Republican Reconstruction and Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment

Abstract

T IS WELL KNOWN that the Republicans intended to perpetuate their party's ascendency after the Civil War.' Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment2 was, of course, an important part of their plan. Where that particular section of the amendment should have fitted into the party's blueprint and how it was to do so, has not yet been adequately sketched. Specifically, then, this study will attempt to determine just what the framers of Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment thought it would accomplish. The basic research source for such an inquiry is the Congressional Globe.3 It is not, however, the only source. For the era's general history is necessarily relevant to the study of the law which issued from it. To avoid repetition of abundantly available materials, however, a passing familiarity with that history will be assumed.4 Suffice it to say the Republicans built their hopes upon a projected coalition between their power in the North and the loyal votes in the South. Of course, the loyal Southern vote was to be drawn primarily from the approximately 650,000 adult, male freedmen living there. The nature of this relationship between the potential Negro vote in the South and Republican ascendancy will emerge more clearly as we progress. For it was the pivotal point around which much of the congressional debate over Section Two revolved. The debates on the subject, which eventually led to the section as it is in the amendment today, may be seen as expressed through four dimensions. The introduction of a bill allowing Negro suffrage in the District of Columbia precipitated the debate. Although the bill passed in the House, the Senate did not give it serious consideration during the Congress' first session. The second dimension of debate