n illustration of the gentle and
forgiving spirit of the Negro, it should be recorded here that many
supported the candidacy of Gen. Chalmers for Congress, and voted for
him at the recent election in Mississippi.

[115] See Report of Committee on Conduct of War.

Part 8.

_THE FIRST DECADE OF FREEDOM._

CHAPTER XXI.

RECONSTRUCTION[116]--MISCONSTRUCTION.

1865-1875.

THE WAR OVER, PEACE RESTORED, AND THE NATION CLEANSED OF A
PLAGUE.--SLAVERY GIVES PLACE TO A LONG TRAIN OF
EVENTS.--UNSETTLED CONDITION OF AFFAIRS AT THE SOUTH.--THE
ABSENCE OF LEGAL CIVIL GOVERNMENT NECESSITATES THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF PROVISIONAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT.--AN ACT ESTABLISHING A BUREAU
FOR REFUGEES AND ABANDONED LANDS.--CONGRESSIONAL METHODS FOR THE
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH.--GEN. U. S. GRANT CARRIES THESE
STATES IN 1868 AND 1872.--BOTH BRANCHES OF THE LEGISLATURES IN
ALL THE SOUTHERN STATES CONTAIN NEGRO MEMBERS.--THE ERRORS OF
RECONSTRUCTION CHARGEABLE TO BOTH SECTIONS OF THE COUNTRY.

Appomattox had taken her place in history; and the echo of the triumph
of Federal arms was heard in the palaces of Europe. The United States
Government had survived the shock of the embattled arms of a gigantic
Rebellion; had melted the manacles of four million slaves in the fires
of civil war; had made four million bondmen freemen; had wiped slavery
from the map of North America; had demonstrated the truth that the
Constitution is the supreme law of the land; and that the United
States is a NATION, not a league.

The brazen-mouthed, shotted cannon were voiceless; a million muskets
and swords hung upon the dusty walls of silent arsenals; and war
ceased from the proud altitudes of the mountains of Virginia to where
the majestic Atlantic washes the shores of the Carolinas. A million
soldiers in blue melted quietly into the modest garb of citizens. The
myriad hum of busy shuttles, clanking machinery, and whirling wheels
proclaimed the day of peace. Families and communities were restored
and bound together by the indissoluble, golden ties of domestic
charities. The war was over; peace had been restored; and the nation
was cleansed of a plague.

But what was to be done with the millions of Negroes at the South? The
war had made them free. That was all. They could leave the plantation.
They had the right of locomotion; were property no longer. But what a
spectacle! Here were four million hu