Year: 1866




Having met in ConventioH, at the city o
Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsy ylvania, thi:
18th day of August, 1866, as the representa-
tives of the people in all sections, aud all The
States and Territories of the Union, to consult
upon the condition aud the wants of the com
mon country, we address to you this declaration
of our principles and Of the political purposes
| we seek to promote.


Since the meeting Of the last National Con.
veution in 1860, events have occurred which
have changed the character Of our internal
politics and given the United States a new
| place among the nations Of the earth. Our
Government has passed through the vicissitudes
and the perils of civil war-a war which, though
mainly sectional 10 its character, has neverthe-
less decided political differences that, from the
very beginning of the Government, had threat
ened the unity of our national existence, and
has left its impress deep and ineffaceable upon
all the Interests, sentiments and the destiny of
the Republic. While it has Inflicted upon the
whole country severe losses in life and in pro-
perty, and has imposed burdens which must
weigh on its resources for generations to come,
it has developed degree OF national courage in
the presence of national dangers, capacity for
military organization ard achievement, and a
devotion on the part of the people to the form
| of government which they have ordained, and
to the principles of liberty which that Govern
ment was designed to promote, which must con :
firm the confidence of the nation in the perpe-
tulty OF its republican Institutions and command
the respect of the civilized world. Like all
great contests which rouse the passions and test
the endurance of nations, this war has given
new scope to the ambition of political parties,
and fresh impulse to plans of innovation and
reform. Amidst the chaos of conflicting senti
ments inseparable from such an era, while the
public heart is keenly alive to all the passions
that can sway the public Judgment and affect
the public actions; while the wounds Of war are
still fresh and bleeding on either side, and fears
for the future take unjust proportions from the
memories and resentments of the past, it is a
difficult but imperative duty which, On your be-
half, We who are here assembled have under
taken to perform.


For the first time after six long years of
alienation aud Of conflict We have come togeth-
er, from every State and every section of our
land citizens of common country, uuder
that flag, the symbol again of common glory,
to consult together how best to cement and per
petuate that Union which Is again the object Of
our common love, and thus secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.


In the first place we invoke you to remem-
Der always and everywhere that the war is end
ed and the nation is again at peace: The shock
OF contending arms no longer assails the shud-
deriDg heart of the republic. The insurrection
against the supreme authority of the nation has
been suppressed ,and that authority has been again
acknowledged by word and act in every State
and by every citizen within its jurisdiction
Weare no longer required or permitted to re-
gard or treat each other as enemies. Not only
have the acts of war been discontinued and the
weapons Of war laid aside, but the state OF war
no longer exists; and the sentiments, the pas
sions, the relations of war have no longer lawful
Or rightful place anywhere throughout our broad
domain. We are again people of the. United
States-fellow- citizens of one country, bound
| by the duties and obligations of a common pa
triotism, and having neitherr rights nor interests
devolve upon US now are again the duties of
peace, and DO longer the duties of war. We
have assembled here to take counsel concerning
the interests of peace; to decide how we may
most wisely and effectually heal the wounds the
! war has made, and perfect and perpetuate the
blessings it has secured aud the blessings which,
under wise and benign Providence, have
| sprung up in its fiery track. This is the work
not OF passion, but of calm and sober Judgment
| not of resentment for past offences, prolonged
beyond the limits which justice and reason pre-
| scribe, but of a liberal craftsmanship which
| toierates what it cannot prevent and builds It's
plans and its hopes for the future rather upon
! a community of interest and ambition than up
on distsast and the weapons Of force. In the
| next place, We call upon you to recognize, IN
their full significance, and to accept With all
their Legitimate consequences, the political re-
sults>of the war just closed. ln the most lm-
portant particular, the victory achieved by the
national government has been final and decisive
First, it has established, beyond all controversy,
and by the highest of all human sanctions, the
absolute supremacy of the national government,
as defined and limited by the consultation OF
the United States, aud the permanent integrity
and iudissolubility of the Federal Union as a
necessary consequence. And second, it has put
an end, finally and forever, to the existence OF
slavery upon the soil or within the jurisdiction
of the United States. Both these points became
directly involved in the contest, and controv.r'
sy upon both was ended absolutely and hnaiiy
by the result. In the third place, We deem 1t
Of the utmost importance that the real charac'
ter of the war, aud the victory by which II was
closed, should be accurately understood. lhe
war was carried on by the government OF the
United State in maintenance of Its own author
ity and In defence of its own existence, ooth o.
which were nenaced by the insurrection wh,ef
it sought to suppress. The suppression OF ina Iii
insurrection accomplished that result. ih'


government Of the United States maintained oI
force of arms the supreme authority over all tn
territory aud over all the States and people with


in its jurisdiction, which the constitution con
fers upon it. But it acquired thereby no ne7
power; no enlarged jurisdiction; no rights elth