States, December 20, 1865.

On the day after the “whitewashing” incident, Mr. Sumner seized an opportunity of setting forth the actual condition of the States lately in rebellion, and the duty of Congress with regard to them. He took the floor on a bill, introduced by his colleague, Mr. Wilson, “to maintain the freedom of the inhabitants in the States declared in insurrection and rebellion by the Proclamation of the President of the first of July, 1862,” and spoke as follows.

MR. PRESIDENT,—When I think of what occurred yesterday in this Chamber, when I call to mind the attempt to whitewash the unhappy condition of the Rebel States, and to throw the mantle of official oblivion over sickening and heartrending outrages, where Human Rights are sacrificed and Rebel Barbarism receives a new letter of license, I feel that I ought to speak of nothing else. Years ago, in the days of Kansas, I stood here when one small community was surrendered to the machinations of slave-masters. I stand here again, when, alas! an immense region, with millions of people, is surrendered to the machinations of slave-masters. Sir, it is the duty of Congress to arrest this fatal fury. Congress must dare to be brave; it must dare to be just. I shall not be diverted from the question before the Senate, although, in unfolding the necessity of present legislation for the protection of freedmen, I shall be led necessarily and logically to speak of the condition of the Rebel States.

All must admit that the bill of my colleague is excellent in purpose. It proposes nothing less than to establish Equality before the Law, at least so far as civil rights are concerned, in the Rebel States. This is done simply to carry out and maintain the Proclamation of Emancipation, by which the Republic is solemnly pledged to “maintain” the emancipated slave in freedom. Here is our pledge: “The Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.” The pledge is without limitation in space or time. It is as extended and as immortal as the Republic itself. Does anybody call it vain words? I trust not. To that pledge we are solemnly bound. Wherever our flag floats, as long as time endures, we must see that it is sacredly observed.

The performance of this pledge cannot be intrusted to another; least of all can it be intrusted to ancient slave-masters, embittered against the slave. It must be performed by the National Government. The power that gave freedom must see that freedom is maintained. This is according to reason. It is also according to examples of history. In the British West Indies we find this teaching. Three of England’s greatest orators and statesmen, Burke, Canning, and Brougham, at successive periods united in declaring, from experience in the British West Indies, that whatever the slave-masters undertook to do for their slaves was always “arrant trifling,” and that, whatever might be its plausible form, it always wanted “an executory principle.”[21] More recently the Emperor of Russia, when ordering Emancipation, declared that all efforts of his predecessors in this direction had failed, because left to “the spontaneous initiative of the proprietors.” I might say much more on this head, but this is enough. I assume that no such blunder will be made by us,—that we shall not leave to the old proprietors the maintenance of that freedom to which we are pledged, and thus break our own promises and sacrifice a race.

Elsewhere I have alluded to Emancipation in Russia.[22] But the example is worthy our deepest study, unless we purposely reject history. All know that in 1861 the Emperor by solemn proclamation gave freedom to upward of twenty-three million serfs; but it is not generally known by what supplementary provisions this freedom was assured.

I have in my hands an official copy of this great act, published at St. Petersburg, by which it is declared that the serfs, after an interval of two years, are “entirely enfranchised.”[23] Under this Proclamation, a new set of local magistrates is constituted, with “special court” and “justices of the peace” in each district, to superintend the working of the Proclamation, and to examine on the spot all questions arising from Emancipation. The provision is not unlike our Bureau of Freedmen, which is vindicated by this example.

The good work did not stop here. The Emperor did not leave the freedmen without protection, handed over to the tender mercies of former owners. By a careful series of “Regulations” accompanying the Proclamation, prepared with minutest care, and divided into chapters and sections, their rights are secured beyond question. A copy of this remarkable document shows it to be a model for generous imitation.

These “Regulations” begin with a formal declaration, that the freedmen by the act of Emancipation “acquire the rights belonging to free farmers.” The language is general. It is “the rights of free farmers,” not in certain particulars, but in all particulars,—not merely in exemption from the authority of their masters, but in complete enfranchisement. Surely this is an example for us.

The “Regulations” then proceed in formal words to fix and assure these rights, civil and political. They are not left to inference or to future discussion, but positively declared with all possible detail.

By one section the freedman is secured in all his rights of family and rights of contract, as follows:—

“The articles of the Civil Code on the rights and obligations of the family are extended to the freedmen; consequently they acquire the right, without the authorization of the proprietor, to contract marriage, and to make any arrangement whatever concerning their family affairs; they can equally enter into all agreements and obligations authorized by the laws, as well with the state as with individuals, on the conditions established for free farmers; they can inscribe themselves in the guilds, and exercise their trades in the villages; and they can found and conduct factories and establishments of commerce.”

Here is a beautiful example for us.

By another section the freedman is secured in rights of property. He may acquire and alienate property of all kinds, according to the general law; and, besides, “the possession of the homestead” on which he has lived is guarantied to him on certain conditions. Here is another example for us.

By further provision the freedman is secured complete Equality in the courts:—

“He shall have the right of action, whether civilly or criminally, to commence process, and to answer personally or by attorney, to make complaint, and to defend his rights by all the means known to the law, and to appear as witness and as bail conformably to the common law.”

Mark these words. He may appear “as witness and as bail.” It is an example for us.

By other provisions the freedman is secured Equality in political rights, according to the measure of such rights in Russia, thus:—

“On the organization of the towns, he shall be entitled to take part in the meetings and elections for the towns, and to vote on town affairs, and to exercise divers functions; and he shall also take part in assemblies for the district, and shall vote on district affairs, and choose the chairman.”

From all the provisions on this head it appears that the freedman enjoys rights to choose local officers, and to be chosen in turn. Here also is an example for us.

By still another section the freedman is secured Equality at school and in education, thus:—

“He may place his children in the establishments for public education, to embrace the career of instruction or the scientific career, or to take service in the corps of surveyors.”

Here again is an example for us.

Then, still further, for the general protection of the freedman, it is provided that he “cannot lose his rights, or be restrained in their exercise, except after the judgment of the town according to fixed rules”; and still further, that he “cannot be subjected to any punishment, otherwise than by notice of a judgment, or according to the legal decision of the town to which he belongs.” Here, too, is an example for us.

Thus does Russia, by careful provisions, supplementary to the act of Emancipation, assure her freedmen in all their rights: first, the right of family and the right of contract; secondly, the right of property, including a homestead; thirdly, complete Equality in the courts; fourthly, Equality in political rights; fifthly, Equality at school and in education; and, finally, all these precious safeguards are crowned by declaring that they cannot lose their rights, or be punished, except after judgment according to fixed rules: thus completely fulfilling that requirement of our fathers, that government should be “a government of laws, and not of men.”[24]

I trust that this grand example is none the less worthy of imitation because from an empire which is not supposed to sympathize with liberal ideas. The Republic cannot in this respect lag behind the Empire. Besides, all that we hear shows that the experiment has been successful. An experiment inspired so completely by the spirit of justice cannot fail.

My colleague is right in introducing his bill and pressing it to a vote. The argument for it is irresistible. It is essential to complete Emancipation. Without it Emancipation will be only half done. It is our duty to see that it is wholly done. Slavery must be abolished not in form only, but in substance, so that there shall be no Black Code, but all shall be Equal before the Law.

As to the power of Congress over this question, I cannot doubt it. My colleague assumes the power, without tracing it to any particular source. It may be a military power, precisely as the Proclamation of Emancipation,—and here the authority is as clear and absolute as in the District of Columbia; or it may be in pursuance of the Constitutional Amendment, which provides that Congress may “enforce this Article by appropriate legislation”; or it may be to carry out the guaranty of a republican form of government.

There are measures of my own, already introduced by me, now on your table, looking to the same result as the pending bill, which proceed specifically on the two latter grounds.

One of these is entitled “A bill supplying appropriate legislation to enforce the Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting Slavery,” from which I read two sections.

Here Mr. Sumner read sections 3 and 4, as given on a previous page.[25]

This bill proceeds on the idea that the Amendment is now part of the Constitution to all intents and purposes. And who can doubt this? Already it is adopted by three fourths of the States having Legislatures,—in other words, by “the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States.” The States having no Legislatures at the time of its proposition by Congress cannot be counted. Of what value is the enforced consent of disloyal and barbarous bodies pretending to act for certain States at the dictation of military power? Military power may govern during the war; but it is impotent to make a republican State, or to adopt an Amendment of the Constitution.

Another bill introduced by me, and now on the table, is founded on the guaranty clause. I give its title: “A bill in part execution of the guaranty of a Republican form of Government in the Constitution of the United States.”[26]

Both these bills are broader even than that of my colleague; for they point to the absolute obliteration of all legal discriminations founded on color, whether in the court-room or at the ballot-box; and to this conclusion we must come at last. But I confess that I feel the dignity, the grandeur, and the substantial value which would be found in a declaration of Congress, that an oligarchical government, denying rights to a whole race, undertaking to tax without representation, and discarding “the consent of the governed” as its just foundation, cannot be “republican.”

The most explicit, the most positive, the most mandatory words in the Constitution are, “The United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government.” This great duty is thrown not upon any individual branch of the Government, but upon the United States. It is a duty to “guaranty”—which in itself is a strong term—what? A republican form of government. Now, by the lapse of State governments in the Rebel States, this duty is cast upon the United States. But the United States are represented in Congress, or rather by Act of Congress, which in itself is the embodied will of both Houses and of the President. Congress must, therefore, determine what is a republican form of government. Into this question I do not now enter. At the proper time I hope to consider it.[27] For the present I content myself with the remark, that it is absurd to say that a community founded on oligarchical pretensions, excluding from all participation in the government any considerable proportion of its tax-paying citizens, and ignoring the consent of the governed, can be considered a republican form of government. On this proposition I hope to be heard at an early day. Here is one of the greatest questions of our history.

After this brief review of the object to be accomplished, I am brought to consider the practical necessity of such legislation; and here it is my duty to expose the actual condition of the Rebel States, especially as regards loyalty and the treatment of the freedmen. On this head I shall adduce evidence in my possession. In the endeavor to bring what I say within reasonable proportions, I shall adduce only a small part of what has passed under my eye; but it will be more than enough. In bringing it forward, the difficulty is of selection and abridgment.

I begin with something relating to the condition of the Rebel States generally, and shall then consider the different States successively.

And now, first, as to the Rebel States generally. I know no testimony that has found its way to the public, with regard to the general condition of the South, which will compare in value with a series of letters by A. Warren Kelsey, a business agent of character and intelligence above question, who has travelled through the Rebel States. His communications with his employers show singular powers of observation, and are expressed with great clearness. Of course I can give only a few extracts.

“In travelling about, as I have, from one section of the country to the other, I have been able to compare opinions, and, as you know, I have had peculiar and favorable opportunities for ascertaining the views they have in common. I have endeavored to trace the motives from which they have acted and which now animate them, and their real purpose for the future, if they have one. In giving you my opinion now, it is proper to say that I have taken no one individual as a criterion of the whole, and have judged them only by the opinions I find they are generally agreed upon; neither have I any one’s statement for their thoughts and actions. My opinions, deductions, and conclusions are derived from my own experience and observation among them, and, whether they shall be confirmed or denied by others, are, notwithstanding, my honest and sincere convictions.

…

“While I am able to say that they have made up their minds that Emancipation is a fact, and not to be avoided, I am obliged to state my earnest opinion, that, so far as secession is concerned,—that is, the doctrine of State Rights,—it is more deeply rooted than ever among them. They are perfectly united in the belief that the division of this country is both right from a moral stand-point and politic as a measure of expediency. They have simply changed their base from the battle-field to the ballot-box, believing, as they very frankly admit, that greater triumphs await them there than they could ever hope for in the field. In almost every house hangs the old, worn Confederate uniform, which is displayed with pride and satisfaction to all comers. So far from repenting of the stand they took, they glory in it. They regret the result, and their non-success, it is true, but not one in a thousand will admit they were in the wrong.

…

“They argue that at least ninety-five in every two hundred votes at the North are sure to be thrown in their favor, and they can now rule the Union by giving up, which is cheaper than to persist in their idea of a separate government. That idea, however, is only laid aside for a time. Every boy at the South is being educated in the belief that the relations the South to-day sustains toward the North are the same as those of Hungary or Venetia toward Austria, or of Poland to Russia. They bide their time. They have adopted for their motto, ‘Patience, and shuffle the cards.’ The snake, so far from being killed, is barely ‘scotched.’ Meantime they deem it better to rule in the Union than to serve in the Confederate army.

…

“As to their affection for their military leaders, you will find proof in the elections at Richmond and South Carolina. No man has a better claim to their sympathy, and none stand a better chance of election, than those who were the last to give up. Motives of policy may induce them to nominate others, but the fact remains as I have stated. I repeat, that General Lee and Wade Hampton are the two most popular and best loved men in the South to-day. I have heard but one disparaging remark made of General Lee since I was at the South, and that was in this connection. I was riding one night in a hack across the gap in a railway, made by Wilson, and, as usual, the conversation turned on political affairs and the condition and prospects of the Southern people. One man said that General Lee stood the best chance for the next Presidency,—by the way, that is a very prevalent idea here at the South,—when another remarked that he would rather have Andrew Johnson. I was curious to know why, and inquired. He replied, that ‘he had but little confidence in Lee since he favored negro soldiers, and in his opinion he was not much better than a Black Republican.’

…

“At present every one at the South is occupied in his personal and family interests. There are no political parties,—very little coherence of opinion as to the policy best to be pursued. But I find among the knowing ones, particularly those who have been on to the North, and remained some time in New York or Washington, a sanguine belief that they can easily resume the reins of office; and these men are the only Unionists in the South to-day. You can depend upon it, that the Southern States in the future will present one solid, unanimous front; their leaders have them well in hand. And this is precisely what ninety-nine in every hundred of the men, women, and children believe sincerely as to the situation to-day: first, that the South of right possesses, and always possessed, the right of secession; secondly, that the war only proved that the North was the strongest; thirdly, that Negro Slavery was and is right, but has been abolished by the war. The Southerners are too smart not to see that Slavery is dead, but many of them hope as long as the black race exists here to be able to hold it in a condition of practical serfdom. All expect the negro will be killed in one way or another by Emancipation. The policy of those who will eventually become the leaders here at the South is, for the present, to accept the best they can get, to acquiesce in anything and everything, but to strain every nerve to regain the political power and ascendency they held under Buchanan. This they believe cannot be postponed longer than up to the next Presidential election. They will do all in their power to resist Negro Suffrage, to reduce taxation and expenditures, and would attack the national debt, if they saw any reason to believe repudiation possible. They will continue to assert the inferiority of the African; and they would to-day, if possible, precipitate the United States into a foreign war, believing they could then reassert and obtain their independence. They will, most of them, take any oaths you may cause to be adopted, and break them immediately, and without scruple. In one word, this people have placed themselves in resolute antagonism to the North, and this generation, at least, will always hate the Northern people, while the boys are being educated to the same idea.

…

“On the whole, looking at the affair from all sides, it amounts to just this: if the Northern people are content to be ruled over by the Southerners, they will continue in the Union; if not, the first chance they get, they will rise again.”[28]

Other testimony is in harmony. For instance, a trustworthy traveller, who has recently traversed the Gulf States, thus writes in a private letter to myself:—

“The former masters exhibit a most cruel, remorseless, and vindictive spirit toward the colored people. In parts where there are no Union soldiers I saw colored women treated in the most outrageous manner. They have no rights that are respected. They are killed, and their bodies thrown into ponds or mud-holes. They are mutilated by having ears and noses cut off.”

Such a people already talk of repudiating the national debt. To the question, “Would it be safe to trust white men at the South with the power to repudiate the national debt?” a person in gray uniform at once replied: “Repudiate? I should hope they would. I’m whipped, and I’ll own it; but I’m not so fond of a whipping that I’m going to pay a man’s expenses while he gives it to me. Of course there are not ten men in the whole South that wouldn’t repudiate.” Such is the spirit of these States. But a candidate for Congress in Virginia undertook to speak for the Rebel States.

“I am opposed to the Southern States being taxed at all for the redemption of this debt, either directly or indirectly; and, if elected to Congress, I will oppose all such measures, and I will vote to repeal all laws that have heretofore been passed for that purpose; and, in doing so, I do not consider that I violate any obligations to which the South was a party. We have never plighted our faith for the redemption of the war debt. The people will be borne down with taxes for years to come, even if the war debt is repudiated. It will be the duty of the Government to support the maimed and disabled soldiers, and this will be a great expense; and if the United States Government requires the South to be taxed for the support of Union soldiers, we should insist that all disabled soldiers should be maintained by the United States Government, without regard to the side they had taken in the war.”

A late writer, who within a few days has returned from an extensive tour in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and who now enjoys a seat in your Reporters’ Gallery, thus testifies with regard to the national debt:—

“The national debt doubtless seems to you beyond the reach of any hand. Yet I regard it as very probable that one or two or all of three things will be attempted within three years after the Southern members of Congress are admitted to seats,—the repudiation of the National debt, the assumption of the Confederate debt, or the payment of several hundred million dollars to the South for property destroyed and slaves emancipated. I met several shrewd and intelligent men who expressed the belief that Confederate bonds will be worth something in two or three years. One told me that large amounts were held in New York and England, and he expected steps would be taken within five years toward paying them from the National Treasury. I heard no man openly advocate the repudiation of the National debt, but scores argued to me that it would not be fair to make the South pay any part of it; and one man said he believed, if the case were only carried up, that the Supreme Court would so decide. The idea that the nation will pay the South for her slaves extensively prevails both in Georgia and South Carolina. It is incorporated into the new Constitution of Georgia, and is openly advocated by many influential men in South Carolina. Wherefore, I say, the national debt needs watching.”

Let the Secretary of the Treasury[29] take notice, and not expose the national finances to the peril which menaces them.

Passing from this testimony, which is general, I come to the neighbor State of Virginia. I read from a private letter received by myself from a Government officer there:—

“We who are here have a much better opportunity of knowing the feeling of the people than you at a distance, for they will not speak as freely before you as they will before us here and among themselves. The feeling of disloyalty is as strong here now as it was during the war, but they cannot show it as they did then; and with regard to the freedmen there is every disposition on their part to make them odious. They constantly talk of insurrection, insubordination, thieving, idleness, and every species of crime and vice; all of which I assure you is entirely false. They are perfectly subordinate to every law, and, so far as thieving is concerned, such an assertion is gratuitous or false; for all cases of thieving, certainly, I am sorry to say, are done by the whites.”

I also read from another private letter:—

“The clash of arms has subsided, the serried hosts of Rebels have been disbanded, and the huge paraphernalia of war have been scattered; but, notwithstanding these facts, the low mutterings of sullen discontent are yet heard, and the desire to persecute and break down all truly loyal men is exhibited on every hand with even more sly ferocity than while the war of sections raged.

“We are residents of this city, each engaged in public business, and consequently thrown into contact with all classes of citizens. Hourly we hear denunciations of the Government, and prayers for the removal of the military. And why these denunciations and these prayers, if the oath of allegiance had been honestly taken, to be sacredly observed? No, Gentlemen, the spirit of rebellion is not dead, and will never die while Democratic leaders in the South are relieved of their treachery and turned loose to stir up sedition and to incite rebellion. The men make loud professions of loyalty, and their press reverberates the echo from hill and valley; but you have only to read their fanfaronades on loyalty to satisfy yourselves of the bitter hatred that fills their breasts against the Union, and the burning hate with which they will proceed to pour out the vials of their wrath upon all Union men, when once they can secure seats in Congress and get possession of the reins of State government. In their hearts they cling as ardently to State sovereignty as ever, and once give them the power and they will tax the loyal people to the full value of the slave property destroyed by the war. Mark this prediction.”

Another private letter, from a person so situated as to be singularly well informed, thus foreshadows a system of Peonage:—

“The necessity of the courts is beyond all question. Even with these courts it requires watchfulness to protect the blacks. If they were left without these courts, the whites would keep them forever in bondage, by keeping them in debt; and I am afraid that the legislation of the States will be to the effect to establish here the Mexican system of Peonage, by using some very extraordinary terms to coerce ‘hatched-up’ accounts against the blacks.”

To this I might add indefinitely, exhibiting the bad temper and disloyal spirit which prevail throughout Virginia. Bayonets are no longer flashing there; bullets are no longer whizzing there; but the traitorous soul that inspired the Rebellion still fills the State with its malignant breath. Give it not, I entreat you, the power to rule.

From Virginia pass to North Carolina. Here the testimony is the same. During this week I have seen Government officers who have been in service, one since 1863, who report that it is not safe to speak one’s sentiments there; that liberty of speech does not exist; that the freedmen, so far from being lazy or remiss, are willing to work, but that they are exposed to unutterable hardship and cruelty. On these points the testimony is explicit. A loyal resident of North Carolina writes me:—

“I tell you, Sir, the only difference now and one year ago is, that the flag is acknowledged as supreme, and there is some fear manifested, and they have no arms. The sentiment is the same. If anything otherwise, more hatred exists toward the Government. I know there is more toward Union men, both black and white.”

More hatred toward the Union men, both white and black, than one year ago! Such is the condition of North Carolina.

In accordance with this is other testimony.

“Two women, school-teachers, who were recently sent from Wilmington to Fayetteville to establish a school for colored children, were informed by the sheriff of the county that they would not be allowed to start their schools, nor would they be allowed to land; but they might remain on the steamer until her return to Wilmington, inasmuch as they were women; if they were men, they would receive such treatment as was awarded to such meddlesome characters before the war.

“Mr. Dickinson says, that, while he was in Fayetteville, a negro was strung up by the thumbs in the public square, and received forty-nine lashes from a civil officer recently appointed by Governor Holden.”

A Wilmington paper makes the following report.

“General Ames, General Duncan, and Colonel Donnelson have returned from an official visit to Fayetteville, where they went to ascertain the truth of the reports coming from there in regard to the treatment of the colored people.

“The result of their visit substantiates the fact that the negroes have been cruelly treated, not only by the civilians, but also by the civil authorities there.

“Two negroes were tied up and publicly whipped by the sheriff, on the sentence of a magistrate.

“Other negroes were tied up to trees and whipped, and left tied to the trees until a storm came up and prostrated the trees, and the poor negroes fell with them.

“Citizens exercised the authority of masters over the negroes, and punished them at their will with such severity as to them seemed fit.

“It is even reported that negroes have been killed in the most cruel manner.”

Why heap instances? They might be piled high; but why pain the heart by such an exhibition?

From North Carolina pass to South Carolina, where the testimony is, if possible, still more explicit. The spirit of this Rebel State, yet rebel in heart, appears in the well-known letter from Wade Hampton, which I do not stop to quote. It is especially manifest in the frank speech of James R. Campbell in the Convention, from which I read an extract.

“I believe, that, when our votes are admitted into that Congress, if we are tolerably wise, governed by a moderate share of common sense, we will have our own way. I am speaking now not to be reported. We will have our own way yet, if we are true to ourselves. We know the past; we know not what is to be our future. Are we not in a condition to accept what we cannot help? Are we not in a condition where it is the part of wisdom to wait and give what we cannot avoid giving? I believe as surely as we are a people, so surely, if we are guided by wisdom, we will by the beginning of the next Presidential election, which is all that is known of the Constitution, (for, when you talk of the Constitution of the United States, it means the Presidential election, and the share of the spoils,) I believe then we may hold the balance of power.”

That Mr. Campbell spoke according to the sentiments of the prevailing politicians is attested by a private letter which I have received from a Government officer so situated there as to know the real condition of things. I read extracts only.

“The speeches in Convention and Legislature are doubtless known to you, and the animus pervading all action of these bodies. Mr. Campbell expressed it exactly. Let us do what we have to, as little as we are obliged to, get into Congress somehow, and then pay off the score. One or two minor matters in this connection I mention as showing how the current sets.

“1. The election for members of Convention, 4th September. The favorites in every contested case were those most prominent in Secession proceedings of past years. The majority of them did not take the amnesty oath.…

“2. Not even the prospect of securing a favorable recognition in Congress could secure the election of any man tainted with Unionism, in opposition to any candidate thoroughly established as an opponent to the Government in past time.

“3. And yet, strange as it may seem, the people—by which I mean the planters generally, exclusive of the politicians—are not savagely disloyal; and this is one main point to which I desire earnestly to testify. It is a fact that the political working of the State is in the hands of one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty men. It has taken me six months to appreciate the entireness of the fact, though of course I had heard it stated.

“It seems to me a most Providential opportunity is now offered to break up this maladministration of politics. The people among whom I move are becoming restive under present disadvantages, and criticize sharply the acts of the Legislature, which seem to delay Reconstruction. If the State is refused representation in the present Congress, and the acts of the State Legislature, its speeches, its Black Code, its general fractious and combative attitude, its spirit in accepting the Constitutional Amendment and refusing the annulment of Secession Ordinances are brought to light,—if, in a word, it can be shown that the long recognized politicians of the State have thoroughly damaged the State by taking her out of the Union, and have also kept her from coming in, there will be a political revolution in the State in less than two months. The Rebels so promptly pardoned by the President will meet no such complacency from the people. I know this to be true,—am taught it anew every day.

“If the State authority is to be recognized, and the present Legislature triumphs by forcing the State into the Union, I anticipate very disastrous consequences. The freed people are well enough; they do not know as much as could be desired, but they know quite as much as could be expected, and are open to instruction. But that instruction must come from the Government, through the military, untrammelled by any fractious jobbing of State Legislatures. There is no confidence on the part of the freed people in the State; they only know the United States Government, and no other will answer.”

Here is a letter from a South-Carolinian who served in the Rebel army, but who now sees the error of his ways.

“I am sorry to say Governor Orr’s inaugural yesterday received no applause at all from the audience: its sentiments were too Union-loving for them. I am sorry also to say that the South-Carolinians generally entertain to a great extent their old ideas and prejudices, so disastrous of late to the State. One is almost compelled to think they insanely wish to bring upon themselves more and greater mortifications. Witness the vote given Hampton, who refused to be a candidate. What an unwise display of a factious and discontented spirit! Few seem willing to admit the simple proposition that all causes of ill-feeling between North and South have been settled by the arbitrament of the sword, and we must submit sincerely. They seek rather to keep alive the ill-feeling that has made us unhappy for so many years, and that ill-advised disposition to supervise the actions of the United States Government.

“If this war does not settle all issues, and settle them forever, it will be because the General Government fails to use the power it has obtained. I am as dear a lover of South Carolina as any man in it, and for that reason I wish to see peace and harmony restored throughout its borders. But that can never be, if the men who tried hardest to break up the Government are, immediately they find themselves unsuccessful with the sword, allowed to take seats in Congress and recommence the agitation with their tongues and by their arguments and votes. More inflammatory speeches were not made in 1860 than have been delivered during the late canvass. If examples are not made, if leading men are not made to feel some ill effects from an unsuccessful attempt to revolutionize, then agitation will never cease, but will be kept up by ambitious men of mean talents, who can hope to rise only in times of disorder, or by operating upon and influencing the passions of the multitude.”

To cap the climax of this iniquity, a body of men calling themselves the Legislature, but having small title to be considered a legal body, have undertaken to enact a Black Code, separating the two races, in defiance of every principle of Equality. I quote a provision fastening apprenticeship or serfdom in new form upon the unhappy freedman.

“Colored children, between the ages mentioned [males two and twenty-one, females two and eighteen], who have neither father nor mother living in the district in which they are found, or whose parents are paupers, or unable to afford to them maintenance, or whose parents are not teaching them habits of industry and honesty, or are persons of notoriously bad character, or are vagrants, or have been, either of them, convicted of an infamous offence, may be bound as apprentices by the District Judge, or one of the magistrates, for the aforesaid term.”[30]

Under these words no colored minor in the State is safe for one moment from compulsory serfdom.

The lash is also prescribed as a means of enforcing contracts.[31] The lash once more is to resound.

The planters at their public meetings give utterance to the same brutal spirit. Here is a series of resolutions, where, after calling for the withdrawal of the troops of the United States, and declaring themselves pledged to the existing state of things, and that it is their “honest purpose to abide thereby,” they proceed as follows.

“Resolved, That, if inconsistent with the views of the authorities to remove the military, we express the opinion that the plan of the military to compel the freedman to contract with his former owner, when desired by the latter, is wise, prudent, and absolutely necessary.

“Resolved, That we, the planters of the district, pledge ourselves not to contract with any freedman, unless he can produce a certificate of regular discharge from his former owner.

“Resolved, That under no circumstances whatsoever will we rent land to any freedmen, nor will we permit them to live on our premises as employees.”

Thus is the freedman, whose liberty the United States are bound to maintain, handed over to compulsory service, and under no circumstances is land to be rented to him. And yet these people announce that they accept the existing state of things, and that it is their honest purpose to abide thereby! Of course they accept a state of things which leaves them once more “masters” of their former slaves. Of course they will abide by this. Be it our function to teach them the duty and necessity of Equal Rights.

From South Carolina pass to Georgia, and there is the same wretched story. The spirit of the State appears in the language of Mr. Simmons in the Convention:—

“Let us repudiate only under the lash and the application of military power; and then, as soon as we are an independent sovereignty, restored to our equal rights and privileges in the Union, let us immediately call another Convention and resume the debt.”

Testimony from various quarters shows the same spirit. A recent writer, of unimpeachable authority, now sitting as reporter in your galleries, thus testifies:—

“In the stage between Augusta and Milledgeville I rode with two gentlemen of considerable local weight and prominence, who were both anti-secessionists in 1860-61. They talked of the approaching Convention, and of its probable action in redistricting the State for Representatives. ‘Well, Colonel,’ said the younger, himself a man of over forty years,—‘well, Colonel, what will be our proper course, when we are once more fully restored to the Union?’ The answer came, after a moment’s consideration: ‘We must strike hands with the Democratic party of the North, and manage them as we always have.’ There was a pause while we rattled down the hill, and then the questioner responded: ‘That is just it; they were ready enough to give us control, if we gave them the offices, and I reckon they have not changed very much yet.’ There was then conversation on other matters; but half an hour later, after a mile or so of silence, the Colonel suddenly resumed: ‘Yes, Sir, our duty is plain; we shall be without weight, now that Slavery is gone, unless we do join hands with them. Andy Johnson will want a reëlection, and the united Democratic party must take him up. It shall be a fair division: we want the power, and they want the spoils.’”

The same writer, in another letter, shows how Rebels were honored in the Convention.

“‘I’ll be d—d, if I vote for any man who did not go with the State,’ said one of the delegates, while the canvass for officers was going on; in accordance with which spirit the secretary is a gentleman who was a colonel in the Rebel army, and the doorkeeper a gentleman who lost an arm in the service.”

Where such a spirit prevails, the freedmen fare badly. In Georgia they are treated cruelly. A traveller writes:—

“The hatred toward the negro as a freeman is intense among the low and brutal, who are the vast majority. Murders, shootings, whippings, robbing, and brutal treatment of every kind are daily inflicted upon them, and I am sorry to say in most cases they can get no redress. They don’t know where to complain or how to seek justice, after they have been abused and cheated. The habitual deference toward the white man makes them fearful of his anger and revenge.”

An official of the Government, after traversing Mississippi and Alabama, writes from Georgia in a very recent letter:—

“Every day the press of the South testifies to the outrages that are being perpetrated upon unoffending colored people by the State militia. These outrages are particularly flagrant in the States of Alabama and Mississippi, and are of such a character as to demand most imperatively the interposition of the National Executive. These men are rapidly inaugurating a condition of things, a feeling among the freedmen, that will, if not checked, ultimate in insurrection. The freedmen are peaceable and inoffensive; yet, if the whites continue to make it all their lives are worth to go through the country, as free people have a right to do, they will goad them to that point at which submission and patience cease to be a virtue.

…

“I call your attention to this matter, after reading and hearing from the most authentic sources, officers and others, for weeks, of the continuance of the militia robbing the colored people of their property,—arms,—shooting them in the public highways, if they refuse to halt, when so commanded, and lodging them in jail, if found from home without passes, and ask, as a matter of simple justice to an unoffending and downtrodden people, that you use your influence to induce the President to issue an order or proclamation forbidding such wicked and unlawful proceedings, and, if he deem it prudent, forbidding the organization of State militia. The only military force NEEDED in the South is more regular and volunteer troops to keep in proper subjection those lately in rebellion, and to teach them to treat the freed people in a manner becoming a civilized community.”

Another witness, himself a Georgian, with ample opportunities of information, testifies:—

“I have personal and friendly relations with many leading men of this section: I had before the war. I have met many of them in New York and in Washington within the past few months, and have, as a citizen of the South, had frequent conversations with them upon our future, and the means that should be employed to begin it auspiciously. These interviews have been free and open in interchange of opinion, and I must believe that I had laid before me the intentions of those who must and will again assume the leadership here. If they are not so honored, their opinions will show how they would lead, had they the power.

“Among these were four ex-governors of three different States, who had received pardons from President Johnson. Our conversation naturally and necessarily turned to the future of the emancipated negroes. Their past and present condition was discussed, and their chances as well as our own were of course considered, and everything that could bear upon their future was canvassed. The course to be pursued by the Legislatures of the reconstructed States, and the laws to be enacted, in order to obtain the fulfilment of contracts with the freedmen employed, occupied no small portion of consideration. In this way I had full opportunity to learn the opinions of those who have been and will be again looked up to as the leaders and directors of Southern opinion and sentiment.

“The unanimity of all was not the least singular thing, especially regarding the status of the freedmen and their rights hereafter. If legal chicanery can avail, those rights will be but nominal, and they will remain, as they have ever been, isolated and apart,—free in name, but slaves in fact.”

It seems that in Georgia there is a body of men known as “Regulators,” who are thus described by a correspondent of that journal which has for years whitewashed the enormities of Slavery, the “New York Herald”:—

“Springing naturally out of this disordered state of affairs is an organization of ‘Regulators,’ so called. Their numbers include many ex-Confederate cavaliers of the country, and their mission is to visit summary justice upon any offenders against the public peace. It is needless to say that their attention is largely directed to maintaining quiet and submission among the blacks. The shooting or stringing up of some obstreperous ‘nigger’ by the ‘Regulators’ is so common an occurrence as to excite little remark. Nor is the work of proscription confined to the freedmen only. The ‘Regulators’ go to the bottom of the matter, and strive to make it uncomfortably warm for any new settler with demoralizing innovations of wages for ‘niggers.’”

Such is the unimaginable atrocity which, according to friendly authority, prevails in Georgia. The poor freedman is sacrificed. The Northern settler, believing in Human Rights, is sacrificed also. Alas that such scenes should disgrace our country and age! Alas that there should be hesitation in applying the necessary remedy!

Surely this is enough. I do not stop to dwell on instances of frightful barbarism. One is authenticated in the court of the provost-marshal, where a colored girl was roasted alive! And another writer, in a letter just received, describes a system of “burning” in Wilkes County, Georgia, as “a mild means of extorting from the freed people a confession as to where they have their arms and money concealed.” He says, “They were held in the blaze.” Think of it, Sir, here, in this Republic, they are held in a blaze! And the National Government looks on!

From Georgia pass to Alabama, only to find the same evil spirit and the same succession of enormities, intensified, if possible. Here again I am embarrassed by the variety and extent of evidence.

A recent private letter from Mobile testifies:—

“The press and people here, with one voice, are loud in their praise of President Johnson, for his wholesale manner of dispensing pardons. But I have yet to see the first signs of repentance on the part of those who have received clemency from the Chief Magistrate of the Government. The existing feeling is, that no man who did not support the Confederacy is worthy of trust; and all offices are given to those who did their best to break up the country. President Johnson will find in the end that he has been too liberal in the exercise of clemency. And unless he changes his course, or is checked by Congress, the most corrupt men in the South will again get into power, and sway the destinies of this section of the country.

…

“And until the labor question is adjusted between the planters and the freedmen, we cannot look forward to a time of prosperity. The indications at present are not favorable to a satisfactory solution of this difficult problem. The planters hate the negro, and the latter class distrust the former; and while this state of things continues, there cannot be harmonious action in developing the resources of the country. Besides, a good many men are unwilling yet to believe that the ‘peculiar institution’ of the South has been actually abolished, and still have the lingering hope that Slavery, though not in name, will yet in some form practically exist. And hence the great anxiety to get back into the Union, which being accomplished, they will then, as I have heard it expressed, ‘fix the negro.’

…

“I look forward with deep solicitude to the approaching session of Congress. I hope there will be strength and moral courage enough in that body to keep the ship of state right. The President has a difficult position to fill, and needs all the sympathy and aid he can get from right-minded citizens. But there is no question that he has been most sadly imposed upon within the past few months by designing and corrupt politicians.”

Another private letter, from a person so situated as to be accurately informed, makes this painful report:—

“The Government, in taking the responsibility of freeing this people, tacitly engaged to protect them in their freedom. The various departments of Government have solemnly declared the black man entitled to equal rights before the law with the white man. Yet it is the simple fact, capable of indefinite proof, that the black man does not receive the faintest shadow of justice. I aver that in nine cases out of ten within my own observation, where a white man has provoked an affray with a black, and savagely misused him, the black man has been fined for insolent language, because he did not receive the chastisement in submissive silence, while the white man has gone free. It is the simple truth that the most flagrant crimes against the blacks are not noticed at all; and, indeed, a man loses caste, if he interests himself about them.

“It is the simple truth that black men are not allowed to use their own property to the best advantage, or in any way to make such use of their capabilities as would be likely to elevate them in social position.

…

“The above are but specimen facts, and they are facts. Every provost-marshal who has been in office here will testify to the truthfulness of the picture. Meantime companies are forming to import coolies and European immigrants to drive the black man from the little chance that is left him. The whole thing may be summed up in one word: The South is determined to have Slavery,—the thing, if not the name. And if all restraint is removed, it is as certain as fate that their condition will be far worse than it ever was before. It will be the old system, with all its mitigations rescinded and all its horrors intensified.

…

“The prospect for the coming winter is overwhelming in its horrors, at best. If the freedmen are left friendless, it will be the very valley of the shadow of death. Let Congress keep these States out of the Union till the shape and tone of their legislation is seen and understood as relating to freedmen, and then keep them out until it is clearly shown whether the people will obey the legislation or make it a dead letter from the beginning.”

And still another letter furnishes these revelations:—

“Do not let yourselves be deceived by the influences which reach you. These influences are energetic, active, spare no pains or expense to accomplish certain purposes. I know this people well; I was born and reared with them; they are far more hostile to the Government to-day than they were in 1860. Every demonstration in the State since the surrender has been, in one shape or another, that of hostility to the Union; and every new concession they make is simply made with the hope of thereby obtaining that degree of independence which follows, as they understand and expect it, the resumption of the status as States again.

“The elections are just over. The Secessionists were united to a man,—hopeful, active; the Union party disorganized, discouraged, and dispersed among the Secessionists. President Johnson and Governor Parsons are responsible for it. The enemies of the Union have defeated us, horse, foot, and dragoons, in all parts of the State. The stanch favorites of our party are defeated everywhere.

…

“In a word, the friends of the Union are completely under; the successful party are the Secessionists and renegade Unionists, enemies of the Government. It is to the Union party of the North that we are to-day indebted for being able to live here.”

The person who is styled Provisional Governor of Alabama thus in a late message alludes to Rebel trophies, and stirs the ashes of the Rebellion:—

“Several of these had been deposited in the executive department, and were not removed when the Capitol was evacuated. They were not destroyed, however, by those who took possession of it, but came to my hands as the representative of the State for the time being, and are now carefully preserved and ready to be delivered to the governor elected under the Constitution. We should preserve these sacred souvenirs of the courage and endurance of those who went forth to battle under their folds, and who manfully upheld them with their life-blood.”

With such a person in high office, we could expect little else than the barbarism which rages there.

From Alabama pass to Mississippi, and there the same hideous scenes are renewed. Here is the testimony of a citizen of that State, once a slave-master, in a private letter:—

“In respectful earnestness I must say, that, if, at the end of all the blood that has been shed and the treasure expended, the unfortunate negro is to be left in the hands of his infuriated and disappointed former owners to legislate and fix his status, God help him! for his cup of bitterness will overflow indeed. Was ever such a policy conceived in the brain of men before? After a great step and a mighty victory, you are expected by President Johnson to withdraw your protection from this people and turn their destiny over to those who for centuries have ground them into the dust. Truly, by such a course will your fruits become bitter ashes.

“As a man who has been deprived of a large number of persons he once claimed as slaves, I protest against such a course. If it is intended to follow up the abolition of Slavery by a liberal and enlightened policy, by which I mean bestowing upon them the full rights of other citizens, then I can give this movement my heart and hand. But if the negro is to be left in a helpless condition, far more miserable than that of Slavery, I would ask, What was the object of taking him from those who claimed his services? As things seem now approaching the position of rendering loyalty at the South a disgrace, and those who, amid many dangers and trials, stood true to the Union and the Constitution are to be left to suffer the scorn, contempt, and oppressions of Secessionist traitors,—I say, as this seems to be the settled policy of the Government to the whites so situated, I fear there will remain but little hope for them or the negroes, unless the true men of the country will present a barrier between them and those who are anxious to punish and destroy them.”

The pretended Governor of Mississippi, like the pretended Governor of Alabama, exults in Rebel victories, and fans the Rebel flame. Both Convention and Legislature abounded in bitter treason. In the Convention, one of the speakers declared it good policy to accept the present condition of affairs, until the control of the State is returned into the hands of the people, and “to submit for a time to evils which cannot be remedied.” Another speaker, urging the acceptance of the Union, revealed the plot:—

“If we act wisely, we shall be joined by what is called the Copperhead party, and even by many of the Black Republicans.”

Such is the voice of Mississippi.

Naturally the freedmen are exposed to untold hardships and atrocities. Here is testimony:—

“A Superintendent of the Bureau reports the poor creatures coming in with cruel grievances that are unredressed by these magistrates. General Chetlain tells us, that, while he was in command, for two months, of the Jackson district, containing nine counties, there was an average of one black man killed every day, and that, in moving out forty miles on an expedition, he found seven negroes wantonly butchered; and Colonel Thomas, Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau for this State, tells us that there is now a daily average of two or three black men killed in Mississippi: the sable patriots in blue, as they return, are the objects of especial spite.”

There is another authority of peculiar value. It is a letter dated at Webb’s Ranch, Issaquena County, Mississippi, November 13, 1865.

“I regret to state, that, under the civil power, now deemed by all the inhabitants of Mississippi (since the order of President Johnson revoking General Slocum’s decree in relation to the State militia) to be paramount, the condition of the freedmen in many portions of the country has become deplorable and painful in the extreme. I must give it as my deliberate opinion, that the freedmen are to-day, in the vicinity of where I am now writing, worse off in most respects than when they were held as slaves. If matters are permitted to continue as they now seem likely to be, it needs no prophet to predict a rising on the part of the colored population, and a terrible scene of bloodshed and desolation; nor can one blame the negroes, if this proves to be the result. I have heard, since my arrival here, of numberless atrocities that have been perpetrated against the freedmen. It is sufficient to state that the old overseers are in power again. The agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau are almost powerless. Just as soon as the United States troops are withdrawn, it will be unsafe for the agents of the Bureau to remain. The object of the Southerners appears to be to make good their often repeated assertions, to the effect that the negroes would die, if they were freed. To make it so, they seem determined to goad them to desperation, in order to have an excuse to turn upon and annihilate them. There are, within a few miles of where I sit writing, several Northern men, who have settled here, designing to work plantations. They all assure me that they do not consider themselves safe in the country; and two of them, ex-colonels in the United States army, are afraid to leave their places without an armed escort. Other Northern lessees do not dare remain on their places.”

These are grave words, opening in fearful vista the tragical condition of the freedmen, and the perils of Northern settlers.

And now the pretended Legislature is engaged in fashioning an infamous Black Code; but I do not dwell on this, as it has been already exposed by my colleague.

From Mississippi pass to Louisiana, where anarchy is beginning under the sway of returning Rebels emboldened from Washington. Unionists are menaced in safety. The story is so familiar that I content myself with a glimpse. I give the testimony of a responsible person.

“During the canvass, I made a tour through the northern portion of the State, where I have resided for many years and have a large acquaintance among the people, and was surprised to find the spirit of the people more hostile to the Government than at the breaking out of the war. This is especially the case with the leaders, who asserted to me in private conversation that they were more impressed with the truth of Secession than they ever were; that the war against the United States was a just one; that they would not support any man for office who did not participate in that war; and that the only true policy for the Southern people to adopt is to support the Democratic party in opposition to the Republican party of the North. They say that the whole war was an aggression on the part of the Government, and that they intend to use every means in their power to destroy the Government.

“A prominent member of the Legislature, now convened in this city, said to me a short time before the election, that he was a stronger Secessionist now than he ever was, and that he hated the United States Government, and intended to do all in his power to destroy it. This man is a leading member of the Legislature, which, in the House at least, is composed of more than eight tenths who entertain the same feeling, and are now legislating for the loyal citizens of this State.

“There are several respectable men now in this city who are refugees from their homes in the interior of the State, being recently expelled on account of their Union sentiments.”

Here is a private letter from an interior town of Louisiana, written by a lady to a lady in New Orleans and communicated to me:—

“The poor colored people are in a constant state of alarm. There is a Mrs. —— in this place, who teaches the colored children; but the inhabitants, I suppose, not liking their having the advantages of education, expressed their disapproval by shooting at the teacher. At one time she was nursing a sick baby, when a shot passed over her shoulder. No attempts were made to discover the guilty party. Of course all in office here are Rebels. The teacher, who is a poor widow, became so much alarmed for her safety that she petitioned the officers to allow the troops to remain, which they did for a few days. The attempts on her life not being renewed, the troops were obliged to leave, and it was only on her account that they remained as long as they did.”

Enough of this. Nor is it all. The pretended Legislature is plotting, like such bodies elsewhere, against the freedman. But I forbear to dwell on the elaborate machination. And yet how can I fail to denounce, with all the energy of my soul, these most cruel and most vindictive attempts to oppress the freedman, to despoil him of rights, and to nullify the great Act of Emancipation? Talk of Nullification! What Nullification in our history comparable to this most wicked attempt? The difference between a revenue law and the great statute of Freedom is as wide as the space between earth and heaven.

Where such things are done, there can be small security for those faithful Unionists who fondly hoped for protection under the national flag. Already they talk of abandoning the State and finding in exile the safety denied at home. The flag they had longed for is now prostituted to the purposes of Rebels, and they are thrust out from the shadow of its folds. Hard fate, almost without parallel in history! For myself, I know nothing more touching than the story of Unionists, loving their country and loving freedom, tyrannized by returning Rebels.

In Texas there seemed more hope than anywhere, because a sincerely loyal person had been placed in power there.[32] But a private letter from a loyal Texan cries out:—

“What we of the South fear is, that President Johnson’s course will, by its precipitancy, enable the old set to reorganize themselves into place and power. For Heaven’s sake, preserve us, if you can, from this calamity.”

Surely you will preserve them.

But there is special evidence, not to be forgotten. The same authority adduced with regard to the general condition of the Rebel States writes from Galveston, in Texas:—

“If any man from the North comes down here expecting to hold and maintain ‘Radical’ or ‘Abolition’ sentiments, let him expect to be shot down from behind, the first time he leaves his house, and know that his murderer, if ever brought to justice, will be acquitted by the jury. If the military are withdrawn, his house even will be no protection, and he may expect to be hung from his own chamber window. I tell you, Mr. ——, these men are only taking breath and recuperating. Not that there is the slightest danger of any immediate outbreak. No,—the Southern people are too smart for that. They will never again measure strength with the North, unless their success be assured beforehand. In case of foreign war, or a domestic convulsion at the North, they will rise; but they will never try it alone and without assistance. Meantime they propose to ‘take it out in hating.’ Already our officers are the subject of a social ostracism. I repeat, that any man of Radical views who comes down here to plant cotton will be in constant danger, night and day, unless he holds his tongue. The ministers of the Gospel, of all denominations, the instructors of the youth of the country, the women, and the young men, all hate the North with a degree of intensity that cannot be exaggerated.”

Small temptation here to the Northern capitalist! Small welcome to the Northern emigrant! The first condition of prosperity is security; but this is absolutely wanting throughout the unhappy region.

There is also Tennessee, where authentic testimony shows a painful condition of things. I content myself with official documents. It seems that a committee was appointed to consider what could be done to arrest crimes and disorders in this State. Addressing Governor Brownlow, they remark:—

“In the discharge of this duty, we would respectfully and earnestly call the attention of your Excellency to the many dreadful crimes that are becoming so common, not only in and immediately around the capital of the State, but over the whole country.

“Quiet and peaceful citizens are met on our most public highways and robbed of their money and property, often cruelly beaten and abused, and in many cases murdered outright. This state of things is not only greatly injurious to the business of the country, but shocking to all sincere advocates of law and order, and to humanity itself.

“We, therefore, with the earnest desire to see security restored to life and property, and the majesty of law reasserted, appeal to your Excellency, who are the chief representative of power in the State, to exercise your power, and give the weight of your great influence to correct these sore evils, of which the whole country so justly complain.”

The Governor communicated this paper to the Legislature by the following message.

“State of Tennessee.

“Executive Department, Nashville, November 22, 1865.

“Gentlemen of the Legislature: The reputation being acquired by Nashville, the capital of your State and the great commercial emporium of Middle Tennessee, is humiliating to every friend of law and order. Murders, robberies, and burglaries are the order of the day. No man is safe, day or night, within a circuit around Nashville whose radius is eight or ten miles. The most of these outrages grow out of the abundant use of intoxicating spirits, connected with those gambling hells to be found in full blast on every street in the city. The same may be said, to a considerable extent, of all the larger cities and towns in the State. Life and property must be protected, or the country will go to ruin. I therefore call upon you, most respectfully, but earnestly, by prompt and decisive legislation, to remedy this growing and alarming evil. Should you fail to apply the necessary remedy, my next appeal will be made to Major-General Thomas to close up all these dens of wickedness, so prolific of fights, murders, and robberies of every description. The Sabbath is violated, the sanctuary of the Lord is ruthlessly invaded, and ladies and gentlemen are insulted at every corner and on every highway. Again I appeal to you, Gentlemen, to relieve the suffering people from this outrageous condition of affairs.

“W. G. Brownlow.”[33]

I add a few sentences from a Tennessee paper, “The Southern Loyalist.”

“Do the authorities at Washington realize the fact that there is very great danger of wide-spread anarchy and bloodshed? Do they realize that it is the supineness and imbecility, or worse, with which the Freedmen’s Bureau has been conducted at this point, that is the cause of danger, and, it may be, of much bloodshed? God knows we speak in all sincerity, and we believe we speak the sentiment of nine tenths of the loyal men of Memphis.

“When colored men have remonstrated against injustice,—against the very discriminations against freedmen that the War Department declared should not exist,—they have been told, ‘If you damned niggers think I am going to give you any rights that you had not under the old State laws, you are damnably mistaken.’ This may not be exactly literal, but it is very nearly so. When colored people have asked for wages hardly earned in the cotton-field, but not paid by rascally employers, they have been in very many cases told to go about their business, or left to get their claims as they could.”

Such is Tennessee, the most advanced of the States claiming recognition in the government of the country. Besides this testimony, there is other derived from its own statute-book. Tennessee refuses to the colored citizen his right at the ballot-box, and even his right of testimony in court. I quote from the ignoble statute.

“A negro, mulatto, Indian, or person of mixed blood descended from negro or Indian ancestors, to the third generation inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person, whether bond or free, is incapable of being a witness in any cause, civil or criminal, except for or against each other.”[34]

I say nothing of Florida and Arkansas, for the special testimony which has come to me with regard to these States is not at hand. But it is not needed. The same tragical report proceeds from these States also. But, even without any report, all this must be inferred. How could it be otherwise? Abandoned to themselves, with unchecked power, ancient slave-masters naturally continue the barbarism in which they have so long excelled.

Mr. President, I bring this plain story to a close. I regret that I have been constrained to present it. I wish it were otherwise. But I should fail in duty, did I fail to speak. Not in anger, not in vengeance, not in harshness, have I spoken, but solemnly, carefully, for the sake of my country and humanity, that peace and reconciliation may again prevail. I have spoken especially for the loyal citizens now trodden down by Rebel power, and without representation on this floor. Would that my voice could help them to security and justice! I can only state the case. It is for you to decide. It is for you to determine how long these things shall continue to shock mankind. You have before you the actual condition of the Rebel region. You have heard the terrible testimony. The blood curdles at the thought of such enormities, and especially at the thought that the poor freedmen, to whom we owe protection, are left to the unrestrained will of such a people, smarting with defeat, and ready to wreak vengeance upon these representatives of a true loyalty. In the name of God, let us protect them. Insist upon guaranties. Pass the bill now under consideration,—pass any bill,—but do not let this crying injustice rage any longer. An avenging God cannot sleep while such things find countenance. If you are not ready to be the Moses of an oppressed people, do not become its Pharaoh.

Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, followed Mr. Sumner. Then came Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania, who said he was “not disposed to allow the speech of the honorable Senator from Massachusetts to go to the country without a very brief reply. If that speech be true, and if it be a correct picture of the South, then God help us! then this Republic, this Union, is at an end.” He then vindicated President Johnson and General Grant against the charge of “whitewashing,” quoting passages from them. In the course of his speech, he said:—

“If the honorable Senator from Massachusetts, and those who think with him, desire that these people should have the right of suffrage, why not say so broadly?”

Mr. Sumner. I do say so.

Mr. Cowan. Very well; that is so much that is clear. Make it broadly; we may differ from him, but the people will decide.

Here again was issue joined on the great political question which awaited judgment.

The debate continued another day, but after that Mr. Wilson’s bill was never resumed. The object proposed was accomplished by other measures.