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U.S. Statutes at Large
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Historical SummaryThe difficulties encountered by the military commanders in enforcing the acts of March 2 and 23, 1867, especially in regard to the oath prescribed in the second of the two acts, led to the issue on June 20, through the Adjutant General’s office, and with the approval of all the members of the Cabinet except Stanton, of instructions setting forth the view of the Executive as to the meaning and scope of the acts in question. From the standpoint of Congress, the instructions were a serious limitation on the effectiveness of the acts. A bill to interpret and give effect to the reconstruction acts of March 2 and 23 was reported in the Senate July 8, by Trumbull of Illinois, from the Committee on the Judiciary, but was laid aside on the 11th in favor of a bill of similar purport which had passed the House. The Senate then substituted its own bill for the House bill, the bill in this form passing by a vote of 32 to 6. The bill received its final form from a conference committee. July 19 President Johnson vetoed the bill, but it was at once passed over the veto, in the House by a vote of 109 to 25, 37 not voting, and in the Senate by a vote of 30 to 6. A joint resolution of the same date appropriated $1,000,000 to carry into effect the reconstruction acts. REFERENCES. — Text in House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 1st Sess., and the Cong. Globe. For the opinions of Attorney General Stanbery, May 24 and June 12, see Senate Exec. Doc. 14, 40th Cong., 1st Sess. The executive instructions of June 20 are in Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, VI., 552–556.
No. 154.
Third Reconstruction Act
July 19, 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 the Act supplementary thereto, passed . . . [March 23, 1867].
Be it enacted . . . , That it is hereby declared to have been the true intent and meaning . . . [of the acts of March 2 and March 23, 1867] . . . , that the governments then existing in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas were not legal State governments; and that thereafter said governments, if continued, were to be continued subject in all respects to the military commanders of the respective districts, and to the paramount authority of Congress.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the commander of any district named in said act shall have power, subject to the disapproval of the General of the army of the United States, and to have effect till disapproved, whenever in the opinion of such commander the proper administration of said act shall require it, to suspend or remove from office, or from the performance of official duties and the exercise of official powers, any officer or person holding or exercising, or professing to hold or exercise, any civil or military office or duty in such district under any power, election, appointment or authority derived from, or granted by, or claimed under, any so-called State or the government thereof, or any municipal or Other division thereof, and upon such suspension or removal such commander, subject to the disapproval of the General as aforesaid, shall have power to provide from time to time for the performance of the said duties of such officer or person so suspended or removed, by the detail of some competent officer or soldier of the army, or by the appointment of some other person, to perform the same, and to fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the General of the army of the United States shall be invested with all the powers of suspension, removal, appointment, and detail granted in the preceding section to district commanders.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the acts of the officers of the army already done in removing in said districts persons exercising the functions of civil officers, and appointing others in their stead, are hereby confirmed: Provided, That any person heretofore or hereafter appointed by any district commander to exercise the functions of any civil office, may be removed either by the military officer in command of the district, or by the General of the army. And it shall be the duty of such commander to remove from office as aforesaid all persons who are disloyal to the government of the United States, or who use their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay, prevent, or obstruct the due and proper administration of this act and the acts to which it is supplementary.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the boards of registration provided for in the act . . . [of March 23, 1867] . . . , shall have power, and it shall be their duty before allowing the registration of any person, to ascertain, upon such facts or information as they can obtain, whether such person is entitled to be registered under said act, and the oath required by said act shall not be conclusive on such question, and no person shall be registered unless such board shall decide that he is entitled thereto; and such board shall also have power to examine, under oath, . . . any one touching the qualification of any person claiming registration; but in every case of refusal by the board to register an applicant, and in every case of striking his name from the list as hereinafter provided, the board shall make a note or memorandum, which shall be returned with the registration list to the commanding general of the district, setting forth the grounds of such refusal or such striking from the list: Provided, That no person shall be disqualified as member of any board of registration by reason of race or color.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the true intent and meaning of the oath prescribed in said supplementary act is, (among other things,) that no person who has been a member of the legislature of any State, or who has held any executive or judicial office in any State, whether he has taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States or not, and whether he was holding such office at the commencement of the rebellion, or had held it before, and who has afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, is entitled to be registered or to vote; and the words "executive or judicial office in any State" in said oath mentioned shall be construed to include all civil offices created by law for the administration of any general law of a State, or for the administration of justice.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the time for completing the original registration provided for in said act may, in the discretion of the commander of any district, be extended to . . . [October 1, 1867] . . . ; and the boards of registration shall have power, and it shall be their duty, commencing fourteen days prior to any election under said act, and upon reasonable public notice of the time and place thereof, to revise, for a period of five days, the registration lists, and upon being satisfied that any person not entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the name of such person from the list, and such person shall not be allowed to vote. And such board shall also, during the same period, add to such registry the names of all persons who at that time possess the qualifications required by said act who have not been already registered; and no person shall, at any time, be entitled to be registered or to vote by reason of any executive pardon or amnesty for any act or thing which, without such pardon or amnesty, would disqualify him from registration or voting.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That section four of said last-named act shall be construed to authorize the commanding general named therein, whenever he shall deem it needful, to remove any member of a board of registration and to appoint another in his stead, and to fill any vacancy in such board.
SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all members of said boards of registration and all persons hereafter elected or appointed to office in said military districts, under any so-called State or municipal authority, or by detail or appointment of the district commanders, shall be required to take and to subscribe the oath of office prescribed by law for officers of the United States.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no district commander or member of the board of registration, or any of the officers or appointees acting under them, shall be bound in his action by any opinion of any civil officer of the United States.
SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That all provisions of this act and of the acts to which this is supplementary shall be construed liberally, to the end that all the intents thereof may be fully and perfectly carried out.
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Chicago: "Third 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), 515–518. Original Sources, accessed November 21, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UBSM63GDSQL591W.
MLA: . "Third 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. 515–518. Original Sources. 21 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UBSM63GDSQL591W.
Harvard: , 'Third 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.515–518. Original Sources, retrieved 21 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UBSM63GDSQL591W.
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