778 



TENNESSEE. 



Great Eastern, no matter how precariously, 

 and no matter how far off, afforded too much 

 matter for congratulation, conjecture, and sus- 

 pense, to allow much room for other thoughts. 

 At 3.20 P. M., when nine hundred fathoms 

 had been recovered, the rope parted at one of 

 the swivels, and the work was ended. Four 

 other attempts were subsequently made with 

 the grapnels, and twice it was supposed that 

 the cable had beeh grappled, but the rope part- 

 ed when about five hundred fathoms had been 

 recovered, and the enterprise was abandoned 

 until the ensuing year. 



TENNESSEE. The proceedings of the Con- 

 vention having been ratified on the 22d of Feb- 

 ruary, as related in the preceding volume of 

 this work, the election which had been ordered 

 to be held in the event of such ratification, on 

 the 4th of March, for Governor and members 

 of the Legislature, also took place. "W. G. 

 Brownlow, the nominee of the Convention, was 

 chosen Governor. The Legislature met at 

 Nashville on the 3d of April, and on the 5th 

 ratified the United States constitutional amend- 

 ment. It also reorganized the State Govern- 

 ment, and elected David T. Patterson and Jo- 

 seph S. Fowler Senators to Congress. The 

 most important law passed was the one regu- 

 lating the elective franchise, of which the fol- 

 lowing is an extract : 



Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State 

 of Tennessee, That the following persons, to wit : 1st. 

 Every white man twenty-one years of age, a citizen 

 of the United States, and a citizen of the county 

 wherein he may offer his vote, six months next pre- 

 ceding the day of election, and publicly known to 

 have entertained unconditional Union sentiments, 

 from the outbreak of the rebellion until the present 

 time; and 2d. Every white man, a citizen of the 

 United States, and a citizen of the county wherein 

 he may offer his vote, six months next preceding 

 the day of election^ having arrived at the age of 

 twenty-one years, since March 4, 1865, provided that 

 he has not been engaged in armed rebellion against 

 the authority of the L nited States, voluntarily ; and 

 3d. Every white man of lawful age, coming from an- 

 other State, and being a citizen of the United States, 

 on proof of loyalty to the United States, and being a 

 citizen of the county wherein he may offer his vote 

 six months next preceding the day of election ; and 

 4th. Every white man a citizen of this State, and a 

 citizen of the United States, who has served as a sol- 

 dier in the army of the United States, and has been 

 or hereafter may be honorably discharged there- 

 from ; and 5th. Every white man, of lawful age, and 

 a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the 

 county wherein he may offer his vote six months 

 next preceding the day of election, who was con- 

 scripted by force into the so-called Confederate 

 army, and was known to be a Union man on proof 

 of loyalty to the United States, established by the 

 testimony of two voters under the previous clauses 

 of this section ; and 6th. Every white man who voted 

 in this State at the Presidential election in November. 

 1364, or voted on the 22d of February, 1865, or voted 

 on the 4th of March, 18G5, in this State, and all 

 others who had taken the "oath of allegiance" to 

 the United States, and may be known by the judges 

 of the elections to have been true friends to the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States, and would have voted 

 in said previously mentioned elections, if the s^me 

 had been holden within their reach, shall be entitled 

 to the privileges of the elective franchise. 



Be it further enacted, That all persons who are or 

 shall have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents 

 of the so-called Confederate States, or who have left 

 judicial stations under the United States, or the 

 State of Tennessee, to aid in any way in the existing 

 or recent rebellion against the authority of the 

 United States, or who are or shall have been military 

 or naval officers of the so called Confederate States 

 above the rank of captain in the army, or lieutenant 

 in the navy, or who have left seats in the United 

 States Congress, or seats in the Legislature of the 

 State of Tennessee to aid said rebellion, or have re- 

 signed commissions in the army or navy of the Uni- 

 ted States and afterwards have voluntarily given aid 

 to said rebellion, or persons who have engaged in 

 any way in treating otherwise than lawfully prison- 

 ers of war persons found in the United States ser- 

 vice as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in any other 

 capacities, or persons who have been or are absen- 

 tees from the United States for the purpose of aid- 

 ing the rebellion, or persons who held pretended 

 offices under the government of States in insurrec- 

 tion against the United States, or persons who left 

 their homes within the jurisdiction and protection 

 of the United States, or fled before the approach of 

 the national forces, and passed beyond the Federal 

 military lines into the so-called Confederate States 

 for the purpose of aiding the rebellion, shall be de- 

 nied and refused the privilege of the elective fran- 

 chise in this State for the term of fifteen years from 

 and after the passage of this act. 



Be it further enacted, That all other persons ex- 

 cept those mentioned in Section I. of this act are 

 hereby and hereafter excluded and denied the ex- 

 ercise of the privilege of the elective franchise in this 

 State for the term of five years from the passage of 

 this act. 



And be it further enacted, That any voter maybe 

 challenged by an admitted voter of Section 1. of this 

 act, on offering his vote, and thereupon the judges 

 of elections shall peremptorily, to the person so 

 challenged, before permitting him to vote, adminis- 

 ter the following oath ; said oath to be taken by all 

 judges of elections and candidates for office: 



"I solemnly swear that I will henceforth support 

 the Constitution of the United States, and defend it 

 against the assaults of all its enemies ; that I am an 

 active friend of the Government of the United 

 States ; that I will heartily aid and assist the loyal 

 people in whatever measure may be adopted under 

 the Constitution of the United States, and under all 

 laws and proclamations made in pursuance thereof, 

 to establish the national authority over all the peo- 

 ple of every State and Territory embraced in the 

 national Union ; and that I will faithfully and most 

 heartily support and defend the Constitution of the 

 State of Tennessee, and the amendments and sched- 

 ule thereunto appended and adopted by the people 

 on the 22d day of February, 1865, and also all acts 

 of the General Assembly assembled in accordance 

 therewith ; and that I take this oath freely, volun- 

 tarilv, and without any mental reservation. So help 

 me God." 



And be it further enacted, That any person taking 

 this oath falsely shall be guilty of perjury, and shafl 

 suffer all the pains and penalties attached to that 

 crime. 



A petition was presented from the " colored ' 

 citizens of Tennessee," asking for the elective 

 franchise, in which they said : 



We know the burdens of citizenship, and are ready 

 to bear them. We know the duties of the good citi- 

 zen, and are ready to perform them cheerfully. 

 Therefore, we humbly and respectfully petition your 

 honorable body to place us in a position in which 

 we can discharge those duties more effectually, 

 namely : We ass the legal right to use the elective 

 franchise, and to testify upon oath to the truth in 



