362 



GEORGIA. 



citizens of a common country." Another set 

 of resolutions was proposed, which declare 

 it to be the "duty and the policy of the 

 people of Georgia to remain quiet, and there- 

 by preserve at least their self-respect, their 

 manhood and honor;" that if the bill before 

 Congress should become a law, it was to be 

 hoped that Governor Jenkins, "either alone or 

 in conjunction with the Governors of other 

 Southern States, will at once take the necessary 

 steps to have the constitutionality of the law 

 tested before the Supreme Court of the United 

 States ; " and that their thanks were due to 

 President Johnson for his " patriotic efforts to 

 protect the Constitution of the United States 

 and the liberties of the people." Still another 

 series of resolutions was submitted to the meet- 

 ing, which declared the Reconstruction Bill 

 " harsli and cruel, as it surrenders life, liberty, 

 and estate to the arbitrary will of the military 

 power, in positive conflict with the letter, 

 spirit, and genius of the Constitution and 

 American liberty ; " and that assent to its 

 principles would be political suicide. The last 

 two resolutions were in these words : 



Resolved, That we do now solemnly asseverate, and 

 call God to witness the sincerity of our hearts in doing 

 so, that as a people we meditate no illegal opposition 

 to the laws no violation of private rights, whether 

 of the Northern man or Southern man the black or 

 white no denial of sympathy, justice, or legal rights 

 of the colored portion of our population, and that all 

 we ask is quiet, and the enjoyment of what little we 

 hope for from the soil of our devastated, afflicted, 

 and poverty-stricken country. 



fiesolved, That we are conscious of having done all 

 that mortal power could do to secure the happiness 

 and liberties of our people, but in God's afflictive 

 Providence we have been overwhelmed we meekly 

 submit ourselves to His Almighty power, patiently 

 awaiting His good time to deliver us, and confidently 

 trusting that the day will soon come when the sense 

 of honor, justice, and magnanimity of the Northern 

 people will in our persons vindicate the dignity, 

 rights, and liberties of the American citizen. 



At an adjourned meeting the first series was 

 adopted. These three sets of resolutions in- 

 dicate very accurately the different states of 

 feeling in Georgia respecting the congressional 

 measures which were soon after to be carried 

 into vigorous execution throughout ten of the 

 Southern States. 



On the 1st of April Major-General John Pope 

 assumed the command of the Third Military 

 District. The spirit in which he intended to 

 exercise the powers vested in' him was indi- 

 cated in his first general order. (See ALA- 

 BAMA.) 



[A more complete account of the military 

 orders in this district has been given under 

 the article ALABAMA. It will be repeated here 

 only so far as necessary to explain or illustrate 

 events in the State of Georgia.] 



General Pope was cordially received in 

 Atlanta, on which occasion he expressed his 

 surprise at the friendly welcome given him. 

 He told the people that the legislation which 

 had sent him there was conceived in no spirit 

 of hostility, but as the speediest and most satis- 



factory means of restoring the Southern States 

 to the Union. He deprecated the policy of 

 inaction advised by some of their leading citi- 

 zens, and declared it to be his purpose that the 

 military forces under his command should ap- 

 pear as little as possible in civil affairs. How 

 much the military authority would be felt by 

 the people, he said, depended on themselves; 

 for his own part, he should endeavor to dis- 

 charge his duties " with strict fidelity to the 

 law. with fairness, and with due regard to the 

 rights of all." 



A mass meeting of the freedmen was held at 

 Augusta on the 13th of April, attended by 

 several prominent white citizens, who tried to 

 impress upon the enfranchised negroes their 

 responsibility as citizens, and, above all, advised 

 moderation and harmony. The resolutions 

 adopted at this meeting recommend a united 

 support of the principles of the Union Repub- 

 lican party, and declared that there ought to be 

 no political distinctions based on a difference 

 of race; that the right to vote involved the 

 right to sit on juries ; that corporal punishment 

 was a relic of barbarism, and ought to be 

 abolished ; that the widows and orphans of 

 those who perished in the war were entitled to 

 protection ; and that the obligation of the na- 

 tional debt should be held sacred. 



There was a general disposition shown, in the 

 public discussion of the relations of whites and 

 blacks in the State, to secure friendly feeling 

 and harmonious action on the part of the two 

 races. Ex-Governor Brown, at a public meet- 

 ing in Savannah, declared that their interests 

 were identical, and that they should endeavor 

 to promote the prosperity of each other. He 

 urged the blacks to ally themselves with the 

 native whites as their best friends, and declared 

 himself in favor of equal justice to white and 

 black, "in court and out of court." 



The Hon. Charles J. Jenkins, Governor of 

 Georgia, was a strong opponent of the con- 

 gressional plan of reconstruction. He believed 

 the laws both oppressive and unconstitutional, 

 and determined to have them tested before the 

 Supreme Court of the United States. With 

 this view he set out for Washington, and on 

 the 10th of April filed a bill in the Supreme 

 Court praying relief, first, by a temporary in- 

 junction restraining all proceedings under the 

 Reconstruction Acts, before adjudication upon 

 the case by the court ; and, secondly, a perpet- 

 ual injunction against their enforcement in 

 case they should be shown to be null and void, 

 as violating the fundamental law. The case was 

 finally brought before the court by the States 

 of Georgia and Mississippi conjointly. 



While at Washington Governor Jenkins pub- 

 lished an address (on the 10th of April) to the 

 people of the State of Georgia, advising non- 

 action under the military laws until their le- 

 gality had been pronounced upon. On his re- 

 turn to Georgia he was met at Atlanta by a 

 communication from General Pope in the fol- 

 lowing terms : 



