- Event type: CREATE
United States Fourteenth Amendment & The Civil Rights Act of 1866
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States that granted citizenship and equal rights, both civil and legal, to Black Americans, including those who had been emancipated by the thirteenth amendment.
The House of Representatives
The House of Representatives of the Thirty-Ninth Session of Congress
To see the full record of a committee, click on the corresponding committee on the map below.
Session 5266: 1865-12-20 12:00:00
Credentials of G. H. Kyle from Arkansas and documents on H. C. Warmoth of Louisiana are referred to the Joint Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction; the death of Orlando Kellogg is announced
Document View:
Resolution on Rebel States and Conditions of Governance
Resolved. 1. That the termination of the recent civil war has left the inhabitants of the territory reclaimed from the late usurpation in the condition of a conquered people, and without political rights.
2. That as a legitimate consequence the relation of master and slave among them is destroyed, and that it is not within the province of civil law ever to revive it.
3. That the future political condition of these people must be fixed by the supreme power of the conqueror, and that the effect of amnesty proclamations and pardons is to relieve individuals from punishment for crime, not to confer upon them political rights.
4. That it is not the interest of the Government that these people shall remain in their present unorganized condition longer than is necessary for their own good and the good of the country.
5. That Congress should confer upon them the necessary power to form their own State governments and local institutions, but that this cannot be done until the rights of those among them, of whatever caste or color, who remained always true to their allegiance, are effectually protected and guarantied.
6. That it is the paramount duty of the Government to guard the interests of all within the conquered territory who rendered no willing aid or comfort to the public enemy; and if this cannot otherwise be done, Congress should organize State governments composed of these alone, and forever exclude from all political power the active and willing participants in the late usurpation.
Decisions yet to be taken
Document Timeline
- Resolution on Rebel States and Conditions of Governance (introduced on 1865-12-20 12:00:00 - CREATE - e135580) [This document]
[view current proposal at this moment]
- Motion for Unanimous Consent to Introduce a Resolution for Reference (introduced on 1865-12-20 12:00:00 - PROCEDURE - e135585)
[view current proposal at this moment]
- None (introduced on 1865-12-20 12:00:00 - REJECT_PROPOSAL - e244970) [view current proposal at this moment]
- Motion for Unanimous Consent to Introduce a Resolution for Reference (introduced on 1865-12-20 12:00:00 - PROCEDURE - e135585)
[view current proposal at this moment]