- United States Congress Joint Committee on Reconstruction
The Joint Committee on Reconstruction was a United States Congressional
joint committee that played a major role in Reconstruction. Led by Radical Republicans it was created to "inquire into the condition of the States which formed the so-calledConfederate States of America , and report whether they, or any of them, are entitled to be represented in either house of Congress."1 OnDecember 13 ,1865 , the two houses reached agreement on an amended version of a House concurrent resolution introduced by RepresentativeThaddeus Stevens ofPennsylvania to establish this joint committee of 15 members. SenatorWilliam Fessenden ofMaine served aschairman . The joint committee divided into four subcommittees to hear testimony and gather evidence regarding the situation in each of four groups of Southern States. In all, 144 witnesses were called to testify. Existing records in the National Archives contain part of the committee report, as well as a fewpetition s concerning restoration of the former Confederate states to representation in Congress. The petitions are fromIowa ,Kansas ,Ohio , andPennsylvania . There is also a resolution of the legislature of New York regarding this issue and advocating equality ofsuffrage in theDistrict of Columbia for all adult males.1The Joint Committee on Reconstruction was not revived in the next Congress. The House of Representatives, however, established its own Select Committee on Reconstruction on
July 3 ,1867 . National Archives records of the House select committee include the resolution instructing the committee to investigateKu Klux Klan activities. There are also letters, petitions, and amemorial fromTennessee detailing the situation in that state. They indicate that, under the new constitution, former rebels were regaining control of the government and intimidating or attacking supporters of the Union andblacks . Also among the records are the printed proceedings of a convention at Nashville onFebruary 16 ,1870 , aimed at revitalizing and reorganizing the Republican Party in Tennessee.1Concern about
Ku Klux Klan activities led to establishment of another Joint Committee to Inquire into the Condition of the Late Insurrectionary States onApril 17 ,1871 . A portion of the committee's minute book, covering the period fromFebruary 10 ,1872 toFebruary 19 ,1872 , is among the records of the National Archives.1Notes
1 [http://www.archives.gov/records_of_congress/house_guide/chapter_23_overview_of_committees.html National Archives Records of Congress]
References
* Belz, Herman. "A New Birth of Freedom: The Republican Party and Freedman's Rights, 1861-1866" (2000).
* Blaine, James G. "Twenty Years of Congress: From Lincoln to Garfield. With a review of the events which led to the political revolution of 1860" (1893)
* Donald, David. "Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man" (1970), critical analysis, balanced perspective.
* Donald, David. "Lincoln" (1996).
* Dunning, William Archibald. "Reconstruction: Political & Economic, 1865-1877" (1905)Dunning School .
* Foner, Eric. "Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877" (1988).
* Goodwin, Doris Kearns. "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" (2005).
* Harris, William C. "With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union" (1997).
* Jellison, Charles A. "Fessenden of Maine, Civil War Senator" (1962), the Committee's chairman
* Mantell, Martin E. "Johnson, Grant, and the Politics of Reconstruction" (1973)
* Perman, Michael "Emancipation and reconstruction" (2003), a synthesis of recent historical literature on emancipation and reconstruction.
* Randall, James G. "Lincoln the President: Last Full Measure" (1955).
* Rhodes, James G. "History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 6." (1920) 1865-72, detailed narrative. Vol 7, 1872-77.
* Stampp, Kenneth M. "The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877" (1967).
* Simpson. Brooks D. "Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868" (1991).
* Trefousse, Hans L. "Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian" (2001)] .
* Trefousse, Hans L. "Andrew Johnson: A Biography" (1989).External links
* [http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1851-1875/reconstruction/repojc.htm Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction] -
June 20 ,1866
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