r, in any
state that had attempted secession, voters equal in number to one tenth
of those who in 1860 voted for presidential electors, should take this
oath and organize a state government, he would recognize it; that is, he
would consider the state "reconstructed," loyal, and entitled to
representation in Congress.

[Footnote 1: The Constitution gives the President power to pardon all
offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.]

Following out this plan, the people of Arkansas, Tennessee, and
Louisiana made reconstructed state governments which Lincoln recognized.
But here Congress stepped in, refused to seat the senators from these
states, and made a plan of its own, which Lincoln vetoed.

%481. Johnson's "My Policy" Plan of Reconstruction.%--So the matter
stood when Lee and Johnston surrendered, when Davis was captured, and
the Confederacy fell to pieces. All the laws enacted by the Confederate
Congress at once became null and void. Taxes were no longer collected;
letters were no longer delivered; Confederate money had no longer any
value. Even the state governments ceased to have any authority. Bands of
Union cavalry scoured the country, capturing such governors, political
leaders, and prominent men as could be found, and striking terror into
others who fled to places of safety. In the midst of this confusion all
civil government ended. To reestablish it under the Constitution and
laws of the United States was, therefore, the first duty of the
President, and he began to do so at once. First he raised the blockade,
and opened the ports of the South to trade; then he ordered the
Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Interior, the
Postmaster-general, the Attorney-general, to see that the taxes were
collected, that letters were delivered, that the courts of the United
States were opened, and the laws enforced in all the Southern States;
finally, he placed over each of the unreconstructed states a temporary
or provisional governor. These governors called conventions of delegates
elected by such white men as were allowed to vote, and these conventions
did four things: 1. They declared the ordinances of secession null and
void. 2. They repudiated every debt incurred in supporting the
Confederacy, and promised never to pay one of them. 3. They abolished
slavery within their own bounds. 4. They ratified the Thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery forever in the