Part 7 (1/2)

1. _Resolved_, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union and the paramount authority of the Const.i.tution and laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.

2. _Resolved_, That we approve the determination of the government of the United States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer them any terms of peace except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Const.i.tution and laws of the United States; and that we call upon the government to maintain this position and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor, to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to the country and its free inst.i.tutions.

3. _Resolved_, That as slavery was the cause and now const.i.tutes the strength of this rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the republic; and that while we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the government, in its own defense, has aimed a death-blow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment to the Const.i.tution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits of the jurisdiction of the United States.

4. _Resolved_, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy who have periled their lives in defense of the country and in vindication of the honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds in the service of the country; and that the memories of those who have fallen in its defense shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance.

5. _Resolved_, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity to the Const.i.tution and the principles of American liberty with which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circ.u.mstances of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the presidential office; that we approve and indorse, as demanded by the emergency and essential to the preservation of the nation, and as within the provisions of the Const.i.tution, the measures and acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open and secret foes; that we approve especially the proclamation of emanc.i.p.ation and the employment as Union soldiers of men heretofore held in slavery; and that we have full confidence in his determination to carry these and all other const.i.tutional measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and complete effect.

6. _Resolved_, That we deem it essential to the general welfare that harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who cordially indorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the government.

7. _Resolved_, That the government owes to all men employed in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of war; and that any violation of these laws, or of the usages of civilized nations in time of war, by the rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of prompt and full redress.

8. _Resolved_, That foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase of power to the nation--the asylum of the oppressed of all nations--should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.

9. _Resolved_, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific coast.

10. _Resolved_, That the national faith, pledged for the redemption of the public debt, must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxation; and that it is the duty of every loyal state to sustain the credit and promote the use of the national currency.

11. _Resolved_, That we approve the position taken by the government, that the people of the United States can never regard with indifference the attempt of any European power to overthrow by force, or to supplant by fraud, the inst.i.tutions of any republican government on the western continent; and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of their own country the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for monarchial governments, sustained by foreign military force, in near proximity to the United States.

After the adoption of the platform, Simon Cameron introduced a resolution declaring for Lincoln and Hamlin as the unanimous choice of the Convention for President and Vice-President; but this resolution was divided so that the Convention could vote separately on the two offices.

On the first ballot Mr. Lincoln received the vote of every delegation except Missouri, which voted for Ulysses S. Grant, but changed immediately as soon as the ballot had been announced, and made Mr.

Lincoln's nomination unanimous. The interest of the delegation and the spectators throughout the Convention had been centered on the nomination for Vice-President. A number of names were mentioned, the most prominent being Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, and Daniel S. d.i.c.kinson, of New York. Mr. Johnson was a War Democrat. The sentiment in the Convention was in favor of recognizing this element in the party, and Mr. Johnson was nominated on the first ballot; the vote as cast gave Johnson 200, Hamlin 150, d.i.c.kinson 108, and 61 scattering votes, but before the final result was announced many changes were made, and the final vote stood, Johnson 490, d.i.c.kinson 17, Hamlin 9.

[Ill.u.s.tration: From New York Herald, Sat.u.r.day, April 15, 1865.]

The Democratic Convention did not meet until August 29th; George B.

McClellan, of New Jersey, was nominated for President, and George H.

Pendleton, of Ohio, for Vice-President. The platform called Mr.

Lincoln's Administration ”four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war,” and demanded immediate efforts for cessation of hostilities and for peace. Gen. McClellan accepted the nomination, but repudiated the platform, saying, ”I could not look in the faces of my gallant comrades of the Army and Navy and tell them that their labors and the sacrifice of so many of our slain and wounded brethren had been in vain.” The candidate was n.o.bler than the party.

The President's homely expression, ”It is not wise to swap horses while crossing a stream,” was the basis of the great trend of political thought in the North, and there was little doubt of the result, although an animated campaign was conducted. The great military victories of the Union forces made the position of the President's opponents absurd. At the election on November 8, 1864, Lincoln and Johnson carried twenty-two States, receiving 212 of the total electoral vote of 233. McClellan and Pendleton carried three States, Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey. The popular vote, including the Army vote (many States having made provision for taking the vote of the soldiers in the field), was, Lincoln 2,330,552, McClellan 1,835,985. Eleven States did not vote at this election.

The Government was now making rapid strides for the complete abolition of slavery. In June, 1864, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was repealed; in July the Coastwise Slave Trade was forever prohibited, and on January 31, 1865, the Joint Resolution proposing the Thirteenth Amendment to the Const.i.tution, abolis.h.i.+ng slavery, pa.s.sed the House.

On March 4, 1865, President Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time.

The beautiful words closing his inaugural will live forever: ”With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as G.o.d gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all Nations.”

Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. On April 14th, the Stars and Stripes were again raised over Ft. Sumter, and the glad news swept over the North that the war was over. On the same evening the President was shot in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth, and died the next morning. ”Now he belongs to the ages,” said Stanton, at the death-bed. The death of the President meant that Andrew Johnson, a War Democrat, would be made President, and from the overwhelming shock of Mr. Lincoln's death the Republicans turned with misgiving and fear to the new Executive.

CHAPTER XII.

RECONSTRUCTION AND THE NATIONAL DEBT.

”By these recent successes, the reinauguration of the national authority, the reconstruction of which has had a large share of thought from the first, is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It is fraught with great difficulty. Nor is it a small additional embarra.s.sment that we, the loyal people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, manner and measure of reconstruction.”

_A. Lincoln_, _April_ 11, 1865. _From his last speech before death._

Mr. Lincoln died at 7:22 o'clock a. m. on April 15, 1865; four hours later Vice-President Johnson took the oath of office as President.