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Nebraska's Struggle to Statehood · Nebraska History Podcast

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The following episode features a historic article from the
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Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
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language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
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valuable insight into the past, may contend expressions or
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viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
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Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
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perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
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Welcome to the Nebraska History podcast.
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I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles
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written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
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The road to statehood was not easy for Nebraska.
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Coming off the heels of the Civil War, the national
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Reconstruction policies impacted local frontier politics.
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In this episode we dive deeper into the struggles of Nebraska
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statehood through the 1988 Nebraska History Magazine
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article Nebraska Statehood and Reconstruction by James B Potts.
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Following the decisive military defeat of the Confederacy in the
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spring of 1865, the North faced the unprecedented problem of
0:59
restoring the broken Union. But for two years, the effort to
1:03
achieve a peace settlement satisfactory to Northern
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Republicans was thwarted by discord between so-called
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Radical Republicans in Congress and the President, Abraham
1:13
Lincoln, and then Andrew Johnson over both the procedure and the
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terms for reconstructing the former Confederate states.
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Indeed, congressional opposition to Lincoln's plan for the speedy
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and lenient readmission of the seceded states in 1863 set off a
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struggle over who should take the lead in restoring the Union
1:35
after Lincoln's assassination. The rift widened during the
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administration of Andrew Johnson, and the Reconstruction
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process became a political contest between conservative
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supporters of presidential restoration and congressional
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Republicans who favored a more radical reformation involving
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the conditional return of the southern states on the basis of
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fundamental political and social change.
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The radical Congress emerged from the contest victorious.
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It passed over Johnson's veto a series of measures, including
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the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Acts of March
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of 1867, to ensure the civil and voting rights of Southern
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blacks. Almost concurrently, Congress
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also enfranchised black Americans in the North and West,
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imposing equal suffrage on the fledging state of Nebraska and
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the federal territories of 1867 and on the remaining states of
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the Union by means of the 15th Amendment in 1870.
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In February 1866, when Congress was preoccupied with the complex
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issues of Reconstruction, the Territorial Assembly of Nebraska
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adopted a statehood resolution including a constitution which,
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in line with national practice, restricted the voting franchise
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to white adult males. A partisan measure enacted by a
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predominantly Republican legislature and subsequently
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approved by the voters over Democratic Party opposition.
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The Nebraska statehood bill encountered significant
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resistance in Washington from Democrats and Republicans alike.
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Congressional critics objected that Nebraska's population was
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too small in that the state making procedure had deferred
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too much from the methods of admission prescribed by Congress
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in the Enabling Act in 1864, which authorized the people of
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Nebraska to form a state government.
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Mostly, however, the opposition was political and related to
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national Reconstruction. Quite apart from considerations
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of population and legal requirements, the admission
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debate turned largely on pressing national concerns
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involving the place of blacks in American Society and status of
3:47
seceded states in the scope of congressional Reconstruction
3:50
power. In the end, questions raised and
3:54
decisions made in the Nebraska case would have important local
3:57
consequences and ramifications for developing Reconstruction
4:01
policy as well. Twice prior to the final
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statehood Dr. of 1866, the Nebraska Territorial Assembly
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enacted legislation that authorized special elections to
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determine whether conventions should be called to frame a
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state constitution. On both occasions, in 1860 and
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1864, the voters of Nebraska, moved by Democratic Party
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opposition, sectional and local jealousies, and a general
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concern that the territory could not afford the added cost of
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state government, declared against statehood.
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Despite the unfavorable popular reaction to statehood, it was
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clear by 1866 that the territory's admission would not
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long be delayed. By mid decade, Nebraska had
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begun to experience important economic and population changes
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which, coupled to the exigencies of national and local politics,
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laid the basis for statehood in 1867.
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The first important change had occurred in 1863 when Congress
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announced that two branches of the Pacific Railroad, 1
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terminating at Omaha and the other at Sioux City, IA, would
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pass through the territory. On December 2nd, 1863, the
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formal groundbreaking ceremony at Omaha, the Union Pacific
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entered Nebraska, and by October of 1866 its rails extended
5:20
beyond Fort Carney, some 275 miles West of the Missouri.
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By 1866, the Burlington and Missouri River, the Hannibal and
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Saint Joseph, and other railroads, all attracted by
5:32
liberal federal land grants, had also begun the project.
5:36
Rail extensions into the territory.
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The economic and physiological effects of railroad construction
5:44
were immediately apparent. Property values in Nebraska
5:47
soared, especially in North Platte region, where the mere
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rumor that Omaha had been designated a starting point of
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the Pacific Railroad produced a spectacular increase.
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Most important, however, to many residents, the Pacific Railroad
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ensured the region's future development as an agricultural
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and commercial center. The iron rails of the Union
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Pacific would link the territory with the great eastern roads and
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the Gulf of Mexico, local boosters prophesized, and would
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render Nebraska the gateway of commerce not only for our own
6:19
country but for the civilized world.
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Railroad expansion, combined with the lure of free homesteads
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and the restoration of peace, also spurred population growth.
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Prior to 1860, Nebraska had enjoyed a steady, though modest,
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increase of population. Thereafter, the pace of
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settlement quickened and the number of residents jumped from
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28,841 in 1860 to 122,993 at the decade's end.
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Governor David Butler estimated that between 1864 and 1866,
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Nebraska's population had increased more than twofold,
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from 30,000 to 70,000. Quote.
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The tide of immigration is pouring in with increased
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momentum, and our prairies are being taken up with unexampled
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rapidity by enterprising settlers who change as if by
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magic, the solitary wilderness to the appearance of
7:14
civilization. End Quote.
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Changing circumstances also diminish the scope of political
7:20
opposition. Anti statehood sentiment in
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Populus Douglas County, where residents had voted more than 4
7:26
to one against the proposed Constitution of 1860, declined
7:31
markedly after Omaha became the terminus of the Union Pacific
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Railroad. Moreover, Kansas and Colorado
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politicians were pressing Congress to reroute the main
7:40
line of the Pacific Railroad farther S from the Platte River
7:44
Valley to the Smoky Hill branch of the Republican River.
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Nebraska business and political leaders, particularly those in
7:52
the north of the Platte, believe that statehood was necessary to
7:56
defeat this effort. Quote now more than any other
8:00
period in our history, do we need a good strong
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representation in Congress to defend and protect our rights
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while the railroad lines are being established through our
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territory. More might be gained or lost for
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our territory by this one act that all the additional tax that
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would amount to for the next 20 years to come.
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And quote that from the editor of the Nebraska Republican.
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Still, the 1866 statehood movement, just like in 1864, was
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essentially a political maneuver gotten up by local Republican
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leaders to hold possession of the territory.
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Of the 30 most prominent pro state leaders, 27 were
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Republicans, and though they declared the question to be
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above politics, most were influenced privately, according
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to one of their own number, by the consideration that their
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party sustained a political majority and would control the
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patronage under the new state organization.
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Moreover, 20 of the 34 most statehood leaders were federally
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appointed territorial officials, many of whom, like Governor
9:05
Alvin Saunders, were determined to become senators,
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representatives, or state officers.
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The majority of the federal appointees were also supporters
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of the radicals in Congress, or they were labeled such by the
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Democratic opposition and had begun to lose favor with the
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President. Federal officials, faced with
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the threat of removal, saw statehood as a means of
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retaining political influence and thus actively labor to
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destroy the system that was their prime source of sustenance
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and power. Although they promoted statehood
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as a popular local measure, Nebraska Republicans also acted
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with considerable outside encouragement from National
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Party leaders. The great motivation for
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statehood in 1864 had been, at least in part, the national
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Republican organizations desire to secure additional electoral
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support for Lincoln's re election campaign.
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Similarly, the belief that Nebraska would provide added
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votes to affect radical Reconstruction prompted National
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Party support for the territory's statehood ambitions
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in 1866 and 67 Congressional radicals like Senator Jacob
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Howard of Michigan supported the addition of Nebraska and
10:15
Colorado because, as he bluntly informed his colleagues during
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the admission debate, quote, their senators and their
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representatives would greatly increase the Republican loyal
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strength in Congress. End Quote.
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Not only were state leaders moved by other than altruistic
10:32
motives, but their tactics also indicated that they had small
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faith in the electorate or in the popularity of statehood
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itself. Although pro state sentiment was
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growing, they knew that many residents, particularly
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Democrats, still oppose the project.
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Sobered by such knowledge, statehood leaders moved forward
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with considerable preparation. During 1865 and 1866, the pro
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state press conducted an intensive news campaign
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expounding many advantages of speedy admission and statehood.
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Advocates canvassed the territory soliciting support for
11:07
their cause. The state promoters made the
11:10
particular effort to persuade Democratic Party leaders to go
11:14
in for state Quote. Republicans are almost insane on
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the subject, End Quote, wrote George L Miller Quote.
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They are willing to do almost anything to get a Democratic
11:25
cooperation. End Quote.
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At the same time, pro state politicians were laying plans
11:31
for a new construction that completely ignored traditional
11:34
state making procedures. The bitter experiences with
11:38
conventions in 1860 and 1864 caused the state men to map out
11:43
a plan that would prevent a similar occurrence.
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Their aim was simply to reconvene the 1866 session of
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the Territorial Assembly as a constitutional convention.
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Their method of attack was disingenuous.
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The pro state men printed and distributed petitions throughout
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the territory that requested the legislature to draft a state
12:02
constitution and thus, quote, avert the expenses incident to
12:06
the election, assembling and sitting of a convention.
12:09
End Quote. Governor Saunders responded to
12:12
this arranged mandate in his annual message by suggesting
12:15
that the lawmakers, for the sake of expediency, might themselves
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write a constitution and submit it to the people for approval.
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Meantime, a citizens committee of statehood leaders met
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secretly and drafted a state constitution, which
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administration supporters pushed through the Assembly with
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virtually no debate. The statehood forces had the
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situation so well in hand that the document was never printed
12:42
for use in either House and no amendments had been permitted.
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Not one man in 20 claimed the Democratic press ever read those
12:51
documents. From the first, the Constitution
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was the center of partisan controversy.
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The Democrats generally denounced the document.
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Quote the bastard of demagogue ISM, the Omaha World Herald
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called it and censured the Assembly for its quote.
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Utter disregard of all precedents in the formation of
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state governments. End Quote.
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Not only had the Legislature acted illegally, charged the
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Herald, but in the Assembly proceedings the statehood
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question itself had been buried. And quote was designed to be so
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buried out of sight and hearing in the grand scramble for office
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nominations and promises of appointment to place, being
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boasted by the Republican magnets as the means by which
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the public sentiment was to be bought into voting for Nebraska
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statehood measure. End Quote.
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The Statehood campaign proceeded despite Democratic press
13:42
attacks, having set both the ratification date and the
13:45
election of state officers for June 2nd.
13:48
The Republicans met at Plattsmouth on April 12th and
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nominated David Butler, a Pawnee City merchant, for governor on a
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platform urging immediate admission into the Union.
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The Democrats, by contrast, were divided on the issue.
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The division related mainly to the practical ability of
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electing a state ticket when the voters went to the polls to
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approve or reject the Constitution.
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One faction, comprised of J Sterling Morton and others who
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sought to delay admission until Nebraska was back into the
14:18
Democratic column, was in favor of refusing to run a ticket.
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They sought instead to base the Democratic campaign upon
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opposition to the Constitution. But for the majority,
14:30
particularly those Democrats who held quote, Omaha's future first
14:34
End Quote, such an all or nothing proposition was
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unthinkable. Rather, the party should
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nominate a ticket, remain silent on the statehood question, and
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attempt to capture control of the new state government, Miller
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urged Morton Quote, we had better nominate.
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We can carry the legislature in spite of the devil, and I am not
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sure, but we may elect the representative and the next
14:58
delegate. End Quote.
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With a majority favoring the state ticket, Democratic Party
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leaders decided to discountenance faction and go
15:06
straight ahead. Meeting at Nebraska City on
15:09
April 19th, the party nominated the anti state Morton for
15:13
governor and enacted resolutions that related almost entirely to
15:17
national reconstruction issues shaped primarily to entice
15:21
presidential cooperation in, quote, a war on radical
15:24
officials. End Quote.
15:26
The Democratic platform applauded the public actions of
15:29
Andrew Johnson, condemned Nebraska Republicans for their
15:32
failure to support the President in his, quote, legitimate
15:35
endeavors to restore the American Union, End Quote, and
15:38
completely ignored the issue of statehood.
15:42
Lively controversy attended the ratification campaign.
15:46
The Republicans took up the cudgels in favor of admission,
15:49
and although they claim to be neutral on the state question,
15:52
the Democrats, quote, worked as hard to defeat the Constitution
15:55
as they did to secure votes for their own candidates for
15:58
governor or judge or members of the legislature.
16:01
End Quote. James Woolworth observed that
16:04
every influence, every device, and every false argument was
16:08
pressed into service by both sides.
16:11
Aside from statehood, the campaign revolved around
16:14
National Party issues and personalities.
16:16
The Republicans, for their part, waved the Civil War bloody shirt
16:20
and reminded Nebraskans of alleged Democratic opposition to
16:23
the Union cause. Morton, a peace Democrat during
16:26
the war, bore the brunt of Republican assaults.
16:30
His imputed disloyalty was paraded before the electorate by
16:34
GOP editors and party orators. Morton quote the Golden Circle
16:38
champion of the North charged the Nebraska Republican
16:41
persistently opposed coercion of the rebel states.
16:44
He discouraged recruiting and opposed war on any footing, and
16:48
fully espoused the doctrine of the landed ham, advocating peace
16:51
on such terms as the rebels should dictate.
16:54
The Democrats were scarcely less violent in their attacks on
16:57
Republicans. Democratic spokesman taken
17:00
advantage of the Republican discord in Washington and the
17:03
anti black sediment in the territory, directed their guns
17:06
on radical reconstruction and aimed especially at the suffrage
17:11
issue. The radicals, they claimed, plan
17:14
to convert Nebraska into, quote, a black colony to which
17:17
plantation blacks may be imported to vote down white men.
17:21
Every vote for Butler is a vote in favor of black suffrage in
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Nebraska. A vote against the Democratic
17:27
ticket is a vote in favor of black suffrage and for equality.
17:31
End Quote. The advantage, however, was with
17:34
the administration, and the election, while close, resulted
17:37
in a virtual Republican sweep. Nebraska voters approved the
17:41
Constitution by a slim 100 vote majority and elected the entire
17:46
GOP ticket, with the exception of the candidate for Chief
17:49
Justice. Democrats contested the results,
17:53
charging irregularities and fraud in the counting of the
17:56
votes. The Republicans, of course,
17:58
denied Democratic allegations and pushed instead to complete
18:02
the apparatus of state controlling the first state
18:05
legislature, which met in Omaha in July of 1866.
18:10
They elected two Republican Senators, John Thayer and Thomas
18:13
W Tipton, and called another election for October 9th to
18:17
choose a delegate to Congress and a territorial legislature
18:21
Should Nebraska not be admitted to the Union and a congressman
18:25
and a state legislature in case statehood should be achieved?
18:28
Even though they had won the statehood fight at the local
18:31
level, Republican leaders were discouraged by prospects in
18:35
Washington, where Nebraska's admission encountered opposition
18:38
in the summer of 1866. Especially worrisome was the
18:42
hostility of Andrew Johnson, who was at odds with Republicans in
18:46
Congress over the question of Reconstruction and was unwilling
18:50
to admit another state that might be controlled by the
18:53
radicals. Moreover, the territorial
18:56
Democrats actively encourage the president in his opposition to
19:00
Nebraska statehood. Some weeks after the election,
19:03
anti state leaders journey to Washington quote to prove that
19:07
state was defeated by a great majority and that a great fraud
19:11
was perpetrated in canvassing the votes for the purpose of
19:14
making the legislature radical. End Quote.
19:17
Nevertheless, the admission bill passed Congress in July of 1866
19:22
/ a scattered opposition of Democrats and a small block of
19:25
radicals who oppose the white suffrage provision in the
19:29
Constitution. President Johnson, however,
19:32
allowed the bill to lapse by pocket veto.
19:36
Johnson's denial of Nebraska statehood had important local
19:39
repercussions. Prior to the veto, Republican
19:42
officials in Nebraska, despite Democratic charges to the
19:46
contrary, had generally declined involvement in the national
19:50
Reconstruction debacle, and with good reason.
19:52
Republican leaders were chiefly determined to attain statehood,
19:56
an achievement that required the approval of both the national
20:00
legislature and executive. Still a territory, Nebraska was
20:04
also dependent on the president and the Congress for patronage
20:08
and appropriations. Under these circumstances,
20:11
Nebraska officials were understandably reluctant to take
20:14
sides in the Johnson radical dispute.
20:17
But after the veto, statehood partisans, including Governor
20:20
Saunders and a majority of the federal officers irked by
20:23
Johnson's obstructionism and perhaps sensing that the
20:26
President's influence was on the decline, turned increasingly to
20:31
the Republican Congress for support.
20:33
Anti state Republicans led by William P Kellogg, William
20:37
Lockwood, and Herman H Heath, all of whom were candidates for
20:41
Alvin Saunders job, adopted the Johnson label as a vehicle to
20:45
power the division of the Republicans and the announced
20:49
intention of President Johnson quote, to remove all radicals in
20:53
office and to appoint friends in their places and quote, hardened
20:56
Nebraska Democrats who also expected to use the executive
21:00
patronage to gain control of the territory.
21:03
In the summer of 1866, they joined with the Johnsonized
21:07
Republicans in a concerted drive to eliminate their enemies.
21:12
Throughout the summer and fall, Johnson men hurled accusations
21:16
against Saunders and other federal officers quote, the
21:19
principal men of the nefarious plottings to steal victory from
21:23
the supporters of the President. End Quote And petitioned the
21:26
administration to remove the rampant and raving radicals from
21:31
office and replace them with honest, capable union men.
21:35
The conservatives might get control the territory, Democrats
21:39
informed the President. Quote, if you will, immediately
21:41
cut off the heads officially of Alvin Saunders, the
21:45
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and the Indian agents
21:48
generally. End Quote.
21:51
Certain factors, however, operated against the success of
21:53
the Johnson movement in Nebraska.
21:56
The first was that Johnson's strength in the Senate, which
21:59
had to ratify his appointments, was on the wane.
22:02
Thus, while a few federal officials lost their job, most,
22:06
including the governor, escaped unscathed.
22:09
Moreover, the president's flirtation with Nebraska
22:12
Democrats, coupled with the threat of dismissal, drove the
22:15
federal officers farther into the radical camp and
22:18
strengthened their determination to secure statehood.
22:22
Meanwhile, the conservative Democratic coalition was itself
22:26
badly divided. Much of the trouble was simply
22:29
that the factional rivalry between ambitious leaders vying
22:32
for political control. For aside from a political
22:36
principles, party leaders were equally concerned with the
22:38
future division of the federal patronage and political power.
22:42
Opportunistic Democrats like Morton, who actively sought the
22:46
superintendency of Indian affairs at Omaha, use the
22:49
movement as a vehicle to control federal appointments in the
22:52
territory, while Republican members manipulated the
22:55
organization for their own political advantage.
22:59
Indeed, the intriguing that underscored the brief history of
23:02
the Johnson coalition caused one hostile editor to remark that
23:05
quote, the whole crowd of outs can be summed up for their
23:09
desire to be ends and quote the Conservatives.
23:12
Difficulties came into the open in the summer of 1866 over the
23:17
selection of territorial delegates in the National Union
23:20
Party convention called by supporters of Andrew Johnson for
23:24
August 14th in Philadelphia. No less than three sets of
23:28
delegates were chosen on July 19th, prior to the adjournment
23:32
of the first State Assembly, the Democratic members of the
23:35
Legislature caucused in Omaha and selected Morton and Andrew J
23:40
Poppleton as delegates. Shortly thereafter another
23:43
faction, engineered by George Francis Train and Judge William
23:47
Kellogg, met under the guise of the Omaha Johnson Club and after
23:52
excluding from participation all who had opposed Lincoln in 1864,
23:57
selected William F Lockwood and Train as their emissaries to
24:00
Philadelphia. 1/3 faction, led by Herman H Heath, a political
24:05
adventurer who claimed to represent the authority of the
24:08
National Union Party organization, met at Plattsmouth
24:11
on July 31st and selected James R Porter, Lockwood, and Heath as
24:16
Nebraska's official Union Party delegation.
24:20
Party dissension receded enough to enable the various factions
24:24
to nominate a common ticket for the fall election.
24:27
On September 11th the Democrats and Johnson Republicans met at
24:31
Plattsmouth and nominated the Democrat Morton, for delegate
24:34
and the territorial secretary, Algernon S Padlock, a
24:38
Republican, for congressman. The regular Republicans meeting
24:42
at Omaha countered by selecting John Taft, a lawyer who later
24:47
served as Secretary of Colorado Territory, and Turner M
24:50
Marquette, respectively, for the posts of congressman and
24:54
Delegate 1/3 candidate George Francis.
24:57
Train, a North Platte land promoter connected with the
25:00
Union Pacific Railroad, entered the race as an independent
25:03
candidate for Congress. Train, a close friend of Thomas
25:07
Durant and other Union Pacific officials, apparently sought to
25:10
carry the northern counties and win the election with the aid of
25:13
Omaha and the railroad. His failure to secure
25:16
significant Omaha Pacific or Omaha backing, coupled with the
25:20
urgings of local Johnsonites, caused him to eventually
25:23
withdraw, but not before he had placed greater strains on the
25:27
conservative alliance. The fall campaign centered
25:30
primarily on National Party issues.
25:33
The Democrats denounced Radical Reconstruction, while the
25:36
Republicans urged voters to vote for the old flag and against the
25:41
party of treason. On Election Day, the majority
25:44
voted quote the way our brave soldiers shot and quote, and the
25:48
Republicans elected the delegate and congressman and a majority
25:52
of the members of the legislature.
25:54
The Nebraska question came before the Congress again on
25:57
December 5th of 1866, when Ohio Senator Benjamin Wade introduced
26:02
a bill for the admission of the territory on the basis of the
26:05
1866 Constitution. His proposal encountered
26:09
opposition for both conservative and radical factions.
26:13
Democrats and conservative Republicans, motivated by the
26:16
consideration that the addition of Nebraska would strengthen the
26:19
radicals, opposed admission on the grounds that the territory
26:23
still had too small a population and that the constitutional
26:26
proceedings had differed too much from those methods spelled
26:29
out in the 1864 Enabling Act. Though a Republican sponsored
26:34
measure, Nebraska admission also met with much opposition within
26:38
the GOP ranks. Charles Sumner B Gratz Brown and
26:42
others foremost in the crusade for black rights, while they
26:45
generally shared the party's desire to admit another
26:48
Republican state, oppose the admission of Nebraska because
26:51
the Constitution contained the word white in its qualifications
26:55
for voting. Humanitarian idealism certainly
26:58
accounted for the hostility of Sumner, who pronounced the
27:01
admission bill quote one of the most disastrous measures that
27:04
has been introduced into Congress.
27:06
End Quote Because it would impair the moral efficiency of
27:09
Congress and injure its influence.
27:13
More important to radicals like Sumner, however, the admission
27:16
of Nebraska with its restrictive constitution would prove, quote,
27:20
something like a bar against the adoption of just measures for
27:23
the rebel states. End Quote.
27:25
Sumner, unlike most moderate Republicans, denied that the
27:29
southern states ever seceded. Instead, he argued that by their
27:33
acts of rebellion they had committed suicide and had thus
27:36
reverted to the status of territories.
27:38
As such, they were subject to whatever rules and regulations
27:41
Congress might impose, and could not retain their statehood
27:45
except on such conditions prescribed by Congress.
27:48
But since congressional authority to control the
27:51
franchise in states after admission had never been clearly
27:53
established by precedent, the right of Congress to impose
27:56
equal suffrage on Nebraska became, in the words of Sumner,
28:00
a transcendent importance when we consider its bearing upon our
28:04
duty to the rebel states. Clearly, if Congress established
28:08
such authority in the Nebraska case, the way would be open to
28:11
extend federal control over voting rights as a basis of
28:14
reconstructing the Southern states.
28:17
Whereas doctrine radicals like Sumner insisted on racial
28:20
equality and impartial suffrage, moderates and practical radicals
28:25
like Benjamin Wade, who labeled the Nebraska bill an independent
28:28
proposition detached and different from the question of
28:31
Reconstruction, were prepared to compromise such issues for
28:35
immediate political gain. Wade and other Republican
28:38
senators determined to wrest control of Reconstruction from
28:42
the president were quite willing to accept Nebraska's admission
28:46
even with suffrage restrictions, because, as Wade told the
28:49
Senate, additional members from Nebraska promised to strengthen
28:52
the anti Johnson forces in the Congress.
28:56
The Nebraska debate also disclosed important divisions
28:59
among Republicans and among radicals over the finality of
29:03
the 14th Amendment as the basis for Reconstruction.
29:06
In 1866, Congress had legislated the amendment, which, among its
29:11
other provisions, gave the Congress the power to reduce the
29:14
representation of any state unlawfully restricting the right
29:17
of suffrage. Many Republicans, moderates and
29:20
radicals alike, inclined toward the position that Southern
29:23
states would be restored when they ratified the amendment, as
29:26
had been the case of Tennessee in 1866.
29:30
Even Wade admitted during the Nebraska debates that he felt
29:33
obligated to restore rebel states that complied with the
29:36
14th Amendment doctrine. Radicals, however, refused to
29:39
accept the amendment as the final step.
29:42
Sumner rather insisted that every southern state, quote
29:46
before its representatives were received in Congress, should
29:49
confer equal suffrage without distinction of color and quote.
29:52
The Nebraska admission debate eventually resulted in the
29:55
interposition of a new principal into the standard admission
29:58
procedure. On January 9th, 1867, the Senate
30:02
attached the so-called Edmunds amendment to the Statehood bill.
30:06
That provided that the ACT shall take effect with the fundamental
30:10
and perpetual condition that within the said State of
30:13
Nebraska there shall be no abridgement or denial of the
30:17
elective franchise or of any other right to any person by
30:21
reason of race or color, excepting Indians not taxed.
30:25
End Quote. Conservatives objected that
30:27
Congress had no right to interfere with suffrage
30:30
requirements set by a sovereign state, but to no avail.
30:34
On January 9th, 1867, the Senate passed the measure as amended.
30:38
One week later the admission bill further amended to direct
30:42
the Nebraska Legislature to declare assent quote to the said
30:46
fundamental condition, and quote carried the House by a vote of
30:49
103 to 55. President Johnson opposed the
30:54
bill on constitutional grounds. In his veto message delivered on
30:58
January 29th of 1867, Johnson denied Congress the right to
31:02
regulate the elective franchise of any state.
31:06
This condition, he declared, is not mentioned in the original
31:10
Enabling Act, was not contemplated at the time of its
31:13
passage, was not sought by the people themselves, has not
31:17
heretofore been applied to the inhabitants of any state asking
31:21
admission it is in direct conflict with the constitution
31:25
adopted by the people, and is in clear violation of the federal
31:29
Constitution. Despite presidential objections,
31:32
however, the Congress, by straight party vote, passed the
31:36
bill over his veto on February 9th, 1867.
31:41
The fundamental condition attached to the statehood bill
31:44
drew harsh criticism in the territory, the Omaha Herald
31:48
wrote. Quote Let the state legislature
31:51
assemble and accept the conditions precedent opposed by
31:54
Congress if it dare, but remember that before the people
31:57
of Nebraska, every member must answer for having declared that
32:01
Congress, and not the people of Nebraska, have supreme power in
32:04
determining the qualifications of the electors in the state.
32:08
End Quote. Nevertheless, the Nebraska
32:10
Legislature accepted the fundamental condition on
32:14
February 20th, 1867. Nine days later, on March 1st,
32:19
President Johnson proclaimed Nebraska as a state.
32:23
The Nebraska statehood struggle revealed both the character and
32:26
significance of national reconstruction policy on the
32:29
level of local frontier politics.
32:31
In terms of national reconstruction politics,
32:34
Nebraska served as something of a prototype for later
32:37
reconstructed states. Nebraska's admission marked the
32:41
first time that Congress imposed in any essential respect a
32:45
condition upon new states that impinged upon its acknowledged
32:49
power to set suffrage qualifications.
32:51
And it served notice that in the future, states seeking admission
32:55
or readmission to the Union would no longer be allowed to
32:59
adopt suffrage restrictions based on race.
33:02
From a view of developing territorial policy, the
33:05
admission of Nebraska takes on another significance.
33:09
Nebraska's entry into the Union in 1867 marked in dramatic
33:13
fashion the reassertion of congressional authority over
33:16
federal dependencies. The concept of popular
33:19
sovereignty written into the Nebraska Organic Act of 1854,
33:23
which implied that frontier regions were ready for self
33:27
government immediately upon settlement, had represented an
33:30
important concession towards territorial home rule and had
33:34
undermined the theory that the Northwest Ordinance that new
33:37
regions were unfit to self govern until they pass through
33:40
specific stages of development. After 1861, however, American
33:45
territorial policy entered a new phase in which the territories
33:49
generally were made to serve as quote, instruments to forward
33:53
the nationalist policies of the Republican Party and quote A
33:56
major consequence of the shift in federal territory relations
34:00
was in large congressional control.
34:03
This policy shift was clearly reflected in the Nebraska
34:06
debates of 1866 and 67 in speeches before the Senate on
34:11
December 20th of 1866, George F Edmonds of Vermont declared it
34:15
to be, quote, plain and beyond contradiction.
34:18
That is, is within the clear constitutional power of Congress
34:22
to prescribe the terms and qualifications and the time and
34:25
the fitness upon which any new state shall be created out of
34:29
any of its territories. And quote, Moreover, he added,
34:32
quote, it is a right which cannot be questioned at all, and
34:36
it is a right which, independent of the Constitution, blows
34:40
logically and necessarily from the supreme legislative dominion
34:45
which we have over the territories.
34:47
We have an exclusive and complete jurisdiction over these
34:50
territories, and complete discretionary power may never
34:54
dispose of its public lands there, and when organized it,
34:58
Congress may keep it in the perpetual condition of a
35:01
territory if it pleased. End Quote.
35:04
Edmonds assertion that federal rule was paramount in the
35:07
territories clearly demonstrated the rejection of the doctrine of
35:11
popular sovereignty and home rule for the territories and
35:15
indicated the Republican intent to return in principle to the
35:19
territorial policy outlined by the framers of the Ordinance in
35:22
1787. Thank you for listening to the
35:25
Nebraska History Podcast. To learn more about Nebraska
35:28
History Magazine, to listen to more podcast episodes, or to
35:31
support our podcast by becoming a member of the Nebraska State
35:34
Historical Society, go to history.nebraska.gov/podcast.
35:39
And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and get notified
35:42
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35:46
Until next time, I'm Chris Goforth.