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U.S. Statutes at Large
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Historical SummaryBY a resolution of March 7, 1867, the House Committee on the Judiciary were instructed "to report a bill declaring who shall call conventions for the reorganization of the rebel States, and providing for the registration of voters within said rebel States, and all elections for members of said conventions, or for the adoption or rejection of constitutions formed by said conventions, or for the choice of public officers, State and municipal, until the constitutions of said States shall have been approved by Congress, shall be by ballot." A bill in accordance with the resolution was reported March 11, and passed the same day, the vote being 117 to 27, 16 not voting. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary reported a substitute, which, with further amendments, passed that body on the 16th by a vote of 38 to 2. To the bill as thus amended the House added further amendments, the principal of which required the approval by a majority of the registered voters of the constitution submitted for ratification. The bill received its final form from a conference committee. March 23 President Johnson vetoed the bill, but it was passed over the veto the same day, in the House by a vote of 114 to 25, 25 not voting, and in the Senate by a vote of 40 to 7. REFERENCES. — Text in House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 1st Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The texts of the numerous amendments submitted are in the Globe.
No. 152.
Second Reconstruction Act
March 23, 1867
An Act supplementary to an Act entitled "An Act to provide for the more efficient Government of the Rebel States," passed . . . [March 2, 1867] . . . , and to facilitate Restoration.
Be it enacted . . . , That before . . . [September 1, 1867] . . . , the commanding general in each district defined by . . . [the act of March 2, 1867] . . . , shall cause a registration to be made of the male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age and upwards, resident in each county or parish in the State or States included in his district, which registration shall include only those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates by the act aforesaid, and who shall have taken and subscribed the following oath or affirmation: "I, — — — — , do solemnly swear (or affirm), in the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of the State of — — ; that I have resided in said State for — — months next preceding this day, and now reside in the county of — — , or the parish of — — , in said State (as the case may be); that I am twenty-one years old; that I have not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the United States, or for felony committed against the laws of any State or of the United States; that I have never been a member of any State legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in any State, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, encourage others so to do, so help me God." . . .
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That after the completion of the registration hereby provided for in any State, at such time and places therein as the commanding general shall appoint and direct, of which at least thirty days’ public notice shall be given, an election shall be held of delegates to a convention for the purpose of establishing a constitution and civil government for such State loyal to the Union, said convention in each State, except Virginia, to consist of the same number of members as the most numerous branch of the State legislature of such State . . . [in 1860] . . . , to be apportioned among the several districts, counties, or parishes of such State by the commanding general, giving to each representation in the ratio of voters registered as aforesaid as nearly as may be. The convention in Virginia shall consist of the same number of members as represented the territory now constituting Virginia in the most numerous branch of the legislature of said State . . . [in 1860] . . . , to be apportioned as aforesaid.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That at said election the registered voters of each State shall vote for or against a convention to form a constitution therefor under this act. . . . If a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, then such convention shall be held as hereinafter provided; but if a majority of said votes shall be against a convention, then no such convention shall be held under this act: Provided, That such convention shall not be held unless a majority of all such registered voters shall have voted on the question of holding such convention.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commanding general of each district shall appoint as many boards of registration as may be necessary, consisting of three loyal officers or persons, to make and complete the registration, superintend the election, and make return to him of the votes, lists of voters, and of the persons elected as delegates by a plurality of the votes cast at said election; and upon receiving said returns he shall open the same, ascertain the persons elected as delegates, according to the returns of the officers who conducted said election, and make proclamation thereof; and if a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, the commanding general, within sixty days from the date of election, shall notify the delegates to assemble in convention, at a time and place to be mentioned in the notification, and said convention, when organized, shall proceed to frame a constitution and civil government according to the provisions of this act, and the act to which it is supplementary; and when the same shall have been so framed, said constitution shall be submitted by the convention for ratification to the persons registered under the provisions of this act at an election to be conducted by the officers or persons appointed or to be appointed by the commanding general, as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after the expiration of thirty days from the date of notice thereof, to be given by said convention; and the returns thereof shall be made to the commanding general of the district.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if, according to said returns, the constitution shall be ratified by a majority Of the votes of the registered electors qualified as herein specified, cast at said election, at least one half of all the registered voters voting upon the question of such ratification, the president of the convention shall transmit a copy of the same, duly certified, to the President of the United States, who shall forthwith transmit the same to Congress . . .; and if it shall moreover appear to Congress that the election was one at which all the registered and qualified electors in the State had an opportunity to vote freely and without restraint, fear, or the influence of fraud, and if the Congress shall be satisfied that such constitution meets the approval of a majority of all the qualified electors in the State, and if the said constitution shall be declared by Congress to be in conformity with the provisions of the act to which this is supplementary, and the other provisions of said act shall have been complied with, and the said constitution shall be approved by Congress, the State shall be declared entitled to representation, and senators and representatives shall be admitted therefrom as therein provided.
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Chicago: "Second Reconstruction Act," 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), 509–511. Original Sources, accessed November 23, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=CE1PN89FUBPYG2C.
MLA: . "Second Reconstruction Act." U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. XV, in Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, edited by William MacDonald (1863-1938), New York, The Macmillan Company, 1916, pp. 509–511. Original Sources. 23 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=CE1PN89FUBPYG2C.
Harvard: , 'Second Reconstruction Act' in U.S. Statutes at Large. cited in 1916, Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, ed. , The Macmillan Company, New York, pp.509–511. Original Sources, retrieved 23 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=CE1PN89FUBPYG2C.
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