No Federal office-holder
was a candidate, and about one half the usual vote was polled. The House
of Representatives admitted them to seats after full scrutiny, the
chairman of the committee declaring this "had every essential of a
regular election in a time of most profound peace, with the exception of
the fact that the proclamation was issued by the military instead of the
civil governor of Louisiana."
Military affairs were of such importance and absorbed so much attention
during the year 1863, both at Washington and at the headquarters of the
various armies, that the subject of reconstruction was of necessity
somewhat neglected. The military governor of Louisiana indeed ordered a
registration of loyal voters, about the middle of June, for the purpose
of organizing a loyal State government; but its only result was to
develop an inevitable antagonism and contest between conservatives who
desired that the old constitution of Louisiana prior to the rebellion
should be revived, by which the institution of slavery as then existing
would be maintained, and the free-State party which demanded that an
entirely new constitution be framed and adopted, in which slavery should
be summarily abolished. The conservatives asked President Lincoln to
adopt their plan. While the President refused this, he in a letter to
General Banks dated August 5, 1863, suggested the middle course of
gradual emancipation.
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