ned
as Secretary of State in the cabinet of President Johnson, made official
proclamation that the legislatures of twenty-seven States, constituting
three fourths of the thirty-six States of the Union, had ratified the
amendment, and that it had become valid as a part of the Constitution.
Four of the States constituting this number--Virginia, Louisiana,
Tennessee, and Arkansas--were those whose reconstruction had been
effected under the direction of President Lincoln. Six more States
subsequently ratified the amendment, Texas ending the list in February,
1870.

The profound political transformation which the American Republic had
undergone can perhaps best be measured by contrasting the two
constitutional amendments which Congress made it the duty of the Lincoln
administration to submit officially to the States. The first, signed by
President Buchanan as one of his last official acts, and accepted and
indorsed by Lincoln in his inaugural address, was in these words:

"No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or
give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any State with
the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to
labor or service by the laws of said State."

Between Lincoln's inauguration and the outbreak of war, the Department
of State transmitted this amendment to the several States for their
action; and had the South shown a willingness to desist from secession
and accept it as a peace offering, there is little doubt that it would
have become a part of the Constitution. But the thunder of Beauregard's
guns drove away all possibility of such a ratification, and within four
years the Lincoln administration sent forth the amendment of 1865,
sweeping out of existence by one sentence the institution to which it
had in its first proposal offered a virtual claim to perpetual
recognition and tolerance. The "new birth of freedom" which Lincoln
invoked for the nation in his Gettysburg address, was accomplished.

The closing paragraphs of President Lincoln's message to Congress of
December 6, 1864, were devoted to a summing up of the existing
situation. The verdict of the ballot-box had not only decided the
continuance of a war administration and war policy, but renewed the
assurance of a public sentiment to sustain its prosecution. Inspired by
this majestic manifestation of the popular will, he was able to speak of
the future with hope and confidence. But wit