A Just and Lasting Peace: A Documentary History of Reconstruction (23 page)

(April 3, 1866)

Sumner's remarkable letter to his longtime friend and correspondent, the British abolitionist Elizabeth, Georgiana Granville, Duchess of Argyll (1824–1878), provides vivid insights into his fears regarding the rights of the freedpeople, the state of the country, and President Johnson's intransigence. Though Congress had passed the Civil Rights Bill in order to offer Southern blacks legal protection, the president quickly vetoed it. Only granting the freedmen the vote, Sumner writes with a degree of anguish, will “counterbalance the rebels.”

My dear Duchess,

. . . These are trying days for us. I am more anxious now than during the war. The animal passions of the Nation aided the rally then. Now the appeal is to the intelligence, & to the moral & religious sentiments. How strangely we are misrepresented in the
Times.
I read it always, & find nothing true in its portraiture of our affairs.

Believe me, the people are with Congress. When it is considered, that the Presdt has such an amazing part, it is extraordinary to see how the conscience of the masses has stood firm. Congress is misrepresented in England. I speak of the Lower House now. In my opinion it is the best that has ever been since the beginning of our govt. It is full of talent & is governed by patriotic purpose. There is no personal or party ambition, which prompts its course. It is to save the country, that it takes its present responsibilities.

You say “Why not urge the Abolition of the Black Codes”? This I have done from the beginning. There are several speeches of mine, which you have never seen, three years ago, against any exclusion of witnesses on account of color; also an elaborate report. A partial measure I carried. Since the cessation of hostilities this subject has occupied me constantly. In my speech at Worcester I dwelt on the Black Codes; then again in a speech early this session. At last we passed a Bill known as the Civil Rights Bill. It went through both Houses by unprecedented majorities. The Presdt. refuses to sign it. By our Constitution it requires a vote of 2/3ds to pass it over his Veto. It is still uncertain, if we can command this large vote. The division will be very close. The loss of this Bill will be a terrible calamity. It leaves the new crop of Black Laws in full force & gives to the old masters a new letter of license to do any thing with the freedman short of making him a chattel. A new serfdom may be substituted, & this is their cruel purpose.

But after most careful consideration I see no substantial protection for the freedman except in the franchise. He must have this (1) for his own protection (2) for the protection of the white Unionist & (3) for the peace of the country. We put the musket in his hands, because it was necessary. For the same reason we must give him the franchise. Unionists from the South tell me that unless this is done they will be defenceless. And here is the necessity for the universality of the suffrage. Every vote is needed to counter-balance the rebels.

It is very sad that we should be tried in this way. For our country it is an incalculable calamity. Nobody can yet see the end. Congress will not yield. The Presdt. is angry & brutal. Seward is the Marplot. In the cabinet, on the question of the last Veto, there were 4 against it to 3 for it; so even there among his immediate advisers the Presdt. is left in a minority. Stanton reviewed at length the Bill, section by section, in the cabinet & pronounced it an excellent & safe bill every way from beginning to end. But the Veto Message was already prepared & an hour later was sent to Congress.

You hear that I do not bear contradiction. Perhaps not. I try to bear every thing. But my conscience & feelings are sometimes moved, so that I may show impatience. It is hard to meet all these exigencies with calmness. I hope not to fail.

I despair of the Presdt. He is no Moses, but a Pharoah to the colored race, & they now regard him so. He has all the narrowness & ignorance of a certain class of whites, who have always looked upon the colored race as out of the pale of Humanity.

Ever Sincerely Yours, Charles Sumner

(April 9, 1866)

On this date, Congress overrode Johnson's veto and the landmark Civil Rights Bill of 1866 became law. The measure, the first move to enforce the equal rights of the freedpeople by federal legislation (and a forerunner of the Fourteenth Amendment), defined citizenship for all persons born in the U.S. (excepting Indians not taxed) and guaranteed citizens the protection of the federal courts if states or federal territories deprived them of their civil rights. Republicans framed the bill in response to the notorious Black Codes passed in the Southern states in late 1865 and 1866. Johnson objected to the bill, arguing that it violated states' prerogatives and privileged people of color. The Congressional override was the first time the Legislative branch passed a major bill over an executive's objections.

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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and Territory in the United States, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 2.
And be it further enacted,
That any person who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of any right secured or protected by this act, or to different punishment, pains, or penalties on account of such person having at any time been held in a condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by reason of his color or race, than is prescribed for the punishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

Sec. 3.
And be it further enacted,
That the district courts of the United States, within their respective districts, shall have, exclusively of the courts of the several States, cognizance of all crimes and offences committed against the provisions of this act, and also, concurrently with the circuit courts of the United States, of all causes, civil and criminal, affecting persons who are denied or cannot enforce in the courts or judicial tribunals of the State or locality where they may be any of the rights secured to them by the first section of this act; and if any suit or prosecution, civil or criminal, has been or shall be commenced in any State court, against any such person, for any cause whatsoever, or against any officer, civil or military, or other person, for any arrest or imprisonment, trespasses, or wrongs done or committed by virtue or under color of authority derived from this act or the act establishing a Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and all acts amendatory thereof, or for refusing to do any act upon the ground that it would be inconsistent with this act, such defendant shall have the right to remove such cause for trial to the proper district or circuit court in the manner prescribed by the “Act relating to habeas corpus and regulating judicial proceedings in certain cases,” approved March three, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and all acts amendatory thereof. The jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters hereby conferred on the district and circuit courts of the United States shall be exercised and enforced in conformity with the laws of the United States, so far as such laws are suitable to carry the same into effect; but in all cases where such laws are not adapted to the object, or are deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies and punish offences against law, the common law, as modified and changed by the constitution and statutes of the State wherein the court having jurisdiction of the cause, civil or criminal, is held, so far as the same is not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, shall be extended to and govern said courts in the trial and disposition of such cause, and, if of a criminal nature, in the infliction of punishment on the party found guilty.

Sec. 4.
And be it further enacted,
That the district attorneys, marshals, and deputy marshals of the United States, the commissioners appointed by the circuit and territorial courts of the United States, with powers of arresting, imprisoning, or bailing offenders against the laws of the United States, the officers and agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and every other officer who may be specially empowered by the President of the United States, shall be, and they are hereby, specially authorized and required, at the expense of the United States, to institute proceedings against all and every person who shall violate the provisions of this act, and cause him or them to be arrested and imprisoned, or bailed, as the case may be, for trial before such court of the United States or territorial court as by this act has cognizance of the offence. And with a view to affording reasonable protection to all persons in their constitutional rights of equality before the law, without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, and to the prompt discharge of the duties of this act, it shall be the duty of the circuit courts of the United States and the superior courts of the Territories of the United States, from time to time, to increase the number of commissioners, so as to afford a speedy and convenient means for the arrest and examination of persons charged with a violation of this act; and such commissioners are hereby authorized and required to exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred on them by this act, and the same duties with regard to offences created by this act, as they are authorized by law to exercise with regard to other offences against the laws of the United States.

Sec. 5.
And be it further enacted,
That it shall be the duty of all marshals and deputy marshals to obey and execute all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions of this act, when to them directed; and should any marshal or deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant or other process when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently to execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use of the person upon whom the accused is alleged to have committed the offense. And the better to enable the said commissioners to execute their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with the Constitution of the United States and the requirements of this act, they are hereby authorized and empowered, within their counties respectively, to appoint, in writing, under their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from time to time, to execute all such warrants and other process as may be issued by them in the lawful performance of their respective duties; and the persons so appointed to execute any warrant or process as aforesaid shall have authority to summon and call to their aid the bystanders or posse comitatus of the proper county, or such portion of the land or naval forces of the United States, or of the militia, as may be necessary to the performance of the duty with which they are charged, and to insure a faithful observance of the clause of the Constitution which prohibits slavery, in conformity with the provisions of this act; and said warrants shall run and be executed by said officers anywhere in the State or Territory within which they are issued.

Sec. 6.
And be it further enacted,
That any person who shall knowingly and willfully obstruct, hinder, or prevent any officer, or other person charged with the execution of any warrant or process issued under the provisions of this act, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him or them, from arresting any person for whose apprehension such warrant or process may have been issued, or shall rescue or attempt to rescue such person from the custody of the officer, other person or persons, or those lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested pursuant to the authority herein given and declared, or shall aid, abet, or assist any person so arrested as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from the custody of the officer or other person legally authorized as aforesaid, or shall harbor or conceal any person for whose arrest a warrant or process shall have been issued as aforesaid, so as to prevent his discovery and arrest after notice or knowledge of the fact that a warrant has been issued for the apprehension of such person, shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before the district court of the United States for the district in which said offense may have been committed, or before the proper court of criminal jurisdiction, if committed within any one of the organized Territories of the United States.

Sec. 7.
And be it further enacted,
That the district attorneys, the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said district and territorial courts shall be paid for their services the like fees as may be allowed to them for similar services in other cases; and in all cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner, he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each case, inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and examination. The person or persons authorized to execute the process to be issued by such commissioners for the arrest of offenders against the provisions of this act shall be entitled to a fee of five dollars for each person he or they may arrest and take before any such commissioner as aforesaid, with such other fees as may be deemed reasonable by such commissioner for such other additional services as may be necessarily performed by him or them, such as attending at the examination, keeping the prisoner in custody, and providing him with food and lodging during his detention, and until the final determination of such commissioner, and in general for performing such other duties as may be required in the premises; such fees to be made up in conformity with the fees usually charged by the officers of the courts of justice within the proper district or county, as near as may be practicable, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States on the certificate of the judge of the district within which the arrest is made, and to be recoverable from the defendant as part of the judgment in case of conviction.

Sec. 8.
And be it further enacted,
That whenever the President of the United States shall have reason to believe that offences have been or are likely to be committed against the provisions of this act within any judicial district, it shall be lawful for him, in his discretion, to direct the judge, marshal, and district attorney of such district to attend at such place within the district, and for such time as he may designate, for the purpose of the more speedy arrest and trial of persons charged with a violation of this act; and it shall be the duty of every judge or other officer, when any such requisition shall be received by him, to attend at the place and for the time therein designated.

Sec. 9.
And be it further enacted,
That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, or such person as he may empower for that purpose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces of the United States, or of the militia, as shall be necessary to prevent the violation and enforce the due execution of this act.

Sec. 10.
And be it further enacted,
That upon all questions of law arising in any cause under the provisions of this act a final appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States.