312 
Indiana IJ niversity 
opposed negro suffrage. The course of events in the South, 
especially the rejection of the Fourteenth Amendment, which, 
as governor of Indiana, he had favored, won him over to the 
side of the radicals. Had he been in the Senate he would have 
voted for the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867. He gave 
his support to the Supplemental Reconstruction Acts of the 
first session of the Fortieth Congress. He undoubtedly voiced 
the sentiments of the radical Republicans in the Senate when 
in answer to a question why the ten southern states were not 
represented in Congress in December, 1867, he declared: “Sir, 
they went out as they pleased, and they will now come back 
as it shall please the loyal people of this nation. They will 
come back upon such conditions, terms, and safeguards as 
shall secure us against the recurrence of a like calamity.”^® 
In January, 1868, Morton delivered in the Senate before 
crowded galleries what has been called his “Great Speech on 
Reconstruction”. It was a powerful argument in favor of 
the congressional policy.^^ 
In the election of 1868, reconstruction still remained the 
dominant issue in Indiana politics. The state platform of 
the Republican party contained an unqualified indorsement of 
the congressional plan of reconstruction, including the ex- 
tension of suffrage to the negroes of the South.^° The state 
Democratic platform contained the declaration, “that language 
is not adequate to express our abhorrence and condemnation 
of the radical reconstruction policy of Congress, a policy con- 
demned by every consideration of justice and constitutional 
obligation”. The platform specifically declared against con- 
ferring the right of suffrage on negroes.®^ 
The political campaign of 1868 in Indiana was fought with 
less bitterness than that of two years previous. The term 
“Copperhead” was employed less frequently than in 1866. The 
Republican press, nevertheless, still asserted that the real is- 
sue was that of “loyal men versus traitors”. The campaign 
in Indiana was a picturesque one. Doubtless, the presence of 
Schuyler Colfax on the ticket as Grant’s running mate eon- 
tributed to the enthusiasm manifested. Colfax was very pop- 
ular in northern Indiana. There were numerous rallies, 
parades, and street pageants. The Republicans organized 
“S Foulke, Life of Oliver P. Morton, II, 15. 
^Uhid., 42, 43. 
30 Henry, State Platforms, 84. 
^^Ibid., 32. 
