TED .STATES. 



757 



Berk! lii.i, V.i. ; Aliiii <'. II ..n:i in, Alex- 



amlri . . u M.-Konzia, Vu. ; .1. W. llun- 



nicut, V.i. ; .lidm ('. Underwood, Vi. ; Hurn- 



Waruwell, Va. ; Alex. M. O.ivi*. 

 L.itlin. N. C. ; Darnel K. <ioodl.,e, N. c. 



: I). 11. i:in<,'liiiui, Ala. ; 11. J. Sail. .1.1, 



mbe, Alu. 

 Washington, July 4, ISO& 



On August 1 ith the N":itii)ii;il Union Conven- 

 iltled at lMiilailel[)lii;i, in u wigwam 

 in'ti'd for the purpose, and capable of ac- 

 ,> luting some fifteen thousand p T-OII-J. 

 State and Territory was represented, ex- 

 coptiii"; Ari/ono, Montana, and Utah. (i.-n- 

 c:-al .lohn A. I>ix was chosen temporary chair- 

 man, and Senator James li. Doolittlo, of \\ i 

 i, tlio president of the convention. Quito 

 a sensation was produced, at the opening of 

 invention, by the entrance of the dele- 

 iVoin Massacliusetts and South Carolina 

 arm in arm. On the third day, an address to 

 the People of the United States, from a com- 

 mittee, was read by Mr. Henry J. I Raymond, of 

 New York, and approved by the convention, 

 and the following resolutions were adopted : 



The National Union Convention now assembled in 

 the city of Philadelphia, composed of delegates from 

 every State and Territory in the Union, admonished 

 by the solemn lessons which, for the last five years, it 

 has pleased the Supreme Ruler of the Universe to give 

 to the American people ; profoundly grateful for the 

 return of peace; desirous, as are a large mujorny of 

 their countrymen, in all sincerity, to forget arid forgive 

 the past ; revering the Constitution as it comes to us 

 from our ancestors ; regarding the Union in , 

 toration as more sacred than ever ; looking with deep 

 anxiety into the future, as of instant and continuing 

 trial*, hereby issues and proclaims the following dec- 

 laration of principles and purposes, on which they 

 have, with perfect unanimity, agreed : 



1 . We hail with gratitude to Almighty God the end 

 of the war and the return of peace to our alllicted 

 and beloved land. 



2. The warjust closed has maintained the authority 

 of the Constitution, with all the powers which it 

 confers, and all the restrictions which it imposes 

 upon the General Government, unabridged and un- 

 altered, and it has preserved the Union, with the 

 equal rights, dignity, and authority of the States 

 perfect and unimpaired. 



3. Representation in the Congress of the United 

 States and in the electoral college is a right recog- 

 nized by the Constitution as abiding in every State, 



- a duty imposed upon the people, funduiniuit.il 

 in its nature, and essential to the existence of our 

 republican institutions, and neither Congress nor the 

 Geiier.ll Government has any authority or power to 

 deny this right to any State or to withhold its en- 

 joyment under the Constitution from the people* 

 thereof. 



4. We call upon the people of the United States to 

 elect to Congress as members thereof none but men 

 who admit this fundamental right of representation, 

 and who will receive to seats therein loyal reju 

 atives from every State in allegiance to the Unite, 1 

 States, subject to the constitutional rijit <> 

 House to judge of the elections, returns, and qualifica- 

 tion of its own inemb 



5. The Constitution of the United States, and the 

 laws made in pursuance thereof, are the supreme law 

 of the land, any thing in the constitution or laws of 

 uny State to the contrary notwithstanding. All the 

 powers not conferred by the Constitution upon the 



il Government, nor prohibited by it to the 

 States, arc reserved to the States, or to the people 

 thereof; and among the rights thus reserved to the 



, is the ri;;lit to prescribe qualification* for the 



6 IV.H.el;! ,, thiTi-lll, i 



r.innol inl." 



B right to withdraw from tli< r to cx- 



clude, through their action in Ciiii^ri'ns nr otherwise, 



Stute.s from tla 

 of tiii-se States is perpetual. 



~i!ch amendments to the Constitution of the 



i States may be made by the peoj.lu thereof a* 

 they may deem expedient, but only in the mode 

 pointed out by its provisions; and in proposing such 

 amendments, whether by Congress or by a c 



id in ratifying the same, all the States of the 

 Union have an equal and indefeasible right to a voice 

 and a vote thereon. 



7. Slavery is abolished and forever prohibited, tnd 

 then- is neither desire nor purpose on the part of the 

 Southern States that it should ever be reestal '. ' 

 upon the soil, or within the jurisdiction of the United 

 States; and the enfranchised slaves in all the States 

 of the Union should receive, in common with all 

 their inhabitants, equal protection in every right of 

 person and property. 



8. While we regard as utterly invalid, and never to 

 be assumed or made of binding force, any obligations 

 incurred or undertaken in making war against the 

 United States, we hold the debt of the nation to bo 

 sacred and inviolable ; and we proclaim our purpose 

 in discharging this, as in performing^ all other na- 

 tional obligations, to maintain unimpaired and unirn- 

 peacbed tnc honor and faith of the Republic. 



9. It is the duty of the National Government to 

 recognize the services of the Federal soldiers and 

 sailors in the contest just closed, by meeting 

 promptly and fully all their just and rightful claims 

 for the services they have rendered the nation, and 

 by extending to those of them who have survived, 

 and to the widows and orphans of those who have 

 fallen, the most generous and considerate care. 



10. In Andrew Johnson, President of the United 

 States, who, in his great office, has proved steadfast 

 in bis devotion to the Constitution, the laws, and in- 

 terests of his country, unmoved by persecution and, 

 undeserved reproach, having faith unassailable in 

 the people and in the principles of free government, 

 we recognize a chief magistrate worthy of the nation, 

 and equal to the great crisis upon which his lot is 

 ca-,t ; and we tender to him, in the discharge of bis 

 high and responsible duties, our profound respeet 

 and assurance of our cordial and sincere support. 



A committee consisting of two delegates from 

 each State was appointed to present an official 

 copy of the proceedings to President Jo! i 

 This presentation was made on the next day in 

 a speech by Senator Keverdy Johnson, of Mary- 

 land. The President replied at some length, 

 amplifying the views contained in the following 

 extract: 



But as the work progressed, as reconciliation 

 i to be taking place, and the country becom- 

 ing united, we found a disturbing and marring ele- 

 ment opposing us. In alluding to that element. I 

 shall go no further than did your convention and the 

 i!i - ii. : ii I. -d gentleman who has delivered to me the 

 report ot its tiroeeedings. I shall make no reference 

 to it. That i do not believe the time and the occa- 

 sion justify. We have witne-*ed in one department 

 of the (iovernment every effort, ts it were, t 

 vent the restoration of peace and harmony in the 

 Union. We have seen hanging upon the verge of 

 .eminent, as it were, a body called, or which 

 assumes to be, the Congress of the United States, but 

 in fact i Congress of only part of the States. Wo 

 have seen this Congress assume and pretend to be 

 for the Union, when its every step and act tended 

 to perpetuate disunion, and make a disruption of the 

 States inevitable. 



