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Against the Grain

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9/05/97

     After writing British Colony parts 1&2 I was amazed how some people react, when confronted with information that goes against their prior programming.  It is as if to even consider the threat to their mental well being.  They were going to deny any truth that threatens their belief structure.  The good news is those with such a reaction were of the minority.  This is promising, because it shows Americans can still think past years of incomplete teaching, concerning our history.  Those in the negative believe the information had to be bogus and they could not believe the government could wrong them.

     So this third part is for them, to show them that government has and does lie to them and violates their trust on major issues.  As always this information and supporting documents, are given so the reader can form their own opinion.  Other writers, I will mention one since he uses a pen name, the Informer, has also
done extensive research on this subject and has been forced to come to the same conclusions.  (Check out the latest work of the Informer, his new book called, THE NEW HISTORY OF AMERICA.)

     The information the Informer and I have found is so clear and undeniable, even the doubting thomas' will have to face reality.  Not to make us right, but for America to become aware of lost history, that neither of us formed, but are willing to be

Guide to the Footnotes:

1. Quotes on the fraudulent ramification of the 14th. Amendment.
2. Tulane Law Review vol. 28 1953, The Dubious Origin Of The
   Fourteenth Amendment, by Walter J. Suthon, Jr.
3. Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867.
4. Reconstruction Act of March 11, 1868.
5. Reconstruction Act of March 23, 1867.
6. Reconstruction Act of July 19, 1867.
7. President Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction.
8. Veto message by President Johnson, March 2, 1867.
9. Gen. Orders No. 100 by President Lincoln, April 24 1863.
10.Court cases on Conquest and Military Occupation.
11.Letter I wrote to a local sheriff, August 27, 1995.
12.New Jersey's removal of their ratification of the 14th
   Amendment.
13.Addendum
     I will begin with the touchstone of the patriot community, the Fourteenth Amendment.  Everyone knows about the citizenship issue.  I raised another issue concerning the 4th section of the Fourteenth Amendment in British Colony part 1, and issues regarding sec. 3, in court documents found in Footnote 13.
Doubting thomas' think this is a conspiracy theory.  In the new propaganda movie called "Conspiracy Theory", the establishment wants you to think that anyone that believes there is someone behind the scenes calling the shots is mentally unbalanced.  What the doubting thomas' do not realize, is this is a big puzzle and
is hard to recognize, and can be incorrectly viewed.  The biggest problem is, it can be put together more than one way, totally changing its appearance and outcome.  The doubting thomas'  may say how is it you think you have the correct pieces?  My answer is, I shoot a lot of archery, in archery you shoot for the  bullseye, not the less important areas outside the bullseye.  You have to stay focused on what are the core issues, not the side issues/collateral issues, where valuable time is lost.  I conduct my research in this way.  Two, I rely on God Almighty to keep me pointed in the right direction.  Three, I always tell you not to take my word without checking the subject out for yourself.  Most people if plagued with a recurring headache, take a pain reliever, and the headache appears to go away.  When in fact all you have done is deal with a symptom, that caused the headache.  You have not dealt with the cause.  Many patriots today are  dealing with the symptoms, like taxes, driving v. traveling and the zipcode, etc. etc.  All are important issues and have their place, but they are not the root cause of our problem.  Until the cause of the affliction is researched, exposed and then removed, nothing will change.

     The lawful de jure united States government which was created by the 1787 Constitution/Treaty, between the States, was made null and void by the fraudulent Congress, that passed the Fourteenth Amendment.  This is a bold and broad statement, but I will prove it.

     "When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guarantees of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than
a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the States." Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d 266 @

     "Considered therefore as transactions under the Constitution, the ordinance of secession, adopted by the convention and ratified by a majority of the citizens of Texas, and all the acts of her legislature intended to give effect to that ordinance, were absolutely null. They were utterly without operation in law. The obligations of the State, as a member of the Union, and of every citizen of the State, as a citizen of the United States, remained perfect and unimpaired. It certainly follows that the State did not cease to be a State, nor her citizens to be citizens of the Union.  If this were otherwise, the State must have become foreign, and her citizens foreigners. The war must have ceased to be a war for the suppression of rebellion, and must have become a war for conquest of subjugation." Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d 266 @ 269, 20 U2d 403

     The Southern States could not lawfully cede from the Union without the other States being in agreement.  In the last sentence you will notice the war was either a rebellion or, the States were made foreign and conquest and military rule took place during the Civil War.  This is very important, because of what took place next, and what took place after the Civil War and March 9, 1933.  March 2, 1867, President Johnson declared the rebellion to be over and the Southern States to be once again part of the Union, before the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment  were passed.  So the States were not foreign, they did not have to be readmitted, they picked up in Congress where they left off, with the same State governments they had before the rebellion.  If the Southern States had ceded from the Union, without sanction by all the States, their Legislative Acts would have been null  and void.  In other words if a State or the federal government violates their corporate Charter, it makes any subsequent law

     The following information should upset you greatly and at the same time amaze you, that Americans are totally unaware of this information.  How is it in the freest country in the world, and a nation that prides itself on our history, could you have 200 plus million people ignorant of the truth, and that care so little about the destruction of our country?  The information I am sharing with you is purposely not taught in the public schools.  Why?  It will become clear to you that, if the government taught this in the public schools, it would cause the rebirth of American patriotism.  Americans would demand our former overthrown Republican form of government; and that the Laws of God Almighty be adhered to.  We were promised in the Constitution a Republican form of government, and Benjamin
Franklin when asked, said: you have been given a Republican form of government if you can keep it,(paraphrase).  By the laziness and greed of the American people over the years our lawful government was stolen, but not without our help.

     The Civil War was fought to free the slaves and reunite the Union, or so we have been told by selected history, taught by and through the government.  The slaves just changed masters, as I have said before in other research papers, and the white people enfranchised, incorporated, and sold themselves into slavery.
Whites along with blacks were made legal fictions so they could be owned and taxed by the king.  However, the only way this could be done is by destroying the Constitution, but they had to do it in a way that no one would recognize its destruction, or care thanks to the offered benefits.  Now the Proof.

     December 8, 1863 President Lincoln declared by proclamation, amnesty and reconstruction for the southerners so they could be readmitted into the Union. Footnote #7  This action along with what Lincoln was doing with the money is why Lincoln had to be killed.  The South could not be allowed back into the Union
without their enfranchisement.  Compare the readmittance oath in President Lincoln's proclamation of 1863, to the following oath requirement required by Congress, under the Reconstruction Acts, Footnotes #3,4,5 and 6.

     "An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States, passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, shall cause a registration to be made of the male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age and  upwards, resident in each county or parish in the State or States included in his district, which registration shall include only those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates by the act aforesaid, and who shall have taken and subscribed the following oath or affirmation: "I, _____, do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) in the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of the State of _____; that I have resided in said State for _____ months next preceding this day, and now reside in the county of _____, or the parish of _____, in said State, (as the case may be;) that I am twenty-one years old; that I have not been disfranchised for  participation in any  rebellion or civil war against the United States, nor for felony committed against the laws of any State or of the United States; that I have never been a member of any State legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in any State and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion  against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the  United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, encourage others so to do, so help me God;" which oath or affirmation may be administered by any registering officer." Reconstruction Act of March 23, 1867,
supplement to Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867.

     You will note that in the above oath Congress creates legal residence for anyone taking the oath and that this is done by registering to vote, and made a requirement in order to vote.  The same legal disability still takes place today when you register to vote.  Today you still have voting districts in every county in the America.

     You will also notice that, the oath makes you declare that you were not disenfranchised, by taking part in the Civil War.  Which means that, before the Civil War Americans were franchised citizens, incorporated.  I covered this in part 1; by the States adoption of the Constitution, those that lived in the States  became legal residents, incorporated/enfranchised, instead of Sui Juris freemen.  Which was granted to them by the Declaration of Independence, and in North Carolina, for North Carolinians this was reaffirmed by the 1776 North Carolina Constitution, see British Colony part 2.

     Also, you will see in the following oaths where the language came from, for the creation of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, this language was also used in the 14th Amendment oath you just read. Wherein it declares that, elected officials, judges, legislators and police etc., cannot give aid and comfort to the enemy.  The enemy is anyone unincorporated, because the king cannot legally tax you, without using the force of admiralty.  The enemy is also anyone that refuses to swear the oath to the de facto government for the above reasons.

     The following is the oath given to those that wanted to serve in the United States government.

An act to prescribe an oath of office. July 2, 1862

     "Be it enacted, That hereafter every person elected or appointed to any office of honor or profit under the Government of the United States either in the civil, military, or naval departments of the public service, excepting the President of the United States, shall, before entering upon the duties of such  office, and before being entitled to any of the salary or other emoluments thereof, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I, A B, do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have never sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority, in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto; and I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear  true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter; so help me God;"  which said oath, so taken and signed, shall be preserved among the files of the Court, House of Congress, or Department to which the said office may appertain. And any person who shall falsely take the said oath shall be guilty of perjury, and on conviction, in addition to the penalties now prescribed for that offense,  shall be deprived of his office, and rendered incapable forever after, of holding any office or place under the United States."

     When the war was over President Johnson declared the States readmitted to the Union and hostilities to be over.

Furthermore; on April 2, 1866, President Andrew Johnson issued a "Proclamation" that:

     "The insurrection which heretofore existed in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida is at an end, and is henceforth to be so regarded."

Presidential Proclamation No. 153,
General Records of the United States,
G.S.A. National Archives and Records Service.

     On August 20, 1866 (14 Stat. 814); the President proclaimed that the insurrection in the State of Texas had been completely ended and his "Proclamation"continued:

     "The insurrection which heretofore existed in the State of Texas is at an end, and is to be henceforth so regarded in that State, as in the other States before named in which the said insurrection was proclaimed to be at an end by the aforesaid proclamation of the second day of April, one thousand, eight  hundred and sixty-six.
     "And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is at an end, and that peace, order, tranquility, and civil authority now exist, in and throughout the whole of the united States of America."

     Again the power behind the United States government would not stand for this, so Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts,
Footnotes #3,4,5 and 6.  President Johnson vetoed the Acts because they were unconstitutional.  Below are some excerpts from his veto message.

     "It is plain that the authority here given to the military officer amounts to absolute despotism.  But to make it still more unendurable, the bill provides that it may be delegated to as many subordinates as he chooses to appoint, for it declares that he shall 'punish or cause to be punished'.  Such a power has not
been wielded by any Monarch in England for more than five hundred years.  In all that time no people who speak the English language have borne such servitude.  It reduces the whole population of the ten States- all persons, of every color, sex and condition, and every stranger within their limits- to the most abject and
degrading slavery.  No master ever had a control so absolute over the slaves as this bill gives to the military officers over both white and colored persons...."
     "I come now to a question which is, if possible, still more important.  Have we the power to establish and carry into execution a measure like this?  I answer, 'Certainly not', if we derive our authority from the Constitution and if we are bound by the limitations which is imposes."....
     "...The Constitution also forbids the arrest of the citizen without judicial warrant, founded on probable cause.  This bill authorizes an arrest without warrant, at pleasure of a military commander.  The Constitution declares that 'no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless  on presentment of a grand jury'.  This bill holds ever person not a soldier answerable for all crimes and all charges without any presentment.  The Constitution declares that 'no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law'.  This bill sets aside all process of law, and makes the citizen answerable in his person and property to the will of one man, and as to his life to the will of two.  Finally, the Constitution declares that 'the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it'; whereas this bill declares martial law (which of itself suspends this great writ) in time of peace, and authorizes the military to make the arrest, and gives to the prisoner only one privilege, and that is trial 'without unnecessary delay'.  He has no hope of release from custody, except the hope, such as it is, of release by acquittal before a military commission."
     "The United States are bound to guarantee to each State a republican form of government.  Can it be pretended that this obligation is not palpably broken if we carry out a measure like this, which wipes away every vestige of republican government in ten States and puts the life, property, and honor of all people
in each of them under domination of a single person clothed with unlimited authority?"
     "....,here is a bill of attainder against 9,000,000 people at once.  It is based upon an accusation so vague as to be scarcely intelligible and found to be true upon no credible evidence.  Not one of the 9,000,000 was heard in his own defense.  The representatives of the doomed parties were excluded from all
participation in the trial.  The conviction is to be followed by the most ignominious punishment ever inflicted on large messes of men.  It disfranchises them by hundreds of thousands and degrades them all, even those who are admitted to be guiltless, from the rank of freeman to the condition of slaves."
Veto Message of President Johnson, March 2, 1867, Footnote #8

     President Johnson did not realize the king ruled and that in 1845 Congress declared admiralty law to have come on land, nor did he realize the relevance of the Insular Cases.  I cover these in "A Country Defeated In Victory" part 1 and in Footnote 11.  Once the judiciary decided to look the other way, the De jure
Constitution's days were numbered.

     "As a result of these decisions, enforcement of the Reconstruction Act against the Southern States, helpless to resist military rule without aid of the judiciary, went forward unhampered.  Puppet governments were founded in these various States under military auspices.  Through these means the adoption of new state constitutions, conforming to the requirements of Congress, was accomplished.  Likewise, one by one, these puppet state governments ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, which their more independent predecessors had rejected.  Finally, in July 1868, the ratifications of this amendment by the puppet governments of seven of the ten Southern States, including Louisiana, gave more than the required ratification by three- fourths of the States, and resulted in a Joint Resolution adopted by Congress and a Proclamation by the Secretary of State, both declaring the Amendment ratified and in force." Tulane Law Review, The Dubious Origin Of The Fourteenth Amendment. page 36

     To regress just a moment, after the war, after the States rejoined the Union, the representatives of the South took their seats in Congress.  Later the Thirteenth Amendment was passed in Congress by the Northern States and the Southern States.  By the 1787 Constitution they were considered equal contracting partners of the Union.  The powers controlling the government had to replace their republican form of government that had existed in the Southern States since they adopted the 1787 Constitution.

     "Despite the fact that the southern States had been functioning peacefully for two years and had been counted to secure ratification of the  Thirteenth Amendment , Congress passed the Reconstruction Act, which provided for the military occupation of 10 of the 11 southern States. It excluded Tennessee from military occupation and one must suspect it was because Tennessee had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment  on July 7, 1866.
     The Act further disfranchised practically all white voters and provided that no Senator or Congressman from the occupied States could be seated in Congress until a new Constitution was adopted by each State which would be approved by Congress. The Act further provided that each of the 10 States was required
to ratify the proposed Fourteenth Amendment and the  Fourteenth Amendment must become a part of the Constitution of the United States before the military occupancy would cease and the States be allowed to have seats in Congress." Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d  266 @ 269, 20 U2d 403

     The way they chose to do it was pass the Fourteenth Amendment.  However, the Northern States that put the amendment up in Congress figured the Southern States would ratify.  Wrong, the amendment fell short of passing the House and the Senate.  The action taken next by the Northern States will go down in history as the most unlawful act ever taken by any government in the world.  Since the amendment would not pass lawfully, the Northern States decided to rip the 1787 Constitution up and take over the government.  How did they do this?  They told the Southern States that refused to vote for the amendment they no longer were members of Congress, denying lawful States suffrage in the Union.  In order to get the amendment through Congress the Northern Senators also removed a seated Senator from New Jersey to give them two-thirds in the Senate, and counted 30 abstention  votes in the House as yes votes to pass the Fourteenth Amendment in the House. See Footnote #12

     Observing how 'a renegade group of men from the Northern States', MY NOTE in quotes, actual text in brackets (Congress) had taken the Constitution into its own hands and was proceeding in willful disregard of the Constitution, on the 15th of January, 1868- Ohio, and then on March 24, 1868- New Jersey, voted to withdraw their prior ratifications and to reject.

     The following, is an excerpt from Joint Resolution No.1 of the State of New Jersey of March 24, 1868, when they rescinded their prior ratification and rejected:
     "It being necessary, by the Constitution, that every amendment to the same, should be proposed by two thirds of both Houses of Congress, the authors of said proposition, for the purpose of securing the assent of the requisite majority,  determined to, and did, exclude from the said two Houses eighty representatives form eleven States of the Union, upon the pretence that there were no such States in the Union; but, finding that two-thirds of the remainder of said Houses could not be brought to assent to the said proposition, they deliberately formed and carried out the design of mutilating the integrity of the United States Senate, and without any pretext or justification, other than the possession of power, without the right and in palpable violation of the Constitution, ejected a  member of their own body, representing this State, and thus practically denied to New Jersey its equal suffrage in the Senate and thereby nominally secured the vote of two-thirds of the said Houses."
     "The object of dismembering the highest representative assembly in the Nation, and humiliating a State of the Union, faithful at all times to all of its obligations, and the object of said amendment were one- to place new and unheard of powers in the hands of a faction, that it might absorb to itself all executive, judicial and legislative power, necessary to secure to itself immunity for the unconstitutional acts it had already committed, and those it has since inflicted on a too patient people."
     "The subsequent usurpation of these once national assemblies, in passing pretended laws for the establishment, in ten States, of martial law, which is nothing but the will of the military commander, and therefore inconsistent with the very nature of all law, for the purpose reducing to slavery men of their own race to those States, or compelling them, contrary to their own convictions, to exercise the elective franchise in obedience to dictation of a fraction in those assemblies; the attempt to commit to one man arbitrary and uncontrolled power,
which they have found necessary to exercise to force the people of those States into compliance with their will; the authority given to the Secretary of War to use the name of the President, to countermand its President's order, and to certify military orders to be by the direction of the President' when they are
notoriously known to be contrary to the President's direction, thus keeping up the forms of the Constitution to which the people are accustomed, but practically deposing the President from his office of Commander-in-Chief, and suppressing one of the great departments of the Government, that of the executive; the attempt
to withdraw from the supreme judicial tribunal of the Nation the jurisdiction to examine and decide upon the conformity of their pretended laws to the Constitution, which was the Chief function of that August tribunal, as organized by the fathers of the republic: all are but amplified explanations of the power they hope to acquire by the adoption of the said amendment."
     "To conceal from the people the immense alteration of the fundamental law they intended to accomplish by the said amendment, they gilded the same with propositions of justice..."
     "It imposes new prohibitions upon the power of the State to pass laws, and interdicts the execution of such part of the common law as the national judiciary may esteem inconsistent with the vague provisions of the said amendment; made vague for the purpose of facilitating encroachment upon the lives, liberties
and property of the people."
     "It enlarges the judicial power of the United States so as to bring every law passed by the State, and every principle of the common law relating to life, liberty, or property, within the jurisdiction of the Federal tribunals, and charges those tribunals with duties, to the due performance of which they, from
their nature and organization, and their distance from the people, are unequal."
     "It makes a new apportionment of representatives in the National courts, for no other reason than thereby to secure to a faction a sufficient number of votes of a servile and ignorant race to outweigh the intelligent voices of their own."
     "This Legislature, feeling conscious of the support of the largest majority of the people that has ever been given expression to the public will, declare that the said proposed amendment being designed to confer, or to compel the States to  confer, the sovereign right of elective franchise upon a race which has never given the slightest evidence, at any time, or in any quarter of the globe, of its capacity of self-government, and erect an impracticable standard of suffrage, which will render the right valueless to any portion of the people was intended to  overthrow the system of self-government under which the people of the United States have for eighty years enjoyed their liberties, and is unfit, from its origin, its object and its matter, to be incorporated with the fundamental law of a free people." (The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and  the threat that it poses to our democratic government, Pinckney G. McElwee, South Carolina Law Quarterly 1959)

     Did the political outrage of all history stop there?  No!  In order to ratify the amendment in the States, Congress declared war on the Southern States by passing the Reconstruction Acts.  Declaring the Southern States had unlawful State governments.  They placed the States under martial law, creating military districts which still exist today.  Is not the Fourteenth Amendment still in existence today?  Nothing has changed.  They replaced the lawful State governments with puppet governments, so the Fourteenth Amendment would be ratified by the required 3/4 of the States and would not readmit any State until ratification of
the amendment was complete.  The illusion is since you vote for your officials, "we can't be under military occupation".  The privilege to vote would end if your State tried to remove the Fourteenth Amendment.

     Back to President Johnson's veto, the unlawful Congress then over road his veto.  Now picture this, you have a lawful President who vetoed the unconstitutional Reconstruction Acts, passed by a de facto Congress.  Then the unlawful Congress overrides his veto since they have a Republican majority in the
Congress after denying the representation to the Democratic Southern States.  This Congress under the 1787 Constitution had no lawful authority to conduct business under the 1787 Charter much less destroy the office of the President.  What do you call this?  It was a political take over, a coup d'etat.

     The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed by Congress to the States for adoption, through the enactment by Congress of Public Resolution No. 48, adopted by the Senate on June 8, 1866 and by the House of Representatives on June 13, 1866.  That Congress deliberately submitted this amendment proposal to the then existing legislatures of the several States is shown by the initial paragraph of the resolution." Tulane Law Review, The Dubious Origin Of The Fourteenth Amendment. page 28

  1. Texas rejected the 14th Amendment on October 27, 1866
     (House Journal 1866, pp. 578-584 - Senate Journal 1866, p.
     471.).

  2. Georgia rejected the 14th Amendment on November 9, 1866
     (House Journal 1866, p 68 - Senate Journal 1866, p. 8.).

  3. Florida rejected the 14th Amendment on December 6, 1866
     (House Journal 1866, p 76 - Senate Journal 1866, p. 8.).

  4. Alabama rejected the 14th Amendment on December 7, 1866
     (House Journal 1866. p. 210-213 - Senate Journal 1866, p.
     183.).

  5. North Carolina rejected the 14th Amendment on December 14,
     1866 (House Journal 1866 - 1867. p. 183 - Senate Journal
     1866-67, p. 138.).

  6. Arkansas rejected the 14th Amendment on December 17, 1866
     (House Journal 1866, pp. 288-291 - Senate Journal 1866, p.
     262.).

  7. South Carolina rejected the 14th Amendment on December 20,
     1866 (House Journal 1866, p. 284 - Senate Journal 1866, p.
     230.).

  8. Kentucky rejected the 14th Amendment on January 8, 1867
     (House Journal 1867, p. 60 - Senate Journal 1867, p. 62.).

  9. Virginia rejected the 14th Amendment on January 9, 1867
     (House Journal 1866-67, p. 108 - Senate Journal 1866-67, p.
     101.).

 10. Louisiana rejected the 14th Amendment on February 9, 1867
     ("Joint Resolution" as recorded on page 9 of the "Acts of
     the General Assembly," Second Session, January 28, 1867)
     (McPherson, "Reconstruction," p. 194; "Annual Encyclopedia,"
     p. 452.).

 11. Delaware rejected the 14th Amendment on February 7, 1867
     (House Journal 1867, p. 223 - Senate Journal 1867, p. 808.).

 12. Maryland rejected the 14th Amendment on March 23, 1867
     (House Journal 1867, p. 1141 - Senate Journal 1867, p.
    808.).

 13. Mississippi rejected the 14th Amendment on January 31, 1867
     (McPherson, "Reconstruction," p. 194.).

 14. Ohio rejected the 14th Amendment on January 15, 1868
     (House Journal 1868, pp. 44-50 - Senate Journal 1868, pp.
     33-38.).

 15. New Jersey rejected the 14th Amendment on March 24, 1868
     ("Minutes of the Assembly" 1868, p. 743 - Senate Journal
     1868, p. 356.).

 16. California rejected the 14th Amendment on March 3rd, 1868
     ("Journal of the Assembly" 1867-8, p. 601).

 17. Oregon rejected the 14th Amendment by the Senate on October
     6, 1868 and by the House on October 15, 1868 proclaiming the
     Legislature that ratified the Amendment to have been a
     "defacto" Legislature (U.S. House of Representatives, 40th
     Congress, 3rd session, Mis. Doc. No 12).

     Did the military occupation ever come to an end?  No!  Did the military presence leave the streets?  Yes.  Technically do you have to have a military presence visible in the streets, for military occupation and martial law to exist?  No!  Can the military/Commander-in-Chief/Congress, transfer this power to the
civil authorities?  Yes.  Read the following cases, and Lincoln's General order 100, Footnote #9

     "But there is another description of government, called also by publicists a government de facto, but which might, perhaps, be more aptly denominated a government of paramount force. Its distinguishing characteristics are (1) that its existence is maintained by active military power within the territories, and against the rightful authority of an established and lawful government; and (2) that while it exists it must necessarily be [229 U.S. 416, 429] obeyed in civil matters by private citizens who, by acts of obedience rendered in submission to such force, do not become responsible, as wrongdoers, for those acts, though  not warranted by the laws of the rightful government. Actual governments of this sort are established over districts differing greatly in extent and conditions. They are usually administered directly by military authority, but they may be administered, also, by civil authority, supported more or less directly by  military force." Thornington v. Smith, 8 Wall. 1, 9, 19 L. ed. 361, 363.  Macleod v. U.S, 229 U.S. 416 1913

     "While it is held to be the right of a conqueror to levy contributions upon the enemy in their seaports, towns, or provinces which may be in his military possession by conquest, and to apply the proceeds to defray the expenses of the war, this right is to be exercised within such limitations that it may not savor of confiscation. As the result of military occupation, the taxes and duties payable by the inhabitants to the former government become payable to the military occupant, unless he sees fit to substitute for them other rates or modes of  contributions to the expenses of the government. The moneys so collected are to be used for the purpose of paying the expenses of government under the military occupation, such as the salaries of the judges and the police, and for the payment of the expenses of the army."  Macleod v. U.S, 229 U.S. 416 1913

     To also prove that military occupation still exists, ask yourself this.  Is the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified under duress, military occupation; and written and passed by a de facto Congress still in existence?  Yes!  If a State would today remove the Fourteenth Amendment and the statutory laws this amendment created from their State laws, do you think the federal government would send in the military again?  Of course it would.  So did the military occupation end?  I hope by now you know the answer to that.

     Have you never wondered why the government sends your tax dollars all over the world via the IMF and the World Bank etc. etc., with Americans paying the bill, without ever putting this up for a vote?  Read the following quote.

     "In New Orleans v. New York Mail S. S. Co. 20 Wall. 387, 393, 22 L. ed. 354, it was said, with respect to the powers of the military government over the city of New Orleans after its conquest, that it had 'the same power and rights in territory held by conquest as if the territory had belonged to a foreign country and had been subjugated in a foreign war. In such cases the conquering power has the right to displace the pre-existing authority, and to assume to such extent as it may deem proper the exercise by itself of all the powers and functions of government. It may appoint all the necessary officers and clothe them with
designated powers, larger or smaller, according to its pleasure. It may prescribe the revenues to be paid, and apply them to its own use or otherwise. It may do anything necessary to strengthen itself and weaken the enemy. There is no limit to the powers that may be exerted in such cases, save those which are found in the
laws and usages of war."  Dooley v. U.S., 182 U.S. 222 1901

     To drive home the relevance of British Colony part 1&2 and what I just said above about taxes, read and understand the below quotes from the Declaration of Rights, September 5, 1774. Maybe it will sink in, we are taxed by Britain and we have not only asked for it but, demanded the benefits supplied by the king,
past and present.  GO FIGURE????

"Resolved, 4. That the foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in their legislative council: and as the English colonists are not represented, and from their local and other circumstances, can not properly be represented in the British Parliament, they are entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative of their  sovereign, in such manner as has been heretofore used and accustomed. But, from the necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of both countries, WE CHEERFULLY CONSENT TO THE OPERATION OF SUCH ACTS OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, as are BONA FIDE, restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the PURPOSE OF SECURING THE COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES OF THE WHOLE EMPIRE TO THE MOTHER COUNTRY, and the COMMERCIAL BENEFITS OF ITS RESPECTIVE MEMBERS; excluding every idea of taxation, internal or ETERNAL, for raising a revenue on the SUBJECTS IN  AMERICA, without their consent." Declaration of Rights, from September 5, 1774 (The forefathers wanted the commercial benefitswithout paying the taxes that go hand in hand, it does not work that way Patriots.)

"Resolved, 7. That these, His Majesty's colonies, are likewise entitled to all the IMMUNITIES AND PRIVILEGES GRANTED and confirmed to them by ROYAL CHARTERS, or secured by their several codes of provincial laws." Declaration of Rights, from September  5, 1774

     As further proof, are not all States divided into military Districts?  At first glance you may not think so.  However, look at your District Courts, in your State.  They are the enforcement arm of the admiralty law/kings law and legislation passed on a daily basis.  As I said before the voting Districts are also left over from the Reconstruction Acts.  In every court room a military flag is flown, a war flag not the Title 4, flag of peace.  Are you not required to obtain a license from the de facto government for every aspect of commerce, and the use of their military script/fiat money?  Americans are taxed and controlled in the following ways, to name a few:

1. Social Security number - license to work.
2. Drivers license - permission to conduct commerce and travel on
   the military roads.
3. Occupational license - permission to perform a God given
   right.
4. State and local privilege license - license to work in the
   State, county or city.
5. Marriage license - permission for a right granted by God
   Almighty.
6. Hunting and Fishing license - government taxing property of
   God Almighty, etc.etc.etc.

     Every license or permit is a use tax and is financial slavery, you are controlled in every aspect of your life.  All licenses came about after the Fourteenth Amendment and the military occupation, which we are now under.  The reason all this has taken place in America is, to colonize the world for  Britain.  The United States has been the enforcement arm/cannon fodder for Britain since the Civil War.

     "The decisions wherein grounds were found for avoiding a ruling on the constitutionality of the Reconstruction Act leave the impression that our highest tribunal failed in these cases to measure up to the standard of the judiciary in a constitutional democracy.  If the Reconstruction Act was unconstitutional, the people oppressed by it were entitled to protection by the judiciary against such unconstitutional oppression." Tulane Law Review, The Dubious Origin Of The Fourteenth Amendment. page 34

     "The adversary or the skeptic might assert that, after a lapse of more than eighty years, it is too late to question the constitutionality or validity of the coerced ratifications of the Fourteenth Amendment even on substantial and serious grounds.  The ready answer is that there is no statute of limitations that will cure a gross violation of the amendment procedure laid down by Article V of the Constitution." Tulane Law Review, The Dubious Origin Of The Fourteenth Amendment. page 43

     If you want to read more about the military occupation and the War Powers Act, read Footnote #11.  This issue concerning the Constitution has to be understood by the Patriots, before you can help others see the illusion.  We Patriots need to be able to tell others how we arrived in this condition.  But, this will never happen as long as we defend a dead treaty, and expect a lawful remedy from a de facto government.

     Is it any wonder why Americans look at us like were nuts.  We defy a de facto government and take its benefits.  We curse its judges and praise a de facto Constitution that, denies the judges the ability to give remedy to the enemy.  We praise the legal document that gave Congress the power to declare us as
enemies and curse the Congress for their action.  Wake up Patriots!  How do you expect Americans to listen to the truth, when we are so easily made to look like fools by the government propaganda machine, and we make it easy for them.  We tell the American people the sky is falling, but never give them a remedy, other than keeping the same damn document that enslaved us.  We do not tell the American people that there was life before the Civil War Occupation and the Fourteenth Amendment unlawful Constitution, so fear of the unknown will keep them from  wanting to learn.  The only remedy I see, except for God Almighty's Judgment, is to expose the fraud.  See Footnote 13.

     Until you accept the truth about the Constitution you will not be able to understand the information in British Colony part 1&2. I will end this research paper in this way.  Someone asked me, "are you not afraid to be killed by the government"?  I told them what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendnego said:

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king, But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:17-18
     Mark Twain: "You see, my kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to institutions or its officeholders.  The country is the real thing; it is the thing to watch over and care for and be loyal to; institutions extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.  To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags--that is a loyalty of unreason; it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy; was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it.  I was from Connecticut, whose constitution declared "That all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit, and that they have at all times an undeniable and indefensible right to alter their form of government in such a manner as they think expedient."  Under that gospel, the citizen who thinks that the Commonwealth's political clothes are worn out and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal; he is a traitor.  That he may be the only one who thinks he sees this decay does not excuse him; it is his duty to agitate, anyway, and it is the duty of others to vote him down if they do not see the matter as he does."
 

                                FOOTNOTES

Footnote #1

The North Carolina Legislature protested [by "Resolution" of
December 6, 1866] as follows:

     "The Federal Constitution declare, in substance, that Congress shall consist of a House of Representatives, composed of members apportioned among the respective States in the ratio of their population, and of a Senate, composed of two members from each State. And IN THE ARTICLE WHICH CONCERNS AMENDMENTS, IT IS  EXPRESSLY PROVIDED THAT `NO STATE, WITHOUT ITS CONSENT, SHALL BE DEPRIVED OF ITS EQUAL SUFFRAGE IN THE SENATE.' THE CONTEMPLATED AMENDMENT WAS NOT PROPOSED TO THE STATES BY A CONGRESS THUS CONSTITUTED. At the time of its adoption, the eleven seceding States were deprived of representation both in the Senate and House, although they all, except the State of Texas, had Senators and Representatives duly elected and claiming their privileges under the Constitution. In consequence of this, these States had no voice on the important question of proposing the Amendment. HAD THEY BEEN ALLOWED TO GIVE THEIR VOTES, THE PROPOSITION WOULD
DOUBTLESS HAVE FAILED TO COMMAND THE REQUIRED TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY...."

     "If the votes of these States are necessary to a valid ratification of the Amendment, they were equally necessary on the question of proposing it to the States; for it would be difficult, in the opinion of the Committee, to show by what process in logic, men of intelligence would arrive at a different conclusion." North Carolina Senate Journal, 1866-67, pp. 92 and 93.

     "By spurious, non-representative governments; seven of the southern States, (which had theretofore rejected the proposed Amendment under the duress of military occupation and of being denied representation in Congress), did attempt to ratify the proposed Fourteenth Amendment.  The Secretary of ;State, (of July 20, 1868), issued his proclamation wherein he stated that it was his duty under the law to cause Amendments to be published and certified as a part of the Constitution when he received official notice that they had been adopted pursuant to the Constitution. Thereafter his certificate contained the following language:"

     "And whereas neither the Act just quoted from, nor any other
law, expressly or by conclusive implication., authorizes the
Secretary of State to determine and decide doubtful questions as
to the authenticity of the organization of State legislatures, or
as to the power of any State  legislature to recall a previous
act or resolution of ratification of any amendment proposed to
the Constitution;"
     "And whereas it appears from official documents on file in
this Department that the amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the
legislatures of the States of [naming 23, including New Jersey,
Ohio, and Oregon];"
     "And whereas it further appears from documents on file in
this Department that the amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, proposed as aforesaid, has also been ratified by
newly constituted and newly established bodies avowing themselves
to be and acting as the legislatures, respectively, of the States
of Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina,
and Alabama;"
     "And whereas it further appears from official documents on
file in this Department that the legislatures of two of the
States first above enumerated, to wit, Ohio and New Jersey, have
since passed resolutions respectively withdrawing the consent of
each of said States to the aforesaid amendment; and whereas it is
deemed a matter of doubt and uncertainty whether such resolutions
are not irregular, invalid, and therefore ineffectual for
withdrawing the consent of the said two States, or of either of
them, to the aforesaid amendment;"
     "And whereas the whole number of States in the United States
is thirty-seven, to wit: [naming them];"
     "And whereas the twenty-three States first hereinbefore
named, whose legislatures have ratified the said proposed
amendment, and the six States next there after named, as having
ratified the said proposed amendment by newly constituted and
established legislative bodies, together constitute three fourths
of the whole number of States in the United States;"
     "Now, therefore, be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State of the United States, by virtue and in
pursuant of the second section of the act of Congress, approved
the twentieth of April, eighteen hundred and eighteen,
hereinbefore cited, do hereby certify that if the resolutions of
the legislatures of Ohio and New Jersey ratifying the aforesaid
amendment are to be deemed as remaining of full force and effect,
notwithstanding the subsequent resolutions of the legislatures of
those States, which purport to withdraw the consent of said
States from such  ratification, then the aforesaid amendment had
been ratified in the manner hereinbefore mentioned, and so has
become valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the
Constitution of the United States." *** (15 Stat. 707  (1868))"
Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d 266 @ 269, 20 U2d 403

     "Congress was not satisfied with the proclamation as issued
and on the next day passed a Concurrent Resolution wherein it was
resolved:"
     "That said Fourteenth Article is hereby declared to be a
part of the Constitution of the United States, and it shall be
duly promulgated as such by the Secretary of State."
     "Resolution set forth in proclamation of Secretary of State,
(15 Stat. 709 [1868])."
See also U.S.C.G., Amends. 1 to 5, Constitution, p. 11
     "Thereupon; William H. Seaward, the Secretary of State
(after setting forth the Concurrent Resolution of both Houses of
Congress) then certified that the Amendment:"
     "Has become valid to all intents and purposes as a part of
the Constitution of the United States." (15 Stat. 708 [1868])"
Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d 266 @ 269, 20 U2d 403

     "The Constitution of the United States is silent as to who
should decide whether a proposed Amendment has or has not been
passed according to formal provisions of Article V of the
Constitution.  The Supreme Court of the United States is the
ultimate authority on the meaning of the Constitution and has
never hesitated in a proper case to declare an Act  of Congress
unconstitutional  except when the Act  purported to amend the
Constitution." Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d 266 @ 269, 20 U2d 403

     "In the case of Laser v. Garnet 258 U.S. 130, 42 SECT. 217,
66 LED. 505, the question was before the Supreme Court as to
whether or not the Nineteenth Amendment had been ratified
pursuant to the Constitution. In the last paragraph of the
decision the Supreme Court said:"
     "As the legislatures of Tennessee and of West Virginia had
power to adopt the resolutions of ratification, official notice
to the Secretary, duly authenticated, that they had done so, was
conclusive upon him, and, being certified to by his proclamation,
is conclusive upon the courts." Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d 266 @
269, 20 U2d 403

     "The duty of the Secretary of State was ministerial, to wit,
to count and determine when three fourths of the States had
ratified the proposed Amendment. He could not determine that a
State, once having rejected a proposed Amendment, could
thereafter approve it; nor could he determine that a State, once
having ratified that proposal, could thereafter reject it. The
Supreme Court, and not Congress, should determine whether the
Amendment process be final or would not be final, whether the
first vote was for ratification or rejection." Dyett v. Turner
439 p2d 266 @ 269, 20 U2d 403

     "In order to have 27 States ratify the Fourteenth Amendment,
it was necessary to count those States which had first rejected
and then under the duress of military occupation had ratified,
and then also to count those States which initially ratified but
subsequently rejected the proposal." Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d 266
@ 269, 20 U2d 403

     "To leave such dishonest counting to a fractional part of
Congress is dangerous in the extreme. What is to prevent any
political party having control of both Houses of Congress from
refusing to seat the opposition and then passing a Joint
Resolution to the effect that the Constitution is amended and
that it is the duty of the Administrator of the General Services
 Administration to proclaim the adoption?"
     "Would the Supreme Court of the United States still say the
problem was political and refuse to determine whether
constitutional standards had been met?" Dyett v. Turner 439 p2d
266 @ 269, 20 U2d 403
 

Footnote #2

Tulane Law Review vol. 28 1953, The Dubious Origin Of The
Fourteenth Amendment, by Walter J. Suthon, Jr.

     "How remote was this Hamiltonian concept from the events of 1867 and 1888, when a "rump" Congress arrogated to itself the power to force ratification of a rejected amendment, coercing ratifications by several of the rejecting States."  page 26

     "This submission was by a two-thirds vote of the quorum present in each House of Congress, and in that sense it complied with Article V of the Constitution.  However, the submission was by a "rump" Congress.  Using the constitutional provision that "Each House shall be the judge of the Elections, Returns and
Qualifications of its own Members..." each House had excluded all persons appearing with credentials as Senators or Representatives from the ten Southern States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas.   This exclusion, through the exercise of an unreviewable constitutional prerogative, constituted a gross violation of the essence of two other constitutional provisions, both intended to protect the rights of the States to representation in Congress." page 28

     "Had these ten Southern States not been summarily denied their constitutional rights of representation in Congress, through the ruthless use of the power of each House to pass on the election and qualifications of its members, this amendment proposal would doubtless have died a-borning.  It obviously would
have been impossible to secure a two-thirds vote for the submission of the proposed Fourteenth Amendment, particularly in the Senate, if the excluded members had been permitted to enter and to vote.  Of course, that was one of the motives and reasons for this policy of ruthless exclusion." page 28

     "Assuming the validity of the submission of this amendment by a two-thirds vote of this "rump" Congress, there is no gainsaying the obvious proposition that whatever "contemplation" or "understanding" this "rump" Congress may have had, as to the intent, or the scope, or the effect, or the consequences of the amendment being submitted, was necessarily a "rump" contemplation or understanding.  The ten Southern States, whose Senators and Representatives were all excluded from the deliberations of the "rump" Congress, could have had no possible part in the development or formation of any "contemplation" or "understanding" of what the consequences and effects of the proposed amendment were to be." page 29

     "This created a situation which made impossible the ratification of the Amendment unless some of these rejections were reversed.  With thirty-seven States in all, ten rejections were sufficient to prevent the adoption of the amendment  proposal.  The thirteen rejections, by the ten Southern States and three border States, were more than sufficient to block ratification even if all other States finally ratified." page 30

     "This is the only action ever taken on the Fourteenth Amendment by a Louisiana Legislature exercising free and unfettered and un-coerced judgment and discretion as between ratification or rejection of the amendment proposal.  The  subsequent purported ratification of this Amendment in Louisiana was by a legislature of a puppet government, created by the radical majority of Congress to do the bidding of its master, and compelled to ratify this Amendment by the Federal Statute which had brought this puppet government into existence for this
specific purpose."  page 30

     "It is most interesting to read the proceedings of the Louisiana House of Representatives on February 6, 1867, whereby that body adopted the Joint Resolution ordaining the refusal of Louisiana to ratify the proposed Fourteenth Amendment--the Joint Resolution which became Act 4 of 1867.  This Journal shows, by the roll call, that one hundred members voted out of a total
House membership of one hundred and ten--and that the unanimous vote was one hundred against ratification and not in favor of it.  This was the last opportunity for a free and un-coerced expression of views on this amendment proposal by duly elected representatives of the people of Louisiana." page 31

     "The Act dealt with these Southern States, referred to as "rebel States" in its various provisions.  It opened with a recital that "no legal State government" existed in these States.  It placed these States under military rule.  Louisiana and Texas were grouped together as the Fifth Military District, and placed under the domination of an army officer appointed by the President.  All civilian authorities were placed under the dominant authority of the military government." page 31
     "The most extreme and amazing feature of the Act was the requirement that each excluded State must ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, in order to again enjoy the status and rights of a State, including representation in Congress.  Section 3 of the Act sets fourth this compulsive coercion thus imposed upon the Southern States." page 32

     "Senator Doolittle of Wisconsin, a Northerner and a Conservative Republican.  During the floor debate on the bill, he said,
      "My friend has said what has been said all around me, what is said every day: the people of the South have rejected the constitutional amendment, and therefore we will march upon them and force them to adopt it at the point of the bayonet, and establish military power over them until they do adopt it." page  32

     "President Johnson vetoed the Reconstruction Act in an able message, stressing its harsh injustices and its many aspects of obvious unconstitutionality.  He justifiably denounced it as "a bill of attainder against nine million people at once." page 33

     "Notwithstanding this able message, the Act was promptly passed over his veto by the required two-thirds majority in each House.  Military rule took over in the ten Southern States to initiate the process of conditioning a subjugated people to an ultimate acceptance of the Fourteenth Amendment." page 33

     "Whatever justification for other portions of the Reconstruction Act may or may not be found in this constitutional provision, there could clearly be no sort of a relationship between a guarantee to a State of "a republican form of  government" and an abrogation of the basic and constitutional right of a State, in its legislative discretion, to make its own choice between ratification or rejection of a constitutional amendment proposal submitted to the state legislatures by the Congress of the United States.  To deny to a State the exercise of this free choice between ratification and rejection, and to put the harshest sort of coercive pressure upon a State to compel ratification, was clearly a gross infraction--not and effectuation--of the constitutional guarantee of "a republican form of government." page 37

     Madison said in Federalist No. 43:
"....the authority extends no further than to a guaranty of a republican form government, which supposes a preexisting government of the form which is to be guaranteed.  As long, therefore, as the existing republican forms are continued by the States, they are guaranteed by the federal Constitution.  Whenever the States may choose to substitute other republican forms, they have a right to do so, and to claim the federal guaranty for the latter.  The only restriction imposed on them is, that they shall not exchange republican for anti-republican
Constitutions; a restriction which, it is presumed, will hardly be considered as a grievance."  page 38

     "The enactment of the legislature of the puppet government of Louisiana which ratified the Fourteenth Amendment is embodied in Act 2 of 1868.  The legislative journals of that session reflect the presence and dominance of the military, all as provided for and contemplated by the Reconstruction Act." page 39

     "The House Journal shows that on June 29, 1868, Colonel Batchelder opened the session by calling the roll and reading an extract form the order of General Grant.  The Senate Journal for the same date shows the reading of instructions from General Grant to the Commanding Officer of the Fifth Military District
emphasizing the supremacy of the power of the military over the provisional civilian government.  It was under these auspices that the coerced ratifications of the Fourteenth Amendment in Louisiana was accomplished." page 40

     "Also worth of note in this connection ins the holding in 1895 that the levying of an income tax by the Federal Government, without apportioning the tax among the States as a direct tax, violated the taxing-power provisions of the Constitution of the United States--although, thirty years prior to this judicial
vindication of what the majority of the Court deemed to be fundamental and true Constitutional provisions, the Federal Government had levied and collected income taxes for several years on a large scale, and had financed a major war of vital consequences to a very considerable extent out of revenues so obtained." page 44
 
 

Footnote #3
 

Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867

RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS
 

From Twenty Years of Congress: From Lincoln to Garfield.
With a review of the events which led to the political revolution
of 1860, by James G. Blaine. Vol. II, pp. 681-682.
 
 

An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel states.

     "Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection for life or property now exist in the rebel States of Virginia, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas it is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said States until loyal and republican State governments can be
legally established: Therefore."

     "Be it enacted,  That said rebel States shall be divided into military districts and made subject to the military authority of the United States, as hereinafter prescribed, and for that purpose Virginia shall constitute the first district; North Carolina and South Carolina the second district; Georgia, Alabama, and Florida the third district; Mississippi and Arkansas the fourth district; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth district."

Sec. 2. "That it shall be the duty of the President to assign to the command of each of said districts an officer of the army, not below the rank of brigadier-general, and to detail a sufficient military force to enable such officer to perform his duties and enforce his authority within the district to which he is
assigned."

Sec. 3. "That it shall be the duty of each officer assigned as aforesaid to protect all persons in their rights of person and property, to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, and to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace and criminals, and to this end he may allow local civil tribunals to take jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or, when in his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of offenders, he shall have power to organize military commissions or tribunals for that purpose; and all interference under color of State authority with the exercise of military authority under this act shall be null and void."

Sec. 4. "That all persons put under military arrest by virtue of this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted; and no sentence of any military commission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting the life or liberty of any person, shall be executed until it is approved by the officer in command of the district, and the laws and regulations for the government of the army shall not be affected by this act, except in so far as they conflict with its provisions:

     "Provided, That no sentence of death under the provisions of this act shall be carried into effect without the approval of the President."

Sec. 5."That when the people of any one of said rebel States shall have formed a constitution of government in conformity with the Constitution of the United States in all respects, framed by a convention of delegates elected by the male citizens of said State twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color,  or previous condition, who have been resident in said State for one year previous to the day of such election, except such as may be disfranchised for participation in the rebellion, or for felony at common law, and when such constitution shall provide that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by all such persons  as have the qualifications herein stated for electors of delegates, and when such constitution shall be ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the question of ratification who are qualified as electors for delegates, and when such constitution shall have been submitted to Congress for examination and approval, and Congress shall have approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of its legislature elected under said constitution, shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed by the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and known as a targe."

     "After Ten Amend article fourteen, and when said article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States, said State shall  be declared entitled to representation in Congress, and Senators and Representatives shall be admitted therefrom on their taking the oaths prescribed by law, and then and thereafter the preceding sections of this act shall be inoperative in said State:

     "Provided, That no person excluded from the privilege of holding office by said proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be eligible to election as a member of the convention to frame a constitution for any of said rebel States, nor shall any such person vote for members of such
convention."

Sec. 6."That until the people of said rebel states shall be by law admitted to representation in the Congress of the United States, any civil governments which may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and in all respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States at any time to abolish, modify, control, or supersede the same; and in all elections to be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled to vote under the provisions of the fifth section of this act; and no person shall be eligible to any office under any such provisional  governments who would be disqualified from holding office under the provisions of the third article of said constitutional amendment."
 
 
 

Footnote #4

Reconstruction Act of March 11, 1868

AMENDATORY RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF MARCH 11, 1868

From Twenty Years of Congress: From Lincoln to Garfield.  With a review of the events which led to the political revolution of 1860, by James G. Blaine. Vol. II, p. 687.

     "An Act to amend the act passed March 23, 1867, entitled An Act supplementary to 'An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel states,' passed March 2, 1867, and to facilitate their restoration."

     "Be it enacted, That hereafter any election authorized by
the act passed March 23, 1867, entitled "An Act supplementary to
'An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel
states,' passed March 2, 1867, and to facilitate their
restoration," shall be decided by a majority of the votes
actually cast; and at the election in which the question of the
adoption or rejection of any constitution is submitted, any
person duly registered in the State may vote in the election
district where he offers to vote when he has resided therein for
ten days next preceding such election, upon presentation of his
certificate of registration, his affidavit, or other satisfactory
evidence, under such regulations as the district commanders may
prescribe."

Sec. 2. "That the constitutional convention of any of the States
mentioned in the acts to which this is amendatory may provide
that at the time of voting upon the ratification of the
constitution, the registered voters may vote also for members of
the House of Representatives of the United States, and for all
elective officers provided for by the said constitution; and the
same election officers, who shall make the returns of the votes
cast on the ratification or rejection of the constitution, shall
enumerate and certify the votes cast for members of Congress."
 
 

Footnote #5
 

Reconstruction Act of March 23, 1867

SUPPLEMENTARY RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF FORTIETH CONGRESS.

From Twenty Years of Congress: From Lincoln to Garfield.

With a review of the events which led to the political revolution of 1860, by James G. Blaine. Vol. II, pp. 682-685.

An Act supplementary to an act entitled

     An act to provide for the more efficient government of the
rebel states, passed March second, eighteen hundred and
sixty-seven, and to facilitate restoration.
 

     "Be it enacted, That before the first day of September,
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the commanding general in each
district defined by an act entitled."

     "An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the
rebel States, passed March second, eighteen hundred and
sixty-seven, shall cause a registration to be made of the male
citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age and
upwards, resident in each county or parish in the State or States
included in his district, which registration shall include only
those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates by the act
aforesaid, and who shall have taken and subscribed the following
oath or affirmation: "I, _____, do solemnly swear, (or affirm,)
in the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of the State
of _____; that I have resided in said State for _____ months next
preceding this day, and now reside in the county of _____, or the
parish of _____, in said State, (as the case may be;) that I am
twenty-one years old; that I have not been disfranchised for
participation in any  rebellion or civil war against the United
States, nor for felony committed against the laws of any State or
of the United States; that I have never been a member of any
State legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in
any State and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies
thereof; that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress
of the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or
as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or
judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the
United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or
rebellion against the United States or given aid or comfort to
the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the
Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and will, to
the best of my ability, encourage others so to do, so help me
God;" which oath or affirmation may be administered by any
registering officer."

Sec. 2. "That after the completion of the registration hereby
provided for in any State, at such time and places therein as the
commanding general shall appoint and direct, of which at least
thirty days' public notice shall be given, an election shall be
held of delegates to a convention for the purpose of establishing
a constitution and civil government for such state loyal to the
Union, said convention in each State, except Virginia, to consist
of the same number of members as the most numerous branch of the
State legislature of such State in the year eighteen hundred and
sixty, to be apportioned among the several districts, counties,
or parishes of such State by the commanding general, giving to
each representation in the ratio of voters registered as
aforesaid, as nearly as may be. The convention in Virginia shall
consist of the same number of members as represented the
territory now constituting Virginia in the most numerous branch
of the legislature of said State in the year eighteen hundred and
sixty, to be apportioned as aforesaid."

Sec. 3. "That at said election the registered voters of each
State shall vote for or against a convention to form a
constitution therefore under this act. Those voting in favor of
such a convention shall have written or printed on the ballots by
which they vote for delegates, as aforesaid, the words "For a
convention," and those voting against such a convention shall
have written or printed on such ballots the words "Against a
convention." The person appointed to superintend said election,
and to make return of the votes given thereat, as herein
provided, shall count and make return of the votes given for and
against a convention; and the commanding general to whom the same
shall have been returned shall ascertain and declare the total
vote in each State for and against a convention. If a majority of
the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, then
such convention shall be held as hereinafter provided; but if a
majority of said votes shall be against a convention, then no
such convention shall be held under this act:

     "Provided, That such convention shall not be held unless a
majority of all such registered voters shall have voted on the
question of holding such convention."

Sec. 4. "That the commanding general of each district shall
appoint as many boards of registration as may be necessary,
consisting of three loyal officers or persons, to make and
complete the registration, superintend the election, and make
return to him of the votes, lists of voters, and of the persons
elected as delegates by a plurality of the votes cast at said
election; and upon receiving said returns he shall open the same,
ascertain the persons elected as delegates according to the
returns of the officers who conducted said election, and make
proclamation thereof; and if a majority of the votes given
on that question shall be for a convention, the commanding
general, within sixty days from the date of election, shall
notify the delegates to assemble in convention, at a time and
place to be mentioned in the notification, and said convention,
when organized, shall proceed to frame a constitution and civil
government according to the provisions of this act and the act to
which is it supplementary; and when the same shall have been so
framed, said constitution shall be submitted by the convention
for ratification to the persons registered under the provisions
of this act at an election to be conducted by the officers or
persons appointed or to be appointed by the commanding general,
as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after the expiration of
thirty days from the date of notice thereof, to be given by said
convention; and the returns thereof shall be made to the
commanding general of the district."

Sec. 5. "That if, according to said returns, the constitution
shall be ratified by a majority of the votes of the registered
electors qualified as herein specified, cast at said election,
(at least one half of all the registered voters voting upon the
question of such ratification,) the president of the convention
shall transmit a copy of the same, duly  certified, to the
President of the United States, who shall forthwith transmit the
same to Congress, if  then in session, and if not in session,
then immediately upon its next assembling; and if it shall,
moreover, appear to Congress that the election was one at which
all the registered and qualified electors in the State had an
opportunity to vote freely and without restraint, fear, or the
influence of fraud, and if the Congress shall be satisfied that
such constitution meets the approval of a majority of all the
qualified electors in the State, and if the said constitution
shall be declared by Congress to be in conformity with the
provisions of the act to which this is supplementary, and the
other provisions of said act shall have been complied with, and
the said constitution shall be approved by Congress, the State
shall be declared entitled to representation, and Senators and
Representatives shall be admitted therefrom as therein provided."

Sec. 6. "That all elections in the States mentioned in the said
"Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel
States," shall, during the operation of said act, be by ballot;
and all officers making the said registration of voters and
conducting said elections shall, before entering upon the
discharge of their duties, take and subscribe the oath prescribed
by the oath 1862 act approved July second, eighteen hundred and
sixty-two, entitled "An act to prescribe an oath of office:"

     "Provided, That if any person shall knowingly and falsely
take and subscribe any oath in this act prescribed, such person
so offending and being thereof duly convicted, shall be subject
to the pains, penalties, and disabilities which by law are
provided for the punishment of the crime of wilful and corrupt
perjury."

Sec. 7. "That all expenses incurred by the several commanding
generals, or by virtue of any orders issued, or appointments
made, by them, under or by virtue of this act, shall be paid out
of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated."

Sec. 8. "That the convention for each State shall prescribe the
fees, salary, and compensation to be paid to all delegates and
other officers and agents herein authorized or necessary to carry
into effect the purposes of this act not herein otherwise
provided for, and shall provide for the levy and collection of
such taxes on the property in such State as may be necessary to
pay the same."

Sec. 9. "That the word article, in the sixth section of the act
to which this is supplementary, shall be construed to mean
section."
 
 

Footnote #6
 

Reconstruction Act of July 19, 1867

SUPPLEMENTARY RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF JULY 19, 1867.

From Twenty Years of Congress: From Lincoln to Garfield.

With a review of the events which led to the political revolution of 1860,  by James G. Blaine. Vol. II, pp. 685-687.

     "An Act supplementary to an act entitled An Act to provide
for the more efficient government of the rebel states,  passed on
the second day of March, 1867, and the act supplementary
thereto, passed on the 23d day of March, 1867."

     "Be it enacted, That it is hereby declared to have been the
true intent and meaning of the act of the 2d day of March, 1867,
entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of
the rebel States," and of the act supplementary thereto, passed
on the 23d day of March, 1867, that the governments then existing
in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and
Arkansas, were not legal State governments; and that thereafter
said governments, if continued, were to be continued subject in
all respects to the military commanders of the respective
districts, and to the paramount authority of Congress."

Sec. 2."That the commander of any district named in said act
shall have power, subject to the disapproval of the General of
the army of the United States, and to have effect till
disapproved, whenever in the opinion of such commander the proper
administration of said act shall require it, to suspend or remove
from office, or from the performance of official duties and the
exercise of official powers, any officer or person holding or
exercising, or professing to hold or exercise, any civil or
military office or duty in such district under any power,
election, appointment, or authority derived from, or granted by,
or claimed under, any so-called State or the government thereof,
or any municipal or other division thereof; and upon such
suspension or removal such commander, subject to the disapproval
of the General as aforesaid, shall have power to provide  from
time to time for the performance of the said duties of such
officer or person so suspended or removed, by the detail of some
competent officer or soldier of the army, or by the appointment
of some other person to perform the same, and to fill vacancies
occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise."

Sec. 3. "That the General of the army of the United States shall
be invested with all the powers of suspension, removal,
appointment, and detail granted in the preceding section to
district commanders."

Sec. 4. "That the acts of the officers of the army already done