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U.S. Statutes at Large
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Historical SummaryA BILL "to enforce the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution and the laws of the United States in the State of Georgia, and to restore to that State the republican form of government elected under its new constitution," was introduced in the Senate March 5, 1869, by Edmunds of Vermont, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The bill was reported with an amendment on the 17th, but without recommendation as to its passage, the committee being equally divided on that point. A bill with the same title was reported in the House April 7, from the Committee on Reconstruction. There was no further action on either bill during the session. A concurrent resolution of February 9 had provided, in the meantime, for the recognition of the electoral vote of Georgia. In his annual message of December 6, President Grant called attention to the unseating of colored members of the legislature of Georgia and the seating of persons disqualified by the fourteenth amendment, and submitted "whether it would not be wise, without delay, to enact a law authorizing the governor of Georgia to convene the members originally elected to the legislature, requiring each member to take the oath prescribed by the reconstruction acts, and none to be admitted who are ineligible under the third clause of the fourteenth amendment." The Edmunds bill was thereupon called up, and, together with a bill on the same subject introduced by Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. December 13 the committee reported the Morton bill. On the 17th, by a vote of 38 to 15, section 8, "that the legislature of Georgia shall be regarded as provisional only, until the further action of Congress," was stricken out, and section 8 of the act inserted. The bill then passed, the vote being 45 to 9. The House passed the bill on the 21st by a vote of 121 to 51, 39 not voting. REFERENCES. — Text in House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 1st and 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. On political conditions in Georgia see House Misc. Doc. 52, 40th Cong., 3d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 82, Senate Exec. Docs. 3 and 41, Senate Reports 58 and 75, 41st Cong., 2d Sess.
No. 165.
Reconstruction of Georgia
December 22, 1869
An Act to promote the Reconstruction of the State of Georgia.
Be it enacted . . . , That the governor of the State of Georgia be, and hereby is, authorized and directed, forthwith, by proclamation, to summon all persons elected to the general assembly of said State, . . . to appear on some day certain, to be named in said proclamation, at Atlanta, in said State; and thereupon the said general assembly of said State shall proceed to perfect its organization in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States, according to the provisions of this act.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when the members so elected to said senate and house of representatives shall be convened, as aforesaid, each and every member and each and every person claiming to be elected as a member of said senate or house of representatives shall, in addition to taking the oath or oaths required by the constitution of Georgia, also take and subscribe and file in the office of the secretary of state of the State of Georgia one of the following oaths or affirmations, namely: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have never held the office, or exercised the duties of, a senator or representative in Congress, nor been a member of the legislature of any State of the United States, nor held any civil office created by law for the administration of any general law of a State, or for the administration of justice in any State or under the laws of the United States, nor held any office in the military or naval service of the United States, and thereafter engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or gave aid or comfort to its enemies, or rendered, except in consequence of direct physical force, any support or aid to any insurrection or rebellion against the United States, nor held any office under, or given any support to, any government of any kind organized or acting in hostility to the United States, or levying war against the United States. So help me God . . ." Or the following oath or affirmation, namely: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have been relieved, by an act of the Congress of the United States, from disability as provided for by section three of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. So help me God . . ." And every person claiming to be so elected, who shall refuse or decline or neglect or be unable to take one of said oaths or affirmations above provided, shall not be admitted to a seat in said senate or house of representatives, or to a participation in the proceedings thereof, but shah be deemed ineligible to such seats.
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SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the persons elected, as aforesaid, and entitled to compose such legislature, and who shall comply with the provisions of this act, by taking one of the oaths or affirmations above prescribed, shall thereupon proceed, in said senate and house of representatives to which they have been elected respectively, to reorganize said senate and house of representatives, respectively, by the election and qualification of the proper officers of each house.
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SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That it is hereby declared that the exclusion of any person or persons elected as aforesaid, and being otherwise qualified, from participation in the proceedings of said senate or house of representatives, upon the ground of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, would be illegal, and revolutionary, and is hereby prohibited.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That upon the application of the governor of Georgia, the President of the United States shall employ such military or naval forces of the United States as may be necessary to enforce and execute the preceding provisions of this act.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the legislature shall ratify the fifteenth amendment proposed to the Constitution of the United States before senators and representatives from Georgia are admitted to seats in Congress.
Contents:
Chicago: "Reconstruction of Georgia," U.S. Statutes at Large in Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, ed. William MacDonald (1863-1938) (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916), 543–544. Original Sources, accessed November 21, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1K3W14CEV3F4RHT.
MLA: . "Reconstruction of Georgia." U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. XVI, in Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, edited by William MacDonald (1863-1938), New York, The Macmillan Company, 1916, pp. 543–544. Original Sources. 21 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1K3W14CEV3F4RHT.
Harvard: , 'Reconstruction of Georgia' in U.S. Statutes at Large. cited in 1916, Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, ed. , The Macmillan Company, New York, pp.543–544. Original Sources, retrieved 21 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1K3W14CEV3F4RHT.
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