best only imperfectly realized. It was
found impossible to reorganize the Federal Administration in the South
with men who could subscribe to the "ironclad oath," for nearly all who
were competent to hold office had favored or aided the Confederacy.
It was two years before more than a third of the post offices could be
opened. The other Federal departments were in similar difficulties, and
at last women and "carpetbaggers" were appointed. The Freedmen's
Bureau, which had been established coincidently with the provisional
governments, assumed jurisdiction over the Negroes, while the army
authorities very early took the position that any man who claimed to be
a Unionist should not be tried in the local courts but must be given a
better chance in a provost court. Thus a third or more of the population
was withdrawn from the control of the state government. In several
states the head of the Bureau made arrangements for local magistrates
and officials to act as Bureau officials, and in such cases the two
authorities acted in cooperation. The army of occupation, too, exerted
an authority which not infrequently interfered with the workings of the
new state government. Nearly everywhere there was a lack of certainty
and efficiency due to the concurrent and sometimes conflicting
jurisdictions of state government, army commanders, Bureau authorities,
and even the President acting upon or through any of the others.

The standing of the Southern state organizations was in doubt after the
refusal of Congress to recognize them. Nevertheless, in spite of this
uncertainty they continued to function as states during the year of
controversy which followed; the courts were opened and steadily grew
in influence; here and there militia and patrols were reorganized;
officials who refused to "accept the situation" were dismissed;
elections were held; the legislatures revised the laws to fit new
conditions and enacted new laws for the emancipated blacks. To all this
progress in reorganization, the action of Congress was a severe blow,
since it gave notice that none of the problems of reconstruction were
yet solved. An increasing spirit of irritation and independence was
observed throughout the states in question, and at the elections the
former Confederates gained more and more offices. The year was marked
in the South by the tendency toward the formation of parties, by the
development of the "Southern outrages" issue, by an attempt to frustra