The loyal people in the States that seceded incurred none
of the pains and penalties of treason, but they retained none of
the political rights of the State in the Union, and, in
reorganizing the State after the suppression of the rebellion,
they have no more right to take part than the secessionists
themselves. They, as well as the secessionists, have followed
the territory. It was on this point that the government
committed its gravest mistake. As to the reorganization or
reconstruction of the State, the whole territorial people stood
on the same footing.
Taking the decision of the Supreme Court as conclusive on the
subject, the rebellion was territorial, and, therefore, placed
all the States as States out of the Union, and retained them only
as population and territory, under or subject to the Union. The
States ceased to exist, that is, as integral elements of the
national sovereignty. The question then occurred, are they to be
erected into new States, or are they to be reconstructed and
restored to the Union as the identical old States that seceded?
Shall their identity be revived and preserved, or shall they be
new States, regardless of that identity ? There can be no
question that the work to be done was that of restoration, not of
creation; no tribe should perish from Israel, no star be struck
from the firmament of the Union.
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