A request has been made for the immediate admission of Confederate Senators and Representatives, which your committee does not consider reasonable or legally justified and which cannot be accepted without comment. In a few words, it boils down to this: since the recently insurgent states did not have the legal right to secede from the Union, they still retain their positions as states and, therefore, their people have the right to be immediately represented in Congress without the imposition of any conditions. It has even been argued that, until such permission is granted, any legislation affecting its interests is, if not unconstitutional, at least unjustifiable and repressive. After the Civil War, Congress submitted three amendments to states as part of its reconstruction program to ensure equal civil and legal rights for black citizens. An important provision of the 14th Amendment was to grant citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” thereby granting citizenship to former slaves. Congressman John A. Bingham of Ohio, the principal author of the first section of the 14th Amendment, intended the amendment to also nationalize the Bill of Rights by making it binding on states. In introducing the amendment, Michigan Senator Jacob Howard explicitly stated that the privilege and immunity clause would extend “the personal rights guaranteed and guaranteed by the first eight amendments” to the states. Historians disagree on the breadth of Bingham and Howard`s views at the time in Congress or across the country in general. No one in Congress explicitly disagreed with his views on the amendment, but few members said anything about its importance on the issue. For many years, the Supreme Court ruled that the amendment did not extend the Bill of Rights to states. I. That the states that had recently been in rebellion were unorganized communities at the end of the war, without civilian government and without constitutions or other forms under which political relations between them and the federal government could legally exist.
It should not be forgotten that the peoples of those States rose up against the United States without justification or excuse. They deliberately abolished their state governments to the extent that they linked them politically to the Union. They opened hostilities and waged war on the government. They continued this war for four years with the most determined and vicious mind. Whether legally and constitutionally or not, they effectively left the Union and made themselves subjects of another government of their own making. And they only gave in when they were forced by utter exhaustion to lay down their arms. They expressed no regrets, except that they no longer had the power to continue this desperate struggle. Chapter 4. The validity of the legally authorized public debt of the United States, including debts incurred for the payment of pensions and bonuses for services rendered in suppressing insurrections or rebellions, must not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state may assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in support of any insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or release of a slave; But all these debts, obligations and claims are declared illegal and void. X.
The conclusion of your committee is therefore that the so-called Confederate States do not currently have the right to be represented in the United States Congress; whereas adequate security for future peace and security should be required before such representation is admitted; that this is found only in the amendments to the Organic Law which establish the civil rights and privileges of all citizens in all parts of the Republic, place representation on an equitable basis, stigmatize treason, and protect loyal people from future claims for expenses incurred in supporting the rebellion of freed slaves, as well as express authorization by Congress to enforce these provisions. To that end, they propose a joint resolution to amend the United States Constitution and the two bills to enact it. This document is available on DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. Search for teaching activities that include this document or create your own online activities. Your Committee has considered the subject before you with the greatest desire to know the state of the peoples of the States that have recently revolted and what must be done, if any, before they can fully enjoy all their original privileges. It is undeniable that the war into which they plunged the country has significantly altered their relations with the peoples of loyal states. Slavery was abolished by a constitutional amendment. A large part of the population had become free men and citizens instead of mere property. Throughout the past struggle, they had remained loyal and loyal and had fought in large numbers on the side of the Union.
It was impossible to abandon them without guaranteeing their rights as free persons and citizens. Therefore, it became important to ask what could be done to guarantee their civil and political rights. It was clear to this committee that sufficient certainty can only be found in appropriate constitutional provisions. II. This Congress cannot be expected to validly recognize as valid the election of representatives of disorganized communities who, by the nature of the case, have not been able to assert their right to representation in accordance with these established and recognized rules, compliance with which has hitherto been demanded. Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified January 6, 1865. December 1865. Section 3 No person shall be a Senator or Representative of Congress, or an elector of the President and Vice President, or hold any civil or military office in the United States or in any State who, after taking the oath, serves as a member of Congress or as an official of the United States, or as a member of a state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of a state, to support the Constitution of the United States, participate in an insurrection or rebellion against it, or provide assistance or comfort to the enemies of its enemies. But Congress can remove this obstruction by a two-thirds vote of each chamber.
We cannot deny to anyone with a tolerable knowledge of public law that the war thus waged was a civil war of the greatest proportions. The persons who ran it were necessarily subject to all the rules which, under international law, govern competition of this kind, and to all the legitimate consequences that flow from them. One of these consequences was that the defeated rebels were at the mercy of the conquerors within the limits imposed by humanity. The fact that such an outraged government had a very complete right to compensation for injuries caused and to safety against the recurrence of such atrocities in the future seems too clear to deny. In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, in which he declared: “All persons held as slaves in any particular state or part of a state, the people who then rebel against the United States, shall henceforth and forever be free.” Nevertheless, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, as it applied only to areas of the Confederacy that were currently in a state of rebellion (and not even to the loyal “border states” that remained in the Union). Lincoln recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation must be followed by a constitutional amendment to ensure the abolition of slavery. Equally important is the statement that “no State may deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process; deny or deny to a person within its jurisdiction the same protection of the law. The right to due process and equal protection of the law now applies to both the federal and state governments.
V. These rebellious enemies were defeated by the people of the United States, who acted through all coordinated branches of government and not just through the executive branch. The conqueror`s power does not belong so much to the president as he can set and regulate the terms of the colony and give the defeated rebels and traitors representation in Congress. Under no circumstances can it allow enemies of government to exercise their legislative power. The power to restore the political power of the rebels within the federal government can only be exercised with the consent of all ministries where political power resides; therefore, the President`s various proclamations to the people of the Confederate States cannot be considered to go beyond the stated purposes and can only be considered as provisional authorization by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army to perform certain acts, the effect and validity of which shall be determined by the constitutional Government and not by the executive alone. The 14th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866 and ratified on July 9, 1868, expanded the freedoms and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to former slaves. Your committee believes that these proposals are not only completely untenable, but that, if accepted, they would lead to the destruction of government. Iv. Having lost all civil and political rights and privileges under the Federal Constitution by this treacherous withdrawal of Congress and blatant rebellion and war, they can only be restored by the permission and authority of the constitutional power against which they rebelled and were subjugated.