Ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment
The Radical Republican Cocktail of Civil Rights, Vengeance, Corruption, and
Partisan Tyranny
Mike Scruggs
Part 2 of a Series
By the end of the “Civil” War, the Radical Republicans in Congress were already concerned
about the future of the Republican Party and advancing their own political and economic
agendas. The term “radical” was a title they claimed for themselves rather than a pejorative
given to them by their enemies. Their enemies, however, were happy to call them radicals. They
were not friends to Lincoln, who considered both the Radical Republicans and the radical
abolitionists a threat to his leadership. Yet he knew that their support was necessary to keep a
majority of Congress on his side, which was absolutely necessary to win the war.
The Radical plan for postwar America was quite different from Lincoln’s plan. The Radicals
wanted to exact vengeance on the South, exploit Southern resources, and most importantly, to
use the former slaves to form a Radical Republican majority in Southern states. They believed
this was the only way the Republican Party could maintain an electoral majority after the war. In
the 1860 Election, Lincoln received only about 40 percent of the national vote. He only won
because Northern and Southern Democrats had divided over several slavery issues. The
Republicans were essentially a regional party without substantial support in the South. The
Radical Republicans believed that the return of the Democratic South to the Union would end
their short-lived electoral majority. Lincoln, on the other hand, believed he could successfully
resurrect the old Whig coalition of Northern industrial and Southern agri-business interests with
a core of Union loyalists to support a Unionist Republican Party.
The Radical Republicans favored a severe Reconstruction that would enrich Northern interests at
Southern expense, assure Republican electoral majorities in Southern states, continue
protectionist tariff policies unopposed by Southern Free-Trade demands, and generally punish
the South for her rebellion against Northern political dominance. With the exception of
protective tariffs, which Lincoln strongly favored, the Radicals feared Lincoln would throw
away the North’s hard-won victory to pursue a softer, more tolerant reconciliation of North and
South, risking renewed Southern influence and the subsequent decline of Northern political and
economic advantages.
Following Lincoln’s assassination and Andrew Johnson’s swearing in as President, the Radicals
believed Reconstruction would go more their way. Johnson had been a pro-Union Tennessee
Congressman before the war and had been the Union Military Governor of Tennessee during the
war. He was especially noted for his harsh words for any who supported secession. But Johnson
was a former populist Democrat and a strong supporter of strict Constitutional government. He
was pro-Union and anti-secession but not anti-Southern. Moreover, Johnson was
incorruptible and thus became a major obstacle to the Radical Republicans.
The Radical Republicans soon realized that the Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery,
needed to be followed by additional Reconstruction legislation. The Thirteenth Amendment did
not give former slaves the right to vote, and facilitating and protecting that right was key to
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Republican aspirations for electoral dominance of a new South and the nation. The Republicans
further argued that the civil rights of former slaves needed more protection, accusing several
Southern states of restricting the civil rights of former slaves through new “Black Laws.”
However, these “Black Laws” were simply a close imitation of even harsher anti-black
legislation passed by many Northern states.
Indiana law codes would not allow blacks and mulattos to come into the state. Illinois, the land
of Lincoln, and Oregon prohibited blacks from entering their states without posting huge bonds.
In Illinois, it was $1,000, several years’ income for most people. Numerous other Northern
states including Kansas, Michigan, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin had rejected black
voting suffrage and with it other rights and privileges of full citizenship.
Thus the 14th Amendment, which was really a combination of several Reconstruction bills, was
born in concept. Passing the 14th Amendment became a high priority for the Radical
Republicans. So high, that they would ruthlessly violate the Constitution and engage in blatantly
dishonest and despotic legislative manipulation. Several aspects of the 14th Amendment would
essentially turn the Constitution on its head and open the door for widespread Judicial,
Executive, and Congressional abuse and tyranny. The shameful coercion, dishonesty, and
numerous legislative and constitutional irregularities involved in passing the 14th Amendment
should place its legitimacy in extreme doubt.
The Amendment consists of five sections. The first section defines who is a citizen and
overturns the Dred Scott versus Sanford Supreme Court decision that denied citizenship to
blacks. It also prevented states from abridging the rights of citizens or denying any person due
process and equal protection of the laws.
Because Section 1 defines anyone born in the U.S. as a citizen, it has had vast unforeseen
consequences. .Each year, more than 300,000 children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrant
parents are automatically counted as citizens. This entitles both the child and mother to many
welfare benefits covering pregnancy and birth. The writers of the 14th Amendment never
intended it to benefit illegal immigrants.
Section 2 eliminated the three-fifths rule for slaves in apportioning legislative representation—
ironically increasing Southern Electoral Votes. This section allowed for reducing representation
as a penalty for its violation and left the door open to abridging the rights of those who had
participated in “rebellion.” Section 3 was the most objectionable to the South. It denied public
office to any person who had previously held Federal office or State legislative, judicial, or
executive office and who had supported the Confederacy during the war. It was not only
humiliating and debilitating to the South but was also designed to guarantee Republican political
hegemony in the South by limiting significant opposition. Section 4 repudiated all Confederate
debt, and legitimized the obligation of all citizens to pay for U. S. debt incurred during and after
the war. Section 5 gave Congress the power to enforce the other four sections by legislation.
This was thought by many to be an open door to increasing Federal power over the States, which
turned out to be quite true.
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