Page:Schurzlincoln00carlrich.djvu/110

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
96
Abraham Lincoln

tenth of the voters in 1860 should reëstablish a state government in conformity with the oath above mentioned, such should be recognized by the Executive as the true government of the State. The proclamation seemed at first to be received with general favor. But soon another scheme of reconstruction, much more stringent in its provisions, was put forward in the House of Representatives by Henry Winter Davis. Benjamin Wade championed it in the Senate. It passed in the closing moments of the session in July, 1864, and Lincoln, instead of making it a law by his signature, embodied the text of it in a proclamation as a plan of reconstruction worthy of being earnestly considered. The differences of opinion concerning this subject had only intensified the feeling against Lincoln which had long been nursed among the radicals, and some of them openly declared their purpose of resisting his reëlection to the presidency. Similar sentiments were manifested by the advanced anti-slavery