first to last he was prepared to resist the claims of
the large majority of the Republican Party. The issue began with his
proclamation of May, 1865, and the contest continued to the end of his
term. The nature of the issue explains the character and violence of
his speeches, especially that of the twenty-second day of February,
1866, when he spoke of Congress as a "body hanging on the verge of the
Government."

In the many speeches which he delivered in his trip through the West,
he made distinct charges against Congress. He was accompanied by Mr.
Seward, General Grant, Admiral Farragut, and some others. In a speech
at Cleveland, Ohio, he said, among other things, "I have called upon
your Congress, which has tried to break up the Government." Again, in
the same speech he said, "I tell you my countrymen, that although the
powers of Thad Stevens and his gang were by, they could not turn me
from my purpose. There is no power that can turn me, except you and
the God who put me into existence." He charged, also, that Congress
had taken great pains to poison their constituents against him. "What
had Congress done? Had they done anything to restore the Union in
those States? No; on the contrary, they had done everything to prevent
it."

In a speech made at St. Louis, Missouri, September 8, 1866, Mr. Johnson
discussed the riot at New Orleans.* In that speech he said, "If you
will take up the riot in New Orleans, and trace it back to its source,
or its immediate cause, you will find out who was responsible for the
blood that was shed there. If you will take up the riot at New
Orleans and trace it back to the radical Congress, you will find that
the riot at New Orleans was substantially planned." After some
further observations, he says: "Yes, you will find that another
rebellion was commenced, having its origin in the radical Congress."

These extracts from Mr. Johnson's speeches should be considered in
connection with his proclamations of May, June, and July, 1865. They
are conclusive to this point: that he had determined to reconstruct
the Government upon the basis of the return of the States that had been
engaged in the rebellion without the imposition of any conditions
whatsoever, except such as he had imposed upon them in his
proclamations. In fine, that the Government was to be re-established
without the authority or even the assent of the Congress of the United
States. In his proclamations he made pr