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Re-inhabited
The Republic for the United States of America
by Jean Hallahan Hertler
with David Carl Hertler
II. The CORPORATE UNITED STATES Posing as Government
and it’s Counterfeit Constitution
Chapter Thirteen
Reconstruction – “The Second Civil War”
We now continue forward to the period after the Civil War known as the Reconstruction Era.796 The Civil
War prevailed from April 12, 1861 to that precise date four years later, April 12, 1865. In considering
the profound opening and close of the War Between the States as well as the length of time being
precisely four years, it is equally profound in considering the Hebrew meaning of the number “four,”
which relates to the word “door.”797 A door had been left open to the curses of disobedience in
breaking covenant with the God of the universe and His Law of Nature where all men are created equal.
The nation’s birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence had been violated, it’s social covenant
and operating document, The Constitution for the United States of America, which was derived from
Almighty God’s covenant with man, had been “misinterpreted” and manipulated in the cause of the
“Great Rebellion.” The Land of Liberty was stained with the blood of the black slaves and bathed in
blood resulting from war of “the House divided” while struggling to end that original sin of America.798
All of that blood on the land cries out to the Creator. 799
James Madison, known as the Father of the Constitution,800 had emphasized America’s social covenant
with God as the Constitution:
796
Wikipedia, Reconstruction Era, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_Era (accessed 11/29/2014)
Hebrew4Christians.com, The Letter Dalet, http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/AlephBet/Dalet/dalet.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
798
Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library, The Avalon Project Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy,
Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lincoln2.asp (accessed
11/29/2014)
799
Numbers 35:33
800
The Heritage Foundation, Colleen Sheehan, PhD, James Madison: Father of the Constitution, April 8, 2013,
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/04/james-madison-father-of-the-constitution (accessed
11/29/2014)
797
166
"The government has only such powers as the people delegate to it through a social covenant,
the Constitution which is derived from God's Covenant with man. This derivation [origin] limits
the power of the process of law and the powers of government. This covenant cannot be
contravened [broken] as it is 'the law of nature and of nature's God.' " 801
Drawing a parallel to Proverbs 25:11, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver,”
Lincoln described the Declaration of Independence as an “apple of gold,” and the Constitution as the
“frame of silver” around it when he said,
“The assertion of that principle, at that time, was the word, ‘fitly spoken’ which has proved an
‘apple of gold’ to us. The Union, and the Constitution, are the picture of silver, subsequently
framed around it. The picture was made, not to conceal, or destroy the apple; but to adorn,
and preserve it. The picture was made for the apple—not the apple for the picture.”802
The Constitution acts to guard the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. As the
embodiment of the Declaration’s principles, the Constitution created a frame of government with a clear
objective. The Constitution is not a collection of compromises, or an empty vessel whose meaning can
be redefined to fit the needs of the time; it is the embodiment of an eternal, undisputable truth.
Abraham Lincoln defended the Union and sought to defeat the Confederate insurrection because he
held that the principles of the Declaration and Constitution were inviolable. In his speeches and in his
statecraft, Lincoln aimed to demonstrate803 that self-government is not doomed to either be so strong
that it overwhelms the rights of the people or so weak that it is incapable of surviving.804
Having put President Lincoln out of the way, Great Deception was then crafted in darkness through
secrets in the Reconstruction Era which brought about an illusion where the American people, along
with their posterity through the generations, were deceived into bondage of a new type of citizenship
by means of a central (growing-out-of-control) Federal Government which became an oligarchic
(government by the few) Democracy where Citizens became “subjects” – and slavery became
manifest to ALL. There was an appearance of patriotic American pride, flag-waving, and patriotic songsinging on the surface, however, things were not as they appeared to be… or were told.
Isaiah 29:15 ~
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel [plans] from the Lord, and their works are in
the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Psalms 44:21 ~
801
Eustace Mullins, The Rape of Justice, (Staunton: National Commission for Justice Reform, 1989 ) p. 54, 55
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4, Fragment on the Constitution and the Union, c. January, 1861,
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln4/1:264?rgn=div1;view=fulltext (accessed 11/29/2014)
803
Hillsdale College, Assistant Professor of Politics, Kevin Portteus, Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of
the Constitution, Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution, https://online.hillsdale.edu/document.doc?id=279
(accessed 11/29/2014)
804
MillerCenter.org, July 4th Message to Congress (July 4, 1861), Abraham Lincoln,
http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3508 (accessed 12/19/2014)
802
167
Would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Luke 8:17 ~
For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be
known and come to light.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 ~
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
We will recall that Howell Cobb of Georgia, a member of Albert Pike’s805 Scottish Rite Supreme Council
(of 33)806 in March, 1860 while serving as Buchanan’s Secretary of the Treasury807 had stated:
“There is, perhaps, no solution of the great problem of reconciling the interests of labor and
capital, so as to protect each from the encroachments and oppressions of the other, so simple as
slavery. By making the laborer himself capital, the conflict ceases and the interests become
identical.”808
Where on the surface it was thought that there was a conflict going on only between free and slave
labor, Cobb went beyond and further defined the issue from a financial and ownership standpoint of
being between capital and labor. Cobb inferred that the only way to overpower the conflict being
experienced on the issue of slavery was narrowed to actually being one between money and workforce,
with the solution in making slaves of ALL LABORERS everywhere. A “new, improved system” of slavery
was being born. “…chattel slavery could not compete in efficiency with white labor… more money
could be made from the white laborer, for whom no responsibility of shelter, clothing, food and
attendance had to be assumed than from the Negro slave, whose sickness, disability or death entailed
direct financial loss.”809
As the love of money is the root of all evil,810 there is also the lust for power and the ultimate plan of
the Jesuits and their Freemasons in their “Counter-Reformation.”811 The plan incorporates the secret
805
NWOToday.com, Albert Pike and the Scottish Rite, http://www.nwotoday.com/the-new-world-ordershistory/freemasonry-global-level-illumination/albert-pike-and-the-scottish-rites (accessed 11/29/2014)
806
Warren Getler, Bob Brewer, Rebel Gold: One Man's Quest to Crack the Code Behind the Secret Treasure of the
Confederacy, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. 58
807
Anton Chaitkin, The Scottish Rite's KKK Project, from the speech delivered by Mr. Chaitkin at the Labor Day
weekend conference of the Schiller Institute in suburban Washington, D.C,
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/scottishriteproject.htm (accessed 11/29/2014)
808
John Smith Dye, The Adder’s Den; or Secrets of the Great Conspiracy to Overthrow Liberty in America (New York,
John Smith Dye, 1864), p. 123
809
Gustavus Myers, History of the Great American Fortunes, Vol. I, (Chicago, Charles H. Kerr & Company, 1911), p.
41
810
1 Timothy 6:10
811
Wikipedia, Counter-Reformation,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Reformation (accessed 11/29/2014)
168
societies working in unison so their master the Pope of Rome will receive universal worship, ruling from
Solomon’s rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem.812
The Reconstruction Era covers the transformation of the Southern States with the reconstruction of
State and society from 1863 to 1877, AS WELL AS THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY AS
CITIZENSHIP WAS FEDERALIZED813 THROUGH THE UNLAWFUL Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution. This is also the Era in which the Republic was shoved aside and left dormant while a
Democracy was formed and the government was usurped. The American people were tricked into the
jurisdiction of this foreign Corporate Democracy. It is of utmost importance to comprehend what had
transpired in this Great Conspiracy as well as what the difference is between a Republic and a
Democracy. With understanding we will see how the nation shifted from being a Republic in
covenant with the God of the universe to being a Democracy ruled by Satan and his sons. One
represents the Kingdom of Light, the other the Kingdom of Darkness.
Prior to the Civil War, the United States was referred to as a plural noun: “These United States,” which
was an association of State governments in alliance for their common good under a federal branch that
supervised their interactions but RARELY, if ever, interfered in their laws or social practices. Ever since
the American Revolution and its uprising against the English monarchy, King George III, a suspicion of
centralized “shadow” authority had existed in America. Yet the attempted secession of the Southern
States remarkably prompted a reevaluation of the balance of power in government and suddenly the
Federal authorities were viewed by many as the best refuge for the most oppressed and impoverished
citizens. These United States became the United States.814
During Reconstruction, the Federal Government determined the conditions that would return the
surrendered Southern States back into the Union. In this era, “the Union was preserved; however, the
Republic was not.”815 It is imperative that we hold this very fact in mind as we proceed forward in
viewing the American Republic’s story in the Light of truth.
We will recall that it was when the Southern States’ governments refused to comply with the
Constitution that President Lincoln was forced to respond as Constitutional law had provided. It was
when President Lincoln convened Congress under the authority of the Executive branch while
Congress was lacking a lawful quorum (a rump) and unable to lawfully operate in representative
government under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, along with instituting Martial Law and the
suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, that the law form was temporarily set aside. During a time
of insurrection and domestic violence, President Lincoln had no other recourse but to give a directive of
enforcing Martial Law under circumstances presented by those guilty of committing disloyal practices as
well as suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Proclaiming these directives were essential and
812
NWOToday.com, Freemasonry and King Solomon’s Temple, http://www.nwotoday.com/the-new-world-ordershistory/freemasonry-global-level-illumination/builders-of-king-solomons-temple (accessed 11/29/2014)
813
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/ (accessed October 29, 2014)
814
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Summary & Analysis" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/summary.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
815
President James Buchanan Geiger, The Republic for the United States of America, 2014.
169
necessary in order to preserve the Union and maintain governance under the spirit of the Constitution.
Otherwise known as “color of law,” or giving appearance of law while the republican form of governance
was temporarily set aside and an interim governance or law form functioned in its place. By
perpetuity, the Constitution still remained as “the law of the land.” However, the legislative body was
lacking and could not lawfully function under the Constitution. The Executive branch still had the lawful
authority to function, and did so in order to fulfill the obligation of the government to do the business of
the People. Color of law was to have been used in the interim ONLY until the People of the Southern
States could reestablish LOYAL State governments in Union and then elect Congressional officers that
would represent them and who would operate lawfully under the Constitution. This oversight and
obligation fell squarely on the Executive branch.
Lincoln’s mandate to the “interim Executive Congress” was very strict and limited and could not be
binding on the People or the de jure (lawful) government. In the American Republic the whole
sovereignty rests with the People and is exercised through their Representatives in Congress
assembled. In order for laws to be binding they must have the consent of the American people
through their representatives as Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution guarantees to EVERY State in
the Union a representative form of governance.816 Anything contrary would be “repugnant” to the
Constitution.817 Lincoln acted unilaterally based solely on his duty to preserve the Union. He did not
have a lawful Congress to appeal to in order to get the consent of the People for these changes, so the
only mandate he could give this temporary administrative body (rump Congress) was to maintain the
business of the government so the Union would not collapse. Administration and enforcement is the
ONLY authority that the Executive branch has. The rump “interim Executive Congress” was NOT a
Congress of the People and the States.
By Constitutional law, the Federal Government had to be returned to the People as soon as the
insurrection and domestic violence was put down. President Lincoln was fully aware of Constitutional
law, operated within the law, and made provision to see that Constitutional law was followed and
accomplished. He understood that color of law was to have been used in the interim ONLY until the
People could elect a Congress that would operate lawfully under the Constitution. He referred to this
color of law interim government as “the Executive Government” in his September 22, 1862 Presidential
Proclamation described as “Declaring the Objectives of the War Including Emancipation of Slaves in
816
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Article 4, Section 4" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/constitution/article-4-section-4.html (accessed October 29, 2014).
817
Marbury v. Madison, 1803, “A law repugnant to the Constitution is void.” With these words, Chief Justice John
Marshall established the Supreme Court’s role in the new government. Hereafter, the Court was recognized as
having the power to review all acts of Congress where constitutionality was at issue, and judge whether they abide
by the Constitution.
170
Rebellious States on January 1, 1863.”818 He also twice made reference to “the Executive Government”
in his January 1, 1863 President Proclamation known as “The Emancipation Proclamation.”819
We have previously demonstrated by historical fact documented with evidence that IT WAS
PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S INTENTION FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES TO BE RESTORED IN THE UNION WITH
THE SAME STATUS WITH WHICH THEY HAD “SO-CALLED”820 SECEDED OR LEFT THE UNION.821 His
Presidential Proclamation, known as his 10 Percent Plan, was his Reconstruction Plan. It was
proclaimed by executive authority that ex-Confederates and disloyal Citizens were disqualified from
voting or from holding office. This was a logical and wise precedent for reestablishing loyal State
governments.
Near the end of the Civil War, as Commander-in-Chief, President Lincoln had articulated his
commanding order to the leading Union Military Generals to carry out a complete reconciliation with
the South and its citizens offering the South the most generous terms in what would come to be
known as the River Queen Doctrine.822 President Lincoln displayed diplomacy while at the same time
taking steps of compliance in Constitutional law. In the light of the truthful American Republic’s
history, there can be no doubt in comprehending that the goals of restoring the Republic with the
reconciled States in Union was a major contributing factor to the “Great Conspiracy” of Lincoln’s
assassination by nefarious “cunning, ambitious, unprincipled men.823 Understanding the love of
money as the root of all evil824 as well as the means to control and enslave, we understand that Lincoln’s
money policy825 and Constitutional-issued Greenbacks by the U.S. Treasury had resulted in giving “the
people of this Republic the greatest blessing they ever had—their own paper money to pay their own
debts.”826 Indeed, this was another major contributing factor in his assassination.827
818
Abraham Lincoln: "Proclamation 93 - Declaring the Objectives of the War Including Emancipation of Slaves in
Rebellious States on January 1, 1863," September 22, 1862. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The
American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69782 (accessed 11/1/2014)
819
National Archives & Records Administration, The Emancipation Proclamation,
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/transcript.html (accessed
11/29/2014)
820
Abraham Lincoln: "Proclamation 108 - Amnesty and Reconstruction," December 8, 1863. Online by Gerhard
Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69987
(accessed 10/15/2014)
821
Abraham Lincoln: "Proclamation 93 - Declaring the Objectives of the War Including Emancipation of Slaves in
Rebellious States on January 1, 1863," September 22, 1862. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The
American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69782 (accessed 10/15/2014)
822
ed. The Hillsdale College History Faculty, American Heritage A Reader, V Sectionalism and Civil War, (Hillsdale:
Hillsdale College Press, 2011) , p. 371
823
EarlyAmerica.com, George Washington’s Farewell Address to the People of the United States, September 17,
1796, point 18, http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/farewell/text.html (accessed 11/1/2014)
824
1 Timothy 6:20
825
Abraham Lincoln, Senate document no. 23, page 91, 1865 as cited from Michael Rowbotham, The Grip of Death:
A Study of Modern Money, Debt Servitude, and Destructive Economics (Jon Carpenter Publishing, 1998), pages 220221 at http://economics.arawakcity.org/node/179 (accessed 11/29/2014)
826
Dr. R. E. Search, “Lincoln: Money Martyred,” (Seattle: Lincoln Publishing Company, 1935) p. 46
827
Ibid., p. 47-48
171
President Lincoln was assassinated just a few days after the Civil War had ended and before he was
able to follow through with his Reconstruction Plan. The Southern States would have reestablished
their LOYAL State governments in Union, elections would have been held in the Southern States to fill
the vacant Congressional seats so they would have Federal representation, and which would also
return Congress to being a lawful deliberative body under the Constitution. There was a SERIOUS
CHANGE made in Lincoln’s honorable and Constitutional Reconstruction Plan after he was put away.
Coming into compliance with Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution was DIVERTED and instead, in
1866, one year after the war, elections for members of the 40th United States Congress went forth in
the NORTH ONLY. High-level Freemason former Vice President and now succeeding President,
Andrew Johnson, revoked and annulled the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the North, however,
CONTINUED THE SUSPENSION of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Southern States, the District of
Columbia, and the southwest Territory.828
In this chapter as well as the next, we will cover some key points of this Era in effort to project a picture
of the Great Struggle that occurred while seeking to finally achieve Liberty for ALL as proclaimed in
America’s founding document which is also a covenant with the Creator. In further, life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness was to be guarded for ALL in that sacred covenant with “Nature’s God,” as outlined
and enumerated in the government’s operating document, the Constitution for the United States of
America, which was carefully written under Divine inspiration significantly based on God’s law and
Biblical principles. This is what was intended in a republican form of government and in finally ending
slavery, as the Founding Fathers had presumed would eventually come to fruition.
With various pieces like that of a puzzle put together to form a picture, visible for this period of time will
be depicted shades of darkness representing what “cunning, ambitious, unprincipled men”829 had done
in darkness through secrets and lies of deception to usurp dominion and secretly enslave ALL of the
American people. The picture will also depict what some well-intentioned statesmen had
inadvertently830 done in desperation while seeking to outmaneuver the “cunning, ambitious,
unprincipled men” in great effort to secure Liberty for ALL. In the end, we will step back with chin-inhand while studying a glimpse of the greater picture and recognize the counterfeit with a better
understanding of how “the Union was preserved; however, the Republic was not.”831
The Union victory created some of the most far-reaching transformations as reflected by the
amendments to the Constitution. The first twelve amendments, which had been ratified before the
war, had all served to limit government power. Those after the Civil War, in particular the (nonoriginal and unlawful) Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery, and the revolutionary
828
Andrew Johnson: "Proclamation 148 - Revoking the Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, Except in Certain
States and Territories," December 1, 1865. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American
Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=72046 (accessed 10/15/2014)
829
EarlyAmerica.com, George Washington’s Farewell Address to the People of the United States, September 17,
1796, point 18, http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/farewell/text.html (accessed 11/1/2014)
830
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/ (accessed October 29, 2014).
831
President James Buchanan Geiger, The Republic for the United States of America, 2014
172
(unlawful) Fourteenth Amendment which granted citizenship and guaranteed civil rights to all those
born in the United States, marked unprecedented expansions of federal power.832
In review of Reconstruction up to this point, starting in March 1862, in an effort to prevent
reconstruction by the “Radicals” in Congress, President Lincoln appointed provisional Military Governors
to reestablish loyal Union governments in Southern States that were captured by the Union Army.
Although those States would not be recognized by the “Radicals” until a much later period of time and
with prescribed conditions to the Radicals’ satisfaction, appointing Military Governors kept the
administration of Reconstruction under Presidential control in his executive duties under the
Constitution, rather than that of the increasingly unsympathetic Radical Congress.833
On March 3, 1862, Lincoln appointed staunch Democrat Senator Andrew Johnson,834 as Military
Governor with the rank of Brigadier General in his home State of Tennessee. On May 26, 1862, Lincoln
appointed Edward Stanly835 as Military Governor of the coastal region of North Carolina with the rank of
Brigadier General. Stanly resigned almost a year later after angering Lincoln by closing two schools for
black children in New Bern. It is also reported that Stanly was in a dispute with President Lincoln over
the Emancipation Proclamation. After Brigadier General George F. Sheply836 was appointed as Military
Governor of Louisiana in May 1862, Sheply sent two anti-slavery representatives, Benjamin Flanders837
and Michael Hahn,838 elected in December 1862, to the House of Representatives which had come to
accept them and then voted in favor to seat them. In July 1862, Lincoln appointed Colonel John S.
Phelps839 as Military Governor of Arkansas, though he resigned not long after due to poor health. This
selection of men from a variety of backgrounds represents both Northerners and Southerners, as well
as both Republicans and Democrats. The picture entails the Chief Executive thoughtfully selecting
representation from amongst a mix as he sought harmony and prudence in the overwhelmingly
difficult task of putting the Union back together.
In late 1863, President Lincoln issued a Presidential Proclamation toward amnesty (pardon/forgiveness)
and reconstruction on behalf of the rebellious States, which came to be known as his “10 Percent Plan.”
Union forces were advancing into the South after a couple of critical victories in battle and the Federal
Government turned its attention to a plan that would resurrect the Union and ensure the loyalty of the
former Confederacy. Any rebel State would be enabled to form a loyal State Union government if a
number equal to ten percent of its white males who had voted in 1860 took an oath of allegiance to the
Constitution and the Union and had received a presidential pardon. Participants were required to swear
832
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) p. 478
Wikipedia, Reconstruction Era, Military governors installed, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_Era
(accessed 11/29/2014)
834
Wikipedia, Andrew Johnson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson (accessed 11/29/2014)
835
Wikipedia, Edward Stanly, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Stanly (accessed 11/29/2014)
836
Wikipedia, George Foster Shepley (Maine and Louisiana),
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Foster_Shepley_(Maine_and_Louisiana) (accessed 11/29/2014)
837
Wikipedia, Benjamin Flanders, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Flanders (accessed 11/29/2014)
838
Wikipedia, Michael Hahn, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hahn (accessed 11/29/2014)
839
Wikipedia, John S. Phelps, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Phelps (accessed 11/29/2014)
833
173
their support for laws and proclamations that addressed emancipation of slaves. Excluded from the
pardon were high-ranking members of the Confederacy.840
On December 8, 1863, President Lincoln issued Presidential Proclamation 108 - Amnesty and
Reconstruction:841
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas in and by the Constitution of the United States it is provided that the President "shall
have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in
cases of impeachment;" and
Whereas a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State governments of several States have for
a long time been subverted, and many persons have committed and are now guilty Of treason
against the United States; and
Whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by Congress
declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and
conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any
time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the
existing rebellion in any State or part thereof pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at
such times and on such conditions as he may deem expedient for the public welfare; and
Whereas the Congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon accords with wellestablished judicial exposition of the pardoning power; and
Whereas, with reference to said rebellion, the President of the United States has issued several
proclamations with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves; and
Whereas it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their
allegiance to the United States and to reinaugurate loyal State governments within and for their
respective States:
Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make
known to all persons who have, directly or by implication participated in the existing rebellion,
except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them,
with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves and in property cases where rights
of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every such person shall take
840
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/ (accessed October 29, 2014).
841
Abraham Lincoln: "Proclamation 108 - Amnesty and Reconstruction," December 8, 1863. Online by Gerhard
Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69987
(accessed 11/29/2014)
174
and subscribe an oath and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate, and which oath
shall be registered for permanent preservation and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to
wit:
I,_________,do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully
support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States
thereunder; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress
passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed,
modified, or held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme Court: and that I will in like
manner abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the
existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void
by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God.
The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are all who are or shall
have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the so-called Government; all who have left
judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion; all who are or shall have been
military or naval officers of said so-called Confederate Government above the rank of colonel in
the army or of lieutenant in the navy; all who left seats in the United States Congress to aid the
rebellion; all who resigned commissions in the Army or Navy of the United States and
afterwards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in any way in treating colored
persons, or white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and
which persons may have been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any
other capacity.
And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that whenever, in any of the States of
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina,
and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less than one-tenth in number of the votes cast
in such State at the Presidential election of the year A. D. 1860, each having taken the oath
aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the
State existing immediately before the so-called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall
reestablish a State government which shall be republican and in nowise contravening
[breaking or violating] said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government of the State,
and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional provision which
declares that "the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form
of government and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the
legislature, or the executive (when the legislature can not be convened), against domestic
violence."
And I do further proclaim, declare. and make known that any provision which may be adopted
by such State government in relation to the freed people of such State which shall recognize and
declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent
as a temporary arrangement with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless
class, will not be objected to by the National Executive.
175
And it is suggested as not improper that in constructing a loyal State government in any State
the name of the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the general code of
laws as before the rebellion be maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary.
by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said conditions
and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new State government.
To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this proclamation, so far as it relates to
State governments, has no reference to States wherein loyal State governments have all the
while been maintained. And for the same reason it may be proper to further say that whether
members sent to Congress from any State shall be admitted to seats constitutionally rests
exclusively with the respective Houses, and not to any extent with the Executive. And, still
further, that this proclamation is intended to present the people of the States wherein the
national authority has been suspended and loyal State governments have been subverted a
mode in and by which the national authority and loyal State governments may be reestablished
within said States or in any of them; and while the mode presented is the best the Executive can
suggest, with his present impressions, it must not be understood that no other possible mode
would be acceptable.
Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the 8th day of December, A. D. 1863, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary, of State.
It is noteworthy that President Lincoln used the words, “so-called act of secession.” He understood the
Law of Perpetuity and that once a State entered the Union with their State constitution approved and
accepted by Congress, the State could not lawfully leave, or secede, from the Union.
Also noteworthy is Lincoln’s effort to be in compliance with Article IV Section 4 of the Constitution by
working toward reestablishing LOYAL State governments for the Southern States and bringing them
back into the Union of States as well as providing protection to the people of those States from
invasion or domestic violence. He sincerely sought Constitutional protection and benefits for the
people of the South as well as the North. His effort was reasonable in directing loyal, qualified Citizens
of those States by appropriate oath to reestablish their State governments in a manner loyal to the
Constitution as well as swear allegiance to be law-abiding inclusive of any Congressional legislation
pertaining to the liberation of slaves. President Lincoln displayed diplomacy while also following
constitutional law (specifically Article 1, Section 5, Clause 1) by acknowledging that it was up to the
176
respective Houses of Congress in validating the qualifications of and in admitting members sent to
Congress from any State and not to him as the Executive.
Lincoln was adamant in carrying out a complete reconciliation with the South and its Citizens in very
generous terms. The Nation had been devastated and war-torn for four very long and hard years. The
number of sons and husbands killed in war were 360,000 Union soldiers and 260,000 Confederate
soldiers. The wounds and scars of the souls of their loved ones left behind was exponentially greater in
number amidst the Nation’s population of about 35 million at that time.842 President Lincoln
understood the need to move quickly – and wisely – in directing the Nation toward healing and
reconciliation. His Ten Percent Plan was a foundational start toward resolving large issues.
Major challenges that had to be addressed included:843




How the South, physically devastated by war and socially revolutionized by emancipation, would
be rebuilt.
How the liberated slaves would fare as free men and women.
How the Southern States would be reintegrated into the Union.
Who would direct the process of Reconstruction: the President, the (interim Executive)
Congress, or the Southern States themselves.
There were other questions that clamored for answers like what should be done with the captured
Confederate ringleaders, all of whom were liable to charges of treason. Jefferson Davis844 who was the
President of the Confederate States (and formerly had a several year service as a U.S. Senator, U.S.
Representative, had previously been a U.S. Secretary of War) was imprisoned in 1865 for two years,
never brought to trial, (a violation of the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees the
right to a speedy and public trial845) and then pardoned by President Johnson in December, 1868. The
factors that play into understanding the whole scenario is nothing short of tremendous. In this man’s
situation, it is reported that after two years of imprisonment he was released on $100,000 bond of
which a contributor was Gerrit Smith,846 a member of The Secret Six. The Secret Six were a group of
wealthy and/or influential northern men who held strong conviction toward abolition.847 So we see
emotions, convictions, and opinions were wide and varied at this tremendous time of upheaval.
One issue up and coming was the struggle that the four million slaves that had been suddenly
emancipated were faced with: the question, “How free is free?” It was a question that turned out to be
842
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Statistics" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/statistics.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
843
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) p. 479
844
Wikipedia, Jefferson Davis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis (accessed 11/29/2014)
845
Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute, U.S. Constitution, Sixth Amendment,
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/sixth_amendment (accessed 11/29/2014)
846
Wikipedia, Gerrit Smith, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Smith (accessed 11/29/2014)
847
Wikipedia, The Secret Six, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Six (accessed 11/1/2014)
177
an extremely difficult and complex one. Was freedom simply the absence of bondage, or did it mean
the right to obtain an education, receive healthcare, negotiate wages, to vote, and to own land?848
The “interim Executive Congress” was not in agreement with Lincoln’s Reconstruction policies as they
felt Lincoln was too lenient with the Southern rebels and feared the restoration of the planter
aristocracy to power along with possible re-enslavement of the black people.849 During the war, the
Radical Republicans often opposed Lincoln in his selection of Generals as well as his efforts to bring
States back into the Union. The radicals of Lincoln’s party – Charles Sumner,850 Benjamin Wade,851
George Julian,852 and Thaddeus Stevens853 held disdain for Lincoln from the beginning and had
attempted to usurp his power wherever and whenever possible.854 The Radicals were men of principles.
Before the war they had been the strongest Republicans opposing the expansion of slavery. During the
war they were the first to call for arming of black troops and for issuing emancipation. They were
supporting the rights of black people long before there was any conceivable political benefit to be
gained.855
The Radical Republicans proposed an alternative to Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan. The Wade-Davis Bill856 of
1864 was a Bill proposed for the reconstruction of the South written by two Radical Republicans, the
aforementioned Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio and Representative Henry Winter Davis857 of
Maryland. In contrast to President Lincoln's more lenient Ten Percent Plan, the Wade-Davis Bill made
re-admittance to the Union for former Confederate States contingent on a majority in each Southern
State to take the “Ironclad oath”858 to the effect they had never supported the Confederacy. The
Wade-Davis Bill passed both houses of Congress on July 2, 1864, and was handed to President Lincoln
less than an hour before the adjournment of the session sine die. Lincoln responded with a “pocket
veto”859 and therefore the Bill never took effect. It was Lincoln’s objective to mend the Union by
carrying out his Ten Percent Plan. As eloquently expressed in his Presidential Proclamation of July 8,
1864, Lincoln believed it would be too difficult to repair all the ties within the Union if the Wade-Davis
Bill was implemented.860 The Radical Republicans retaliated and refused to seat delegates from
848
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Summary & Analysis" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/summary.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
849
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) p. 485
850
Wikipedia, Charles Sumner, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumner (accessed 11/29/2014)
851
Wikipedia, Benjamin Wade, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wade (accessed 11/29/2014)
852
Wikipedia, George Washington Julian, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Julian (accessed
11/29/2014)
853
Wikipedia, Thaddeus Stevens, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Stevens (accessed 11/29/2014)
854
ed. The Hillsdale College History Faculty, American Heritage A Reader, V Sectionalism and Civil War, (Hillsdale:
Hillsdale College Press, 2011) , p. 371
855
Pbs.org, American Experience, Reconstruction The Second Civil War,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/filmmore/pt.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
856
Wikipedia, Wade-Davis Bill, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade%E2%80%93Davis_Bill (accessed 11/29/2014)
857
Wikipedia, Henry Winter Davis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Winter_Davis (accessed 11/29/2014)
858
Wikipedia, Ironclad oath, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironclad_oath (accessed 11/29/2014)
859
Wikipedia, Pocket veto, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_veto (accessed 11/29/2014)
860
Abraham Lincoln: "Proclamation 115 - Concerning a Bill "To Guarantee to Certain States, Whose Governments
Have Been Usurped or Overthrown, a Republican Form of Government," and Concerning Reconstruction," July 8,
178
Louisiana after that State had reorganized its government in accordance with Lincoln’s Ten Percent
Plan.861
The Radicals criticized Lincoln’s leniency. Their goal of reconstruction was to readmit the Southern
States into the Union on terms that were acceptable to the North. That meant full political and civil
equality for black Americans and denying political rights to white proslavery leaders of the Secession
movement. The Radicals wanted to insure that the newly freed black men and women were protected
and given their rights as Americans.862
Just five days after the surrender of the Confederate forces President Lincoln was assassinated on April
14, 1865 and died the next day. Succeeding Abraham Lincoln as President was then Freemason Vice
President Andrew Johnson.863 Johnson continued the part of Commander-in-Chief of Military Rule as he
moved forward with his own Reconstruction policy. Southerners anxiously waited for the first seven
weeks of Johnson’s presidency to hear what he would mandate before allowing them back into the
Union. At the time many white Southerners, including the leadership of the Confederacy, expected and
would have accepted relatively harsh policies. It soon became clear that Andrew Johnson wanted a
speedy, lenient restoration of the Union with as little change made to the Constitution as possible. The
rebel States were encouraged to quickly form new governments with no interference from the Federal
Government. The President’s leniency surprised many in the North while Southerners responded with
relief.864
Johnson laid out only minimal requirements. The Southerners were required to admit that they lost the
war, the war was over, and slavery and secession were dead. Johnson was harder on the planter
aristocracy in that he insisted that wealthy plantation owners and Confederate leaders personally
approach him and beg for clemency. That set the tone in eliminating the planter class from leadership
of Southern politics as a pardon was necessary in order to vote, hold office, as well as to get their
property back if it’s been seized by the Federal Government. Johnson had been raised in poverty and
held no sympathy for the wealthy plantation owners. He identified with poor white southerners.
Before the war, they had far outnumbered the slave owners. Now, Johnson was anxious to protect poor
whites from what they perceived as a new threat. With freedom of the black people, it meant that they
would have to compete with this new element for livelihood, for social position, and political power.
Johnson’s aim was to bring the white South and the white North back together. The black people were
1864. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69995 (accessed 10/15/2014)
861
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) p. 486
862
Pbs.org, Richard Wormser, Jim Crow Stories, Reconstruction 1865-77,
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_reconstruct.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
863
Eric Jon Phelps, Vatican Assassins, (Eric Jon Phelps, PO Box 306, Newmanstown, PA 17073) (2001), p. 359, 391,
352, 418
864
Pbs.org, American Experience, Reconstruction The Second Civil War,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/filmmore/pt.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
179
not a consideration in Johnson’s vision of the postwar South. He felt their place was in the labor force
without rights to land or much of anything else.865
Johnson’s disrespect for the freedmen infuriated many in Washington, and none more than U.S.
Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania. Stevens had been an aggressive abolitionist long
before the war. With the Republican Party he led that small, vocal faction known as the Radicals.866
Let it be emphasized again that Congress remained a rump “interim Executive Congress,” NOT a
LAWFUL deliberative body under the Constitution while there remained vacant seats for States and
the people of them who were not represented. The only business this temporary administrative body
(rump Congress) could perform was to maintain the business of the government so the Union would
not collapse. The Federal Government was under color of law in this interim period UNTIL the People
of the Southern States could reestablish LOYAL State governments in Union and then elect
Congressional officers that would represent them and who would operate lawfully under the
Constitution. In regards to any legislation, in order for laws to be binding they must have the consent
of the American people through their representatives as Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution
guarantees to EVERY State in the Union a representative form of governance.867 Anything else, or
contrary, would be repugnant to the Constitution.868 By constitutional law, the Federal Government
had to be returned to the People as soon as the insurrection was put down.
The “interim Executive Congress” ran on high-adrenaline in this juncture of time. Having come through
the devastation of war in which many of the statesmen had served in active military duty as officers,
they also were in upheaval in the assassination of the Commander-in-Chief, still dealt with Southern
hostilities as some Southern States attempted to return rebel Confederate treasonous officers to
Congress, and had a new President they felt was too lenient with the Southern States. An extreme addto in the mix was that President Johnson began showing a change in heart where he actually aided the
unrepentant former Confederate “traitors.” Where historians have marked Johnson’s change of heart
as “mysterious,”869 in light of the knowledge of Johnson’s involvement in Freemasonry as well as
being quickly installed in the high-level Scottish degrees870 and acclaimed by Masons to be the first
President to become a Scottish Rite Mason,871 Johnson’s change of heart is no longer a mystery.
865
Ibid.
Ibid.
867
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Article 4, Section 4" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/constitution/article-4-section-4.html (accessed October 29, 2014).
868
Marbury v. Madison, 1803, “A law repugnant to the Constitution is void.” With these words, Chief Justice John
Marshall established the Supreme Court’s role in the new government. Hereafter, the Court was recognized as
having the power to review all acts of Congress where constitutionality was at issue, and judge whether they abide
by the Constitution.
869
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Summary & Analysis" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/summary.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
870
H. Paul Jeffers, Freemasons: A History and Exploration of the World’s Oldest Secret Society, (New York: Citadel
Press Books Kensington Publishing Corp., 2005), p. 105
871
37th Masonic District, The Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, Andrew Johnson,
http://www.pagrandlodge.org/district37/D37_Presidents/D37-AJohnson.php (accessed November 17, 2014)
866
180
Aiding the unrepentant treasonous Freemason Confederate ringleaders would NOT achieve LOYAL
State governments in returning to the Union.
The Union was yet in disrepair, there were the issues of civil rights for the newly freedmen in which the
new President didn’t care about. Then consider Congress’ serious concern in being limited in
Congressional powers while they were yet a temporary administrative body, not a lawful deliberative
body under the Constitution. Likewise, hanging over their heads was the dreaded thought that the
Southern men who would fill those vacant seats in the Halls of Congress and also hold in their hands the
balance of legislative power872 that could very well be the tipping of a second insurrection and fate of
the Republic… We can sense their frustration while discerning their fears. They were desperate. The
story grows with drama as we continue to piece together documented facts displayed as evidence and
thought-provokingly not fully told in history textbooks…
Let’s look at a few items on the history timeline. In January, 1865 General William Sherman issued
Special Field Order 15 which set aside confiscated plantation land along the coast of South Carolina and
Georgia for black families to settle in 40-acre plots. By June that year, 40,000 freedmen and women
were living on the land given to them with seed and farming necessities provided by the Freedmen’s
Bureau. In March, 1865 the Freedmen’s Bureau had been established within the War Department as an
agency to smooth the transition from slavery to freedom. The Bureau built schools for the former slaves
and fed and clothed war refugees, black and white. The Bureau’s agents had military authority to settle
labor disputes and conflicts between former slaves and masters. Congress had chartered the
Freedmen’s Savings Bank. In April, 1865 the Confederate Army surrendered and a few days later
President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded. Andrew Johnson became the seventeenth President.
On May 29, 1865 Johnson announced his own plan of Presidential Reconstruction in a Presidential
Proclamation “Granting Amnesty to Participants in Rebellion, with Certain exceptions.”873
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas the President of the United States, on the 8th day of December, A. D. 1863, and on the
26th day of March, A. D. 1864, did, with the object to suppress the existing rebellion, to induce
all persons to return to their loyalty, and to restore the authority of the United States, issue
proclamations offering amnesty and pardon to certain persons who had, directly or by
implication, participated in the said rebellion; and
872
Loyal Publication Society, The Conditions of Reconstruction; in a Letter from Robert Dale Owen to the Secretary
of State, August 27, 1863, (New York: Wm. C. Bryant & Co, Printers 1863), p. 3,
https://archive.org/details/conditionsofrec00owen (accessed 11/5/2014)
873
Andrew Johnson: "Proclamation 134 - Granting Amnesty to Participants in the Rebellion, with Certain
Exceptions," May 29, 1865. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=72392 (accessed 10/15/2014)
181
Whereas many persons who had so engaged in said rebellion have, since the issuance of said
proclamations, failed or neglected to take the benefits offered thereby; and
Whereas many persons who have been justly deprived of all claim to amnesty and pardon
thereunder by reason of their participation, directly or by implication, in said rebellion and
continued hostility to the Government of the United States since the date of said proclamations
now desire to apply for and obtain amnesty and pardon.
To the end, therefore, that the authority of the Government of the United States may be
restored and that peace, order, and freedom may be established, I, Andrew Johnson, President
of the United States, do proclaim and declare that I hereby grant to all persons who have,
directly or indirectly, participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted,
amnesty and pardon, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves and except in
cases where legal proceedings under the laws of the United States providing for the confiscation
of property of persons engaged in rebellion have been instituted; but upon the condition,
nevertheless, that every such person shall take and subscribe the following oath (or affirmation)
and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate, and which oath shall be registered for
permanent preservation and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:
I,_________,do solemnly swear (or affirm, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth
faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of
the States thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all laws and
proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the
emancipation of slaves. So help me God.
The following classes of persons are excepted from the benefits of this proclamation:
First. All who are or shall have been pretended civil or diplomatic officers or otherwise
domestic or foreign agents of the pretended Confederate government.
Second. All who left judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion.
Third. All who shall have been military or naval officers of said pretended Confederate
government above the rank of colonel in the army or lieutenant in the navy.
Fourth. All who left seats in the Congress of the United States to aid the rebellion.
Fifth. All who resigned or tendered resignations of their commissions in the Army or Navy of the
United States to evade duty in resisting the rebellion.
Sixth. All who have engaged in any way in treating otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war
persons found in the United States service as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in other capacities.
Seventh. All persons who have been or are absentees from the United States for the purpose of
aiding the rebellion.
182
Eighth. All military and naval officers in the rebel service who were educated by the Government
in the Military Academy at West Point or the United States Naval Academy.
Ninth. All persons who held the pretended offices of governors of States in insurrection
against the United States.
Tenth. All persons who left their homes within the jurisdiction and protection of the United
States and passed beyond the Federal military lines into the pretended Confederate States for
the purpose of aiding the rebellion.
Eleventh. All persons who have been engaged in the destruction of the commerce of the United
States upon the high seas and all persons who have made raids into the United States from
Canada or been engaged in destroying the commerce of the United States upon the lakes and
rivers that separate the British Provinces from the United States.
Twelfth. All persons who, at the time when they seek to obtain the benefits hereof by taking the
oath herein prescribed, are in military, naval, or civil confinement or custody, or under bonds of
the civil, military, or naval authorities or agents of the United States as prisoners of war, or
persons detained for offenses of any kind, either before or after conviction.
Thirteenth. All persons who have voluntarily participated in said rebellion and the estimated
value of whose taxable property is over $20,000.
Fourteenth. All persons who have taken the oath of amnesty as prescribed in the President's
proclamation of December 8, A. D. 1863, or an oath of allegiance to the Government of the
United States since the date of said proclamation and who have not thenceforward kept and
maintained the same inviolate.
Provided, That special application may be made to the President for pardon by any person
belonging to the excepted classes, and such clemency will be liberally extended as may be
consistent with the facts of the case and the peace and dignity of the United States.
The Secretary of State will establish rules and regulations for administering and recording the
said amnesty oath, so as to insure its benefit to the people and guard the Government against
fraud.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to
be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, the 29th day of May, A. D. 1865, and of the Independence of
the United States the eighty-ninth.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
By the President:
183
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.
The “interim Executive Congress,” as well as Citizenry, was furious with Johnson in his Reconstruction
plan. The land that had been confiscated from Confederate plantation owners and given to the
former slaves, “freedmen” which had been worked and planted by these people – the land, a means
to take care of themselves – who were never paid wages for their labor throughout their tenure as
slaves and had nowhere to go when emancipated was now returned to the treasonous, unrepentant
Confederate plantation aristocracy by this Presidential Proclamation of amnesty. Johnson took full
advantage while Congress was in recess and passed out pardons by the thousands.874 By September of
1865 hundreds of Presidential pardons were being issued in a single day to where special clerks had to
be hired to keep up with the paperwork.875
Soon after there was scandal and outrage when President Johnson’s limited pardon policy had been
violated and abandoned as evidenced and displayed in Southern States electing former Confederate
officers to both State Legislatures and Congressional seats. On the first day of the congressional
season, December 4, 1865, the Republicans in Congress banged shut the door in the face of the newly
elected Southern delegations. More than sixty former Confederates arrived to take their seats in
Congress, including four generals, four colonels and six Confederate cabinet officers.876 To add insult to
injury there was Alexander Stephens, the former vice president of the Confederacy and who was still
under indictment for treason.877 Public offices were overrun with the wealthy plantation owners, the
former Slave Power who reestablished white supremacy and refused to extend the vote to black men.
Perhaps one way of looking at it is that in seeking able representatives, the voters of the Southern States
had turned instinctively to their experienced statesmen. It was a natural but costly blunder in that most
of the Southern leaders were tainted by active association with the “Lost Cause.”878 Another viewpoint
is that there was a nestled control of power amongst a select (oligarchic) group who manipulated
precisely who would be sent to Congress.
Congress had the delegated right to refuse the Southern delegates per Article 1, Section 5, Clause 1 of
the Constitution:
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members,
and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may
874
University of Virginia Miller Center, Andrew Johnson,
http://millercenter.org/president/johnson/essays/biography/print (accessed 11/29/2014)
875
Pbs.org, American Experience, Reconstruction The Second Civil War,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/filmmore/pt.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
876
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Summary & Analysis" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/summary.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
877
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) p. 488
878
Wikipedia, Lost Cause of the Confederacy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy
(accessed 11/29/2014)
184
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members,
in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.879
Shmoop University, Inc., is a credible academic resource written by educators and experts from
America's top universities, including Stanford, Harvard, and UC Berkeley.880 The Shmoop Editorial Team
explains Article 1, Section 5, Clause 1:
“This clause has two separate and seemingly unrelated parts. First, the House and the Senate
are given the power to judge the qualifications of their own members. In the case of a
disputed Senate election, for example, in which both candidates claim to have won the vote, it is
ultimately up to the Senate itself to decide which candidate gets the seat. Second, a majority of
either chamber's membership is required to be present to constitute a quorum. Congress can
continue to conduct business with less than a quorum present, but any member can then
issue a "quorum call," requiring either that a majority of the members actually show up or
that the house takes a temporary adjournment.”881
The second point is also very important to bear in mind with regard to the subject of “quorum” in the
houses of Congress.
It was very clear that high-level Freemason President Johnson experienced a change of heart when he
began showing support for white supremacy in the South and favored pro-Union Southern political
leaders who had aided the Confederacy once war had been declared.882 Johnson’s change of heart
also alienated Congress.883 Let us be reminded as stated in the previous chapter that on April 22, 1866
President Johnson pardoned fellow Freemason and Grand Master Mason Albert Pike who had been
found guilty of treason and imprisoned. Quite interesting is that President Johnson met with Pike the
very next day at the White House.884 Johnson received the (high-level) Scottish Rite degrees of
Freemasonry at the White House in 1867.885
By November, 1865 Southern legislatures began drafting “Black Codes” in attempt to restore slavery
in a more subtle form while also reestablishing white supremacy. These laws had the intent and the
effect of restricting the freedom of the black American “freedmen” by compelling them to work in a
labor economy based on low wages or debt. President Johnson was supportive of the Southerners in
this endeavor.
879
University of Chicago Press and the Liberty Fund, The Founders Constitution, Article 1, Section 5, Clauses 1,
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/tocs/a1_5.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
880
Shmoop University, Inc., How to Cite Shmoop, http://www.shmoop.com/help/cite-shmoop/
881
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Article 1, Section 5" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November 2008.
http://www.shmoop.com/constitution/article-1-section-5.html (accessed November 20, 2014).
882
Pbs.org, Richard Wormser, Jim Crow Stories, Reconstruction 1865-77,
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_reconstruct.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
883
Ibid.
884
ThreeWorldWars.com, Who Was Albert Pike?, http://www.threeworldwars.com/albert-pike.htm (accessed
9/2/2014)
885
H. Paul Jeffers, Freemasons: A History and Exploration of the World’s Oldest Secret Society, (New York: Citadel
Press Books, Kensington Publishing Corp., 2005), p. 105
185
On December 1, 1865, President Johnson had issued a Presidential Proclamation886 that revoked and
annulled the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus,”887 in the Northern States as had previously
been proclaimed by President Lincoln in ALL of the States; however, President Johnson “excepted”
(excluded or omitted) the Southern States, the District of Columbia, and southwest Territory. The
suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus continued in those areas of the country. Throughout the
Reconstruction Era the law form moved further away from returning to a republican form of
government and steadily toward a Democracy. The Southern States were NOT ABLE to reestablish
State governments in republican form, nor did they have representation in Congress as “laws” were
passed by a rump Congress, a VIOLATION of Article IV Section 4 of the Constitution.
On December 6, 1865, President Johnson then announced that the rebellious States had satisfied his
conditions and that in his view the Union was now restored.888 He declared the reconstruction process
complete. Infuriated at his ignorance in many regards, Radical Republicans in Congress refused to
recognize new governments in Southern States. Johnson continued the suspension of the Writ of
Habeas Corpus in the Southern States and yet began pulling Union Army troops in the South from the
one million Union soldiers the previous May down to where there were only 152,000. Southern towns
and cities began to experience a large influx of freedmen. The black populations of the ten largest cities
in the South doubled over the next five years.889
Bearing in mind Johnson’s support of white supremacy in the South and favoring pro-Union Southern
political leaders who had aided the Confederacy once war had been declared,890 it adds to the intrigue
in learning that certain high-level Freemasons were used to stifle the capture of John H. Surratt, coconspirator to the assassination of President Lincoln. One of them was President Andrew Johnson, and
another avid Freemason, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. 891 With the knowledge that Surratt was in
Liverpool, England, Stanton’s War Department refused to make the least attempt to arrest him. A few
weeks later President Johnson revoked the reward for the arrest of Surratt, greatly increasing the
assassin’s chances to escape.892 Secretly, Johnson served the Jesuits by working with his Masonic
brethren who protected Lincoln’s assassin in obedience to their master, Grand Master Mason Albert
886
Andrew Johnson: "Proclamation 148 - Revoking the Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, Except in Certain
States and Territories," December 1, 1865. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American
Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=72046 (accessed 11/29/2014)
887
Abraham Lincoln: "Proclamation 94 - Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus," September 24, 1862. Online by
Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=69783 (accessed 11/29/2014)
888
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) p. 488
889
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Timeline of Important Dates" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November
2008. http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/timeline.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
890
Pbs.org, Richard Wormser, Jim Crow Stories, Reconstruction 1865-77,
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_reconstruct.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
891
Steven Hager, Is Simon Wolf a key to the Lincoln assassination?,
http://stevenhager420.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/is-simon-wolf-a-key-to-the-lincoln-assassination/ (accessed
11/29/2014)
892
Eric Jon Phelps, Vatican Assassins, (Eric Jon Phelps, PO Box 306, Newmanstown, PA 17073) (2001), p. 359, 391,
359
186
Pike.893 As previously stated, Pike is “credited” on the website of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
world headquarters at Washington, D.C. with a revival of the organization during the Reconstruction
period after the Civil War.894
On December 13, 1865, the Joint Committee on Reconstruction was established after both houses of
Congress agreed to establish a joint committee of 15 members – nine from the House of
Representatives and six from the Senate.895 It was created “to inquire into the condition of the States
which formed the so-called Confederate States of America, and report whether they or any of them are
entitled to be represented in either house of Congress…”896 This committee divided into four
subcommittees to hear testimony and gather evidence pertaining to the situation and status in each of
the four Military Districts in the South.
On December 18, 1865 the (non-original) Thirteenth Amendment897 was (unlawfully) ratified by both
houses of the rump “interim Executive Congress” and which prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude.
At this same time a terrorist group was formed primarily composed of Confederate Army veterans
organized to intimidate blacks and other ethnic and religious minorities. They were referred to as the
Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The group first met in Pulaski, Tennessee. The KKK is the first of many secret
terrorist organizations who were organized in the South for the purpose of reestablishing white
authority.898 There is no question that Masonry was an influence in the Klan’s structure after the Civil
War.899
In February, 1866 a black delegation led by Frederick Douglass met with President Johnson at the White
House to advocate black suffrage. The President expressed his opposition and the meeting ended in
controversy.900 This same month Johnson vetoed a Bill (later repassed) extending the life of the
Freedmen’s Bureau.
893
Ibid., p. 352
The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Supreme Council, 33o Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., Grand Staircase,
http://scottishrite.org/headquarters/virtual-tour/grand-staircase/ (accessed 9/25/2014)
895
Wikipedia, United States Congress Joint Committee on Reconstruction,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress_Joint_Committee_on_Reconstruction (accessed
11/29/2014)
896
TheUSConstitution.org, Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction.,
http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Report_of_the_Joint_Committee_on_Reconstruction.pdf
(accessed 11/29/2014)
897
Wikipedia, Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution (accessed 11/29/2014)
898
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Timeline of Important Dates" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November
2008. http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/timeline.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
899
H. Paul Jeffers, Freemasons: A History and Exploration of the World’s Oldest Secret Society, (New York: Citadel
Press Books Kensington Publishing Corp., 2005), p. 106
900
TheUSConstitution.org, Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction.,
http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Report_of_the_Joint_Committee_on_Reconstruction.pdf
(accessed 11/29/2014)
894
187
On April 9, 1866 the “interim Executive Congress” passed the Civil Rights Bill over President Johnson’s
veto the previous month.901 Johnson objected to the Bill stating that black people did not deserve to
become Citizens, and if they were given Citizenship it would discriminate against the white race.
Johnson had also expressed concern that both the Civil Rights Bill and the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill would
centralize power at the Federal level, thus depriving States of the authority to govern their own affairs.
Where this is viewed as a typical prewar States’ Rights philosophy, we now understand another aspect
of concern of the centralized Federal powers (big government) created in this Era.902
In May 1866 there were three days of racial violence rages in Memphis, Tennessee where white mobs
destroyed hundreds of homes, churches, and schools in the black community. Five black women were
raped, at least 46 black people most of whom were Union veterans were killed and more than 70 were
wounded. Two whites also died in the riots. 903
On June 20, 1866 the Joint Committee on Reconstruction issued a Report which was signed by twelve of
its Republican members. The Report was widely circulated and the American people were provided the
means to view the facts which placed a serious challenge on the integrity of President Johnson and his
views, as well as surmise the investigated conclusions arrived at by the Congressional Committee.904
Also in June, 1866, Republicans in Congress proposed the Fourteenth Amendment to rivet the principles
of the Civil Rights Bill into the Constitution. They feared that the Southerners might one day gain
control of Congress and repeal the Civil Rights law that the Southerners hated. The (interim Executive)
Congress sent the Amendment to the States who gave a sweeping positive response. The Republicans
agreed that no State should be welcomed back into the Union without first ratifying the (unlawful)
Fourteenth Amendment. President Johnson advised the Southern States to reject it. 905
In July, 1866 Tennessee was the first former Confederate State to be readmitted to the Union. Around
that same time the New Orleans Massacre, also known as the New Orleans Race Riot, occurred. While
the riot was typical of numerous racial conflicts in this Era, this incident had special significance. It
spurred national opposition to the more than moderate Reconstruction policies of President Johnson
and propelled a far more reaching Congressional Reconstruction in 1867. 906
The riot took place as black and white delegates attended the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. The
Convention had reconvened because the Louisiana State Legislature had recently passed the Black
Codes and refused to extend voting rights to black men. The mayor, who had headed city government
901
Pbs.org, American Experience, Reconstruction The Second Civil War, The 1866 Civil Rights Act,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/activism/ps_1866.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
902
Ibid.
903
Digital History, America’s Reconstruction, People and Politics After the Civil War, The Meaning of Freedom,
Black and White Responses to the End of Slavery,
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/section2/section2_33.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
904
TheUSConstitution.org, Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction.,
http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Report_of_the_Joint_Committee_on_Reconstruction.pdf
(accessed 11/29/2014)
905
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) p. 489
906
BlackPast.org, New Orleans Massacre, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/new-orleans-massacre-1866 (accessed
11/29/2014)
188
before the Civil War and had been an active supporter of the Confederacy, was reinstated as acting
mayor. As a delegation of 130 black New Orleans residents marched behind the U.S. flag toward the
Convention, the mayor led an organized mob of ex-Confederates, white supremacists, and members of
the New Orleans police to block their way. With intention to prevent the delegates from meeting, the
mayor claimed their intent was to put down any unrest that may come from the Convention. Having
reached the Convention, the police and white mob members attacked the delegates. It was an
enflamed mess to where by the end of the massacre; at least 200 black Union war veterans were killed
including 40 delegates at the Convention. Altogether 238 people were killed and 46 were wounded.907
Because of the riots and violence, angry Northerners were compelled to help the Republican Party take
control of both houses of Congress in the elections (in the North only) of 1866.
In that same month, July, 1866 both houses of (the interim Executive) Congress passed a Bill to extend
the Freedmen’s Bureau in response to the Southern Black Codes, the terrorism of the KKK, as well as
other groups who were taking guns away from freedmen. President Johnson vetoed the Bill which
increased hostility between him and the Radical Republicans; Congress overrode the veto. The
Freedmen's Bureau Bill provided many additional rights to ex-slaves, including the distribution of land,
schools for their children, and military courts to ensure these rights. The Freedmen's Bureau Act made
provision for ex-slaves to be entitled to "any of the civil rights or immunities belonging to white persons,
including the right to...inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold and convey real and personal property, and to
have full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and estate, including
the constitutional right of bearing arms."908
During this time of severe upheaval in the South, President Johnson further demobilized Union army
troops to where there were only 38,000 by autumn. More than half of the troops stationed in areas
such as Louisiana were black.909 President Johnson ignored Constitutional law and specifically Article
IV Section 4 in guaranteeing every State in the Union protection against domestic violence.
The battle between President Johnson and the (interim executive) Congress grew until the
Congressional elections of 1866 (in the North only), when the Radicals gained House majority and took
control of policy, removed former Confederates from power, and began to liberate the freedmen. We
again point out that this was not a Constitutional Congress, or a lawful deliberative body under the
Constitution. Likewise, we see desperate Congressional members who were well aware of a high-level
Freemason as President and Commander-in-Chief, were intimately apprised of the evils of
Freemasonry as well as their agenda in infiltrating the government at all levels. They were also well
aware of a new and substantially ornate Freemason Temple being built in the Nation’s capital, like an
in-your-face statement of intentions. They also fully understood that if the Freemason Confederate
907
Ibid.
Wikipedia, Freedmen’s Bureau bills, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedmen's_Bureau_bills (accessed
11/29/2014)
909
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Reconstruction Timeline of Important Dates" Shmoop University, Inc. 11 November
2008. http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/timeline.html (accessed November 5, 2014).
908
189
rebels were to fill Congressional vacant seats, they would lose the legislative balance of power “to the
devil.”
The Radicals were still opposed to rapid restoration of the Southern States and wanted to keep them
out as long as possible while applying federal power to bring about a drastic social and economic
transformation in the South. Moderate Republicans in Congress were more in-tune with the timehonored principles of States’ Rights and self-government. They preferred policies that restrained the
States from abridging Citizens’ rights rather than those that directly involved Federal Government in
individual lives. Both schools of thought influenced actual policies adopted. By 1867, both groups came
to agree on the necessity to enfranchise black voters even if it took federal troops to do it.910
The result of the 1866 elections was significant in the early Reconstruction Era as high-level Freemason
President Andrew Johnson battled in bitter dispute over the conditions of Reconstruction with the
hardline anti-slavery (and former Anti-Masonic Party911) Congressmen within the “Radicals” of the
Republican Party. Because Johnson was the only Southern Senator that stayed seated in Congress and
supported the Union during the Civil War, it was thought that Andrew Johnson was a Radical when he
became president in 1865. He displayed a very apparent change of heart and he soon became their
leading opponent. Johnson held partiality toward his Freemason brethren a/k/a/ Confederate
plantation owners/white aristocracy in the South while Radical Republicans wanted to continue the
military occupation of the South in order to force the Southern States to give the newly freed slaves civil
rights along with the right to vote. Because Republicans had attained the House majority (assuming
themselves to be a lawful Congress or deliberative body in the midst of the desperate struggle to save
the Union), enough seats were captured to override Johnson's vetoes.
Understanding that the Congressional elections of 1866 (in the North only) enabled the Radical
Republicans to dominate the Congress, let’s take a look at who some of them were as well as some
background.
U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (1811-1874) of Massachusetts 912 was an academic lawyer and a
powerful orator. Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and one of
the most influential leaders of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the
Civil War while working to destroy the Confederacy, abolish slavery, and at the same time keep
on good terms with Europe. During Reconstruction, he worked to minimize the power of the exConfederates while he sought to guarantee equal rights to the freedmen. Earlier in Sumner’s
political career he had been a Whig, Free Soiler, and a Democrat, and finally had gained fame as
a Republican. He devoted immense effort toward the destruction of the Slave Power, the
efforts of slave owners to take control of the Federal Government which would ensure the
continuation and expansion of slavery.
In 1856, (Democratic) South Carolina U.S.
Representative Preston Brooks nearly killed Sumner on the Senate floor while beating Sumner
with his cane two days after Sumner delivered an intense anti-slavery speech called "The Crime
910
Kennedy, Cohen, Baily, The American Pageant Volume I: To 1877, (Boston, Wadsworth, 2010) pp. 491-492
Wikipedia, Anti-Masonic Party, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Masonic_Party (accessed 11/29/2014)
912
Wikipedia, Charles Sumner, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumner (accessed 11/29/2014)
911
190
Against Kansas." In the speech, Sumner described Brooks’ cousin, U.S. Senator Andrew Butler of
South Carolina, as a pimp for slavery. During the war Sumner was a leader of the Radical
Republican faction that criticized President Lincoln for being too lenient on the Southern States.
An accomplished statesman, he specialized in foreign affairs and worked closely with President
Lincoln to prevent the British and the French from intervening on the side of the Confederacy
during the Civil War. Sumner's expertise and energy made him a powerful chairman of the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. As the chief Radical leader in the Senate during
Reconstruction, Sumner worked hard to provide equal civil and voting rights for the freedmen
on the grounds that "consent of the governed" was a basic principle of American republicanism,
and to block ex-Confederates from power so they would not reverse the North's victory in the
Civil War. Sumner teamed with the House of Representatives leader Thaddeus Stevens and
battled President Andrew Johnson's reconstruction plans while seeking to impose a Radical
program on the South.
U.S. Representative Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) of Pennsylvania913 was one of the most
influential leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Republican Party during the 1860s. A
fierce opponent of slavery and discrimination against black people, Stevens sought to secure
their rights during Reconstruction, in opposition to President Andrew Johnson. As chairman of
the House Ways and Means Committee during the Civil War, he was instrumental in making
provision for the war's financing. Stevens was born in poverty in rural Vermont, with one leg
crippled by a clubfoot. On top of these challenges, his alcoholic father had abandoned his
family. As a young man he moved to Pennsylvania and quickly became a successful lawyer.
Finding an interest in municipal affairs, Stevens then entered politics. He became a strong
advocate of free public education while serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
He joined the Whig Party, and was elected to Congress in 1848. He was not popular because of
his activities in opposition to slavery, therefore he did not seek reelection in 1852. After a brief
alliance with the Know-Nothing Party, Stevens joined the newly formed Republican Party, and
was elected to Congress again in 1858. Along with fellow Radicals such as Senator Charles
Sumner, he opposed the expansion of slavery and other Southern States’ views. Stevens pushed
for emancipation throughout the war and vocalized frustration related to President Lincoln’s
lenience toward Southern States. He guided the government's financial legislation as chairman
of the House Ways and Means committee. As the war progressed towards a Union victory,
Stevens held that the freedmen should be provided for through the confiscation of planation
owners’ land. Moderate Republicans were not always supportive of Stevens’ views. Stevens
held conflict with President Johnson, who sought rapid restoration of the seceded States
without guarantees for freedmen. The difference in views caused an ongoing battle between
Johnson and Congress, with Stevens leading the Radical Republicans. After the 1866 election (in
the North only) empowered Republicans in the (interim executive) Congress, the Radicals took
control of Reconstruction away from Johnson. Stevens' last great battle was to secure articles of
913
Wikipedia, Thaddeus Stevens, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Stevens (accessed 11/29/2014)
191
impeachment in the House against Johnson, though the Senate’s decision was one vote short of
convicting the President.
Stevens's first political cause was Anti-Masonry, which became widespread in 1826 after the
disappearance and murder of William Morgan, a former Freemason in Upstate New York;
former fellow Freemasons assassinated Morgan because of his publishing a book revealing the
order's secret rites.
Stevens had been told by fellow attorney (and future president) James Buchanan that he could
advance politically if he joined Freemasonry. Some historians may speculate that a reason
Stevens may have opposed Freemasonry as well as politicians who were Masons, was because
Freeasonry barred "cripples" from joining and Stevens was born with a club foot. Stevens
took to Anti-Masonry with enthusiasm, and remained loyal to it even after most others had
dropped the cause. By 1829, Anti-Masonry had evolved into a political party that proved
popular. Stevens quickly became prominent in the movement, attending the party's first two
national conventions in 1830 and 1831.
In September 1833, Stevens was elected to a one-year term in the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives as an Anti-Mason, and once in Harrisburg sought to have the body establish a
committee to investigate Freemasonry. Stevens gained attention far beyond Pennsylvania for
his oratory against Masonry, and also quickly became expert in legislative maneuvers. In
1835, a split among the Democrats put the Anti-Masons in control of the legislature. Granted
subpoena powers, Stevens summoned leading state politicians who were Freemasons,
including Governor George Wolf. The witnesses invoked their Fifth Amendment right against
self-incrimination, and when Stevens verbally abused one of them, it created a backlash that
caused his own party to end the investigation. The quarrel cost Stevens reelection in 1836, and
the issue of Anti-Masonry died in Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, STEVENS REMAINED AN
OPPONENT OF FREEMASONRY FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
The subject of the Anti-Masonic Party and how it came into being, as well as a wonderful revelation into
the spiritual heartbeat of America that brought about the Second Great Awakening will be presented in
the Light of truth and come together like pieces of a puzzle. We will see a physical manifestation of
two spiritual kingdoms clash on earth – the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Hell. We will
recall that just as Almighty God has a people, Lucifer/Satan has a people. While all that pertains to
Heaven operates in the Light, all that pertains to Hell operates in darkness and deception while
crafting its evil deeds.
John 8:44 ESV ~
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
192
John 3:20 ~
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his
deeds will be exposed.
When the people of Almighty God proclaim the sovereignty of God and expose the people of
Lucifer/Satan as well as their deeds done in darkness, the principalities and powers, the rulers of the
darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places are brought into the Light and pulled
down from power.
Ephesians 6:12 ~
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 5:11 (AMP) ~
Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but
instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them.
Then a move of God’s Holy Spirit is released on the earth, the veil914 to the spiritual is pulled back
allowing men to have eyes to see. What is seen is enough to cause them to repent, return to Almighty
God, and Heaven moves on earth while the Supreme Judge of the world destroys His peoples’
enemies.
2 Corinthians 3: 14-18 ~
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the
reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail
shall be taken away.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ~
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with
open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
John 8:32 ESV ~
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
914
2 Corinthians 3:16
193
Romans 2:16 ~
On that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Just as the early Americans proclaimed “No king by King Jesus,”915 when declaration is made and voice
given to the Word of God, who is the son of God, Jesus,916 the angels respond917 in all places of His
dominion. When the Name of the Lord is sanctified amongst a repentant people who acknowledge and
call upon Him,918 He will respond and do great and mighty things.919
As we consider the facts of this chapter along with the next, let us view the pieces of the puzzle in the
Light of truth, see how they fit together, and understand the picture. We will be amazed as our minds
are enlightened with a greater picture that pertains to the Truth in where we are today. Where truth
seems stranger than fiction,920 it is reality as well as the key to Liberty921 and America’s prophetic
destiny. We continue…
The Anti-Masonic Party,922 also known as the Anti-Masonic Movement, was started in 1826 to protest
the official cover-up of the murder of William Morgan,923 a defecting Freemason in western New York.
Anti-masonry became the nation's first powerful “third party.” Anti-masons held that Freemasonry
was a dangerous and powerful secret society that privileged its members legally, politically, and
economically over all non-members by controlling government at all levels. Anti-masons called on
constituents to restore Constitutional self-government by being resolved in voting-out Freemasons from
elected office and seeking to have State laws passed that would declare the fraternity to be illegal. The
movement spread like wild-fire as Anti-masons provided a credible explanation why government
seemed unresponsive to popular demands. Freemasonry was exposed as having infiltrated the
republican form of governance at all levels and sought control acting like an “oligarchic shadow
government.” It expanded by rewarding its members with government positions and other
(unconstitutional) benefits. The Anti-Masonic Party was founded on the fundamental principle that no
man, or group of men, was above the law.924
As negative views of Freemasonry among the public began to diminish in the late 1830s, most members
of the Anti-Masonic Party joined the Whigs, the party most in line with its views on other issues.
915
Cushing Strout, The New Heavens and the New Earth, (New York: Harper & Row, 1973), p. 59
John 1:14
917
Psalm 103:20
918
Ezekiel 43:7-9
919
Jeremiah 33:3
920
The Phrase Finder, The meaning and origin of the expression: Truth is stranger than fiction,
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/truth-is-stranger-than-fiction.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
921
John 8:32
922
Wikipedia, Anti-Masonic Party, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Masonic_Party (accessed 11/29/2014)
923
Wikipedia, William Morgan (anti-Mason), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morgan_(antiMason)#Book_on_Freemasonry (accessed 11/29/2014)
924
Northern Illinois University Libraries, Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, Michael F. Holt, Ph.D., The
Antimasonic Party, http://dig.lib.niu.edu/message/ps-antimasonic.html (accessed 11/29/2014)
916
194
Although lasting only a decade, the Anti-Masonic Party introduced important innovations to American
politics, such as nominating conventions and the adoption of party platforms.925
Just a few more of some of the leading members of the Radical Republicans:926
U.S. Senate president pro tempore Benjamin Wade (1800-1878) of Ohio 927 was a U.S. Senator
during Civil War reconstruction known for his leading role among the Radical Republicans.
Senator Wade was a Whig before the Republican Party had been formed. Had the
impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868 led to a conviction at trial in the Senate, he would
have become the 18th President of the United States.
U.S. Representative George Julian (1817-1899) of Indiana928 was a nineteenth-century politician,
lawyer and writer who served in Congress from Indiana. He was one of the leading opponents
of slavery in politics before the war, had been a Whig before becoming the Free Soil Party's
candidate for vice president in 1852, and a noted Radical Republican during the Civil War and
Reconstruction.
U.S. Representative John Armor Bingham (1815- 1900) of Ohio929 had been judge advocate in
the trial of the President Lincoln’s assassinators and a prosecutor in the impeachment trials of
Andrew Johnson. He was also the principal framer of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United
States Constitution. Rep. Bingham was a member of the Opposition Party930 which was made-up
of former Whigs and Know-Nothing Party members, before he became a member of the
Republican Party.
U.S. Representative Henry Winter Davis (1817-1865) of Maryland931 Early held strong antislavery views, though by inheritance he was himself a slave holder. He began political life as a
Whig. After the Whig Party disintegrated, he became a member of the Know Nothing Party,
and served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1855 to 1861. By his
independent course in Congress he won the respect and esteem of all political groups. Davis was
a Radical Republican and bitter opponent of Lincoln's plan for the Reconstruction of the
Southern States, which he thought too lenient.
In viewing the birth year of the individuals, one could reason that Rep. Thaddeus Stevens was the only
one of age and in politics in the era of the Anti-Masonic Party. By the time the others came along the
Anti-Masonic Party had dissolved and its members absorbed into the Whig Party.
925
Wikipedia, Anti-Masonic Party, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Masonic_Party (accessed 11/29/2014)
Wikipedia, Radical Republican, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Republican (accessed 11/29/2014)
927
Wikipedia, Benjamin Wade, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wade (accessed 11/29/2014)
928
Wikipedia, George Washington Julian, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Julian (accessed
11/29/2014)
929
Wikipedia, John Bingham, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bingham (accessed 11/29/2014)
930
Wikipedia, Opposition Party (United States), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_Party_(United_States)
(accessed 11/29/2014)
931
Wikipedia, Henry Winter Davis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Winter_Davis (accessed 11/29/2014)
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It serves us well to also mention that Secretary of State William H. Seward under President Abraham
Lincoln and then succeeding President Andrew Johnson was part of the Anti-Masonic Party before
becoming a Whig and then a Republican. We will remember the traumatic assassination attempt on
his life at the same time as the assassination of President Lincoln.
A Tree is Known By Its Fruit
For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble
bush gather they grapes.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil
man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of
the heart his mouth speaketh.
~ Luke 6:43-45
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