Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1870-08-26

DOfne ny HutDDe SLlll Slruggleu on
amid jeers, insults, mobs. blows and
assassinations. till, under the lead of
Abraham Line oln, they achieved sue
cess and grasped tue sceptre of po-
litical power.
ITS SECOND ERA.
Entering upon its seco nd era, ap-
paling responsibilities at once arose
The slave masters in the pride and
arrogance of power, instantly
plunged the nation in the fire and
blood of civil war But the Repub-
lican party rose with the crisis. 1t
raised money in unstinted measure.
organized vast armies, created pow
erful navies, fought bloody battles,
crushed the most gigantic rebellion
of all recorded in history, and saved
the nations life. 1t was then, amid
the clash of arms, that the Republi-
can party saw that slavery was the
relentless.and unappeasable foe of
the country; was the inspiratlon,t the
heart and soul Of that civil war, and
that its death would be the annihil
alton of the rebellion, the unity of
the republic and the development of
free institutions. Against cowardlv
fears, selfish instincts and unreason-
able passions and prejudices it pro-
nounced the doom of that hideous
horrid system of human bondage,
though it was upheld by the aggre
gated interests of three thousand
millions of dollars, hedged about by
the accumulated passions and preiu-
dices, prides and ambitions of seven
generations, and intrenched within
the social, political and ecclesiasti-
cal organizations and affiliations of
life. By a series of executive and
Legislative acts it broke the chains
and lifted from the depths ofchattle-
hood, up to the sumits of manhood
four and a half millions of helpless
bondsmen, and stood before the ma
tions with their riven fetters in one
hand and their title deeds to freedom
in the other
TIE THIRD ERA.
The war ended, the rebellion sub
dued, the bondmen emancipated,
the Republican party entered upon
the third era Of its eventful history.
Though conquered by arms, the
rebels did not accept the just,
humane, and generous ideas of the
victors. nor did .hey return to the
government; but, still bemoaning
the "lost cause" they remained un-
subdued in will and unrepentant in
spirit and purpose. Though made
free, the bondmen were homeless,
without property, without employ
ment, subject to the cruel laws
against free people of color which
has always disgraced Southern leg
islation, and in the midst of "eople
exasperated by defeat and maddened
by the loss of power still longer to
hold and oppress. Property was
swept away. industry disorganized,
society disintegrated andStates were
without lawful government,
THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION.
Upon the Republican party devol-
we'd the task of reconstruction. To
its intense hostility of the ex-rebels,
the lingering prejudices long engen-
dered by the slave system, the timid
consuls of conservatism and the
apostacy of the Exeout Great
interests and powerful combinations
sought to so reconstruct the South
as TO place the power in the hand
of the late slavehoiding class, and
leave the helpless freemen in the
abject condition ofpractical serfdom.
Seldom in history has there been
imposed upon any body of men q
work of greater magnitude or diff
Guilty. The Republicans might have
shrunk from and avoided it. They
were sorely tempted to do so. But
they resisted the temptation of Off
cial power and patronage, the threats
of Executive dictation, and all other
adverse influences, and with sublime
fidelity and courage addressed them
selves to the herculean task To sid
in reorganizing disorded Industries.
caring for, protecting, and instruc-
ting the emancipated bondmen in
the new duties OF their changed con-
dition, the Republicans established
the Freedmen's Bureau, which, by
the wise expenditure of a few mil
lions of dollars, did an incalculable
work for order. peace and the rehab-
ilitation of Southern Society. To
reconstruct rebellious States on the
solid basis of equal rights, they gave
suffrage to the freedmen in the re-
construction measures. To secure
citizenship and civil rights to a
wronged and hated race, they pro-
posed and adopted the Fourteenth
Amendment, and enacted the bill of
civil rights. To establish by ire
versible guarantees equal political
rights and privileges, they adopted
the Fifteenth Amendment, and as a
crowning act for freedom, they pro
vided by law for the enforcement of
these amendments thus newly en-
shrined within the Constitution.
Thus the Republicans, against the
strongest opposition, against mis-
representation, against appalling OBJ
stacles, have struggled on until the
rebel States, reconstructed on the
basis of impartial liberty, have been
st.
of the Declaration of Independence
made assured and practical realities
In the progress of the ages it has
been given to few, in any form or
by auy modes. to achieve n work so