Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2: From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860

In Short

This landmark volume provides a detailed, first-hand account of American national politics during the critical era of Reconstruction and its immediate aftermath. Written by a central participant in the government of the era, the text chronicles the tumultuous transition from the end of the Civil War through the administrations of Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant, concluding around the presidency of James A. Garfield. It examines the intense constitutional friction between the Executive and Legislative branches, the legislative battles over the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, the complex return of Southern states to the Union, and financial adjustments like currency contraction and debt management. Through detailed analysis of parliamentary debates, executive proclamations, party conventions, and diplomatic disputes, the work illuminates how national leaders attempted to secure the results of the war. It endures as an essential primary document, offering an insider's view of how the modern American republic took shape amid bitter partisan division and radical societal transformation.

The Story

The narrative opens with the abrupt, tragic transition of power following Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Andrew Johnson assumes the presidency, confronting unprecedented legal, political, and social challenges regarding how to reconstruct the defeated Southern states. Raised in poverty and having risen through Tennessee politics as a staunch Unionist, Johnson initially signals an unyielding, harsh policy toward the leaders of the rebellion. He repeatedly emphasizes that treason is a supreme crime requiring severe punishment for its instigators, raising fears in the North of retaliatory measures inspired by Southern personal feuds. However, as Secretary of State William H. Seward recovers from his own wounds and resumes his duties, the Administration shifts toward a lenient Executive Reconstruction framework. Johnson issues a amnesty proclamation granting pardons and property restoration—excluding slaves—to most participants who take an oath of loyalty, while excepting high-ranking Confederate leaders, officials, and wealthy individuals unless they obtain individual executive pardons.

When the newly formed Southern State conventions and Legislatures assemble under Johnson’s plan late in 1865, their actions alarm the Northern public and the Republican majority in Congress. The Southern assemblies pass restrictive laws, ignore the political rights of newly freed individuals, and elect prominent former Confederate leaders to represent them in Washington. When the Thirty-ninth Congress convenes, Republican leaders refuse to automatically seat these Southern representatives, asserting that Congress, not the Executive, possesses the exclusive constitutional authority to dictate the terms of readmission and representation.

A profound breach opens between President Johnson and Congress. The President vetoes vital legislation aimed at protecting freedmen and maintaining federal authority, including the Freedmen's Bureau measures and civil rights provisions. Although initial vetoes test the cohesion of the Republican majority, Congress steadily consolidates its power. To protect basic rights and redefine the basis of congressional representation, leaders like Thaddeus Stevens and Roscoe Conkling push forward the Fourteenth Amendment. This amendment excludes from representation any state that denies the franchise based on race, while establishing national guarantees of citizenship and due process. The campaign of 1866 becomes a fierce national referendum on Reconstruction, marked by the political failure of Johnson’s supporters and the election of a decisive two-thirds Republican majority in Congress.

Empowered by the election, Congress passes the Reconstruction Acts, placing the unrepresented Southern states under military districts to oversee the creation of new state constitutions based on impartial male suffrage. To curb executive authority, Congress also enacts the Tenure-of-Office Act, restricting the President's power to remove cabinet officials and civil officers without Senate consent. When Johnson attempts to remove Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, the long-simmering constitutional crisis reaches its peak. The House impeaches Johnson, leading to a dramatic trial in the Senate. The prosecution falls just one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction, allowing Johnson to complete his term, though his political influence is effectively broken.

With the election of Ulysses S. Grant in 1868, a new era begins. Grant takes office determined to protect the national credit, enforce federal laws, and support the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, which explicitly protects the voting rights of colored citizens. Colored leaders like Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi take seats in Congress, occupying posts once held by prominent secessionists. Yet despite constitutional advances, the Administration faces persistent resistance in the South, where old political forces work to re-establish control, often through intimidation or by detaching white loyalists from the Republican coalition.

Concurrently, Congress handles difficult economic and foreign policy issues. Debates over the national currency, the retirement of legal-tender notes (greenbacks), and the funding of the massive public debt divide lawmakers who weigh the risks of monetary contraction against the desire to resume specie payments. In foreign affairs, the nation navigates tense diplomatic negotiations, such as the settlement of claims and boundary disputes with Great Britain under the Treaty of Washington, despite procedural friction over international arbitration commissions. As new leaders emerge, party structures realign, leading to the Liberal Republican revolt of 1872 and the rise of figures like Samuel J. Tilden, who masterfully captures control of the Democratic Party. Through twenty years of crisis, Congress continuously adapts, preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, financing an unprecedented war effort, and establishing national sovereignty over state-rights doctrines.

How It Unfolds

The ascension of Andrew Johnson After Lincoln's death, Johnson assumes the presidency, initially alarming observers with stern rhetoric demanding harsh punishment for Confederate leaders before shifting toward a rapid, executive-led policy of amnesty and state restoration.

The Southern legislative defiance Reorganized Southern assemblies pass restrictive statutes and send unrepentant former Confederate leaders to claim seats in Washington, prompting Congress to halt their admission and assert its own authority over Reconstruction.

The breach between Executive and Legislature President Johnson vetoes key congressional measures, including the Freedmen's Bureau legislation, driving a sharp wedge between himself and the Republican majority while Democratic leaders pledge him their political backing.

The framing of the Fourteenth Amendment Congress debates and formulates a landmark constitutional amendment to establish national citizenship, secure due process, and adjust congressional representation to penalize states that deny voting rights based on race.

The campaign of 1866 and Radical Reconstruction Voters return an overwhelming Republican majority to Congress, enabling the passage of military Reconstruction measures that require new Southern state constitutions built upon universal male suffrage.

The Tenure-of-Office Act and impeachment To protect federal officers and restrict executive power, Congress limits presidential removals; Johnson's attempt to oust Secretary of War Stanton leads directly to his impeachment by the House and a narrow acquittal in the Senate.

The election of Grant and the Fifteenth Amendment Ulysses S. Grant assumes the presidency, prioritizing national credit, law enforcement, and the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which brings the first colored members, including Hiram R. Revels, into the halls of Congress.

Currency debates and economic readjustment Post-war Congresses deliberate over complex monetary policies, weighing the Secretary of the Treasury's authority to retire greenbacks and convert short-term obligations against the commercial effects of currency contraction.

Diplomatic resolutions and political realignments The government settles international disputes through treaties and arbitration while domestic politics sees the rise of independent movements, the Liberal Republican challenge of 1872, and the ascendance of new party managers like Samuel J. Tilden.

The People

• Andrew Johnson: A self-made former tailor from Tennessee who rose to the presidency upon Lincoln's death. He desires a rapid restoration of the Southern states under executive authority without federal interference in local suffrage. Stymied by his stubborn temperament, his conflict with Congress, and his lenient policy toward former rebels, he faces impeachment and loses control over Reconstruction policy.
• William H. Seward: The resilient Secretary of State who survives an assassination attempt to guide foreign relations. He seeks to prevent the Administration from acting out of personal revenge, working tirelessly to smooth executive mistakes, settle international disputes like the Mexican complications, and promote steady reconciliation.
• Thaddeus Stevens: A fiery, unyielding Radical Republican leader in the House of Representatives. He wants complete social and political restructuring of the South, rigorous protections for freedmen, and strict penalties for Southern disenfranchisement, driving Congress toward uncompromising legislative action against the President's policies.
• Edwin M. Stanton: The steadfast Secretary of War whose retention becomes the central battleground between the Executive and Congress. Supported by congressional Republicans, he resists Johnson's efforts to remove him, staying locked in his office to preserve the integrity of military Reconstruction until the impeachment trial concludes.
• Ulysses S. Grant: The victorious Union general who enters the presidency untrammeled by traditional political ties. He aims to enforce federal law, secure the public credit, protect colored citizens' rights, and see the Fifteenth Amendment ratified, though he finds his administrative freedom restricted by civil service rules and persistent Southern resistance.
• Roscoe Conkling: An influential Republican member of the Reconstruction Committee and representative from New York. He works to shape constitutional amendments on representative apportionment, employing precise parliamentary skill to define how state voting restrictions alter national representation.
• Carl Schurz: A prominent reformer and orator who becomes a driving spirit of the Liberal Republican movement. He opposes what he views as the continuation of military rule and political corruption, seeking to redirect national politics toward civil service reform and independence from rigid party machinery.
• Samuel J. Tilden: A cerebral, methodical New York political strategist who rapidly rises to undisputed leadership within the Democratic Party. A disciplined student of governance and finance, he crafts modern party organization and channels public desire for reform into a powerful presidential candidacy.

In Its Own Voice

"I say that treason is a crime, the very highest crime known to the law, and there are men who ought to suffer the penalty of their treason! . . . To the unconscious, the deceived, the conscripted, in short, to the great mass of the misled, I would say mercy, clemency, reconciliation, and the restoration of their government."

President Andrew Johnson delivers these stern words to a visiting delegation of Pennsylvanians shortly after taking office, signaling to the country what many initially anticipated would be a vengeful policy toward the leaders of the Confederacy.

"The language of Mr. Johnson was interpreted by the merciful in the North as indicating that his own injuries and fierce conflicts during the war has possibly inspired him with the fell spirit of revenge, which in his zeal he might mistake for the rational demands of justice."

The author provides this context while evaluating the growing anxiety across the Northern states regarding Johnson’s early declarations, pointing out how the violent political feuds of the South differed from the political culture of the North.

"Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State--excluding Indians not taxed; provided, that whenever the elective franchise shall be denied or abridged in any State on account of race or color, all persons of such race or color shall be excluded from the basis of representation."

This core language, reported by the Reconstruction Committee to both houses of Congress, illustrates the exact constitutional mechanism devised by lawmakers to strip political representation from any state that refused to grant equal voting rights to its colored population.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book explores the delicate balance of power within a constitutional republic recovering from civil war. It examines whether a democratic government can successfully reintegrate a rebellious population while guaranteeing the civil and political rights of newly liberated people. The central argument centers on the authority of the Legislative branch to define the terms of national citizenship and state readmission, serving as a check against executive overreach.

The text grapples with fundamental questions of governance:

• Where does ultimate sovereignty reside when an executive and a legislature clash over the interpretation of the Constitution?
• How can a nation protect basic human rights without sacrificing the legal structures that uphold federalism?
• What are the economic responsibilities of a government emerging from an enormous debt-funded crisis?

It demonstrates that physical victory on the battlefield is only the first phase of preserving a nation; the harder struggle takes place in legislative chambers, where laws, constitutional amendments, and economic policies determine whether that victory results in lasting justice and stability. The work shows that political decisions are rarely absolute, emerging instead from constant friction between pragmatic compromise, party strategy, and core constitutional principles.

Why Read It Today

This work offers an irreplaceable, highly detailed record of one of the most transformative eras in American history, written by someone who stood at the center of power. Readers who enjoy rich parliamentary history, constitutional law, and the inner mechanics of 19th-century American politics will find it an extraordinary resource. The prose is clear, dignified, and measured, capturing the grand rhetorical style of a generation trained in classical debate and legislative strategy.

It provides a vivid sense of what it felt like to navigate the immediate post-war years, detailing:

• The raw tension of presidential vetoes and impeachment roll calls.
• The complex maneuverings of national party conventions.
• The real-time debates over monetary policy, trade, and international diplomacy.

The book does present specific challenges for modern readers. Its sheer detail—tracing minor legislative amendments, procedural motions, delegate lists, and financial statistics—demands patient reading. The narrative assumes familiarity with 19th-century legal terminology, political figures, and parliamentary procedures. Furthermore, the attitudes and language reflect the formal, sometimes ethnocentric perspectives of a late-19th-century statesman, particularly when analyzing Southern social structures and regional politics.

What stays with the reader is the terrifying fragility of democratic institutions under stress, alongside the remarkable resilience of constitutional mechanisms when put to the test. The accounts of intense debates over citizenship, currency, and executive power serve as a powerful reminder that the structure of modern American governance was not forged easily, but was carved out through fierce intellectual and political combat.