As Congress was
debating and approving the Fourteenth Amendment, it was also
considering a new Freedmen’s Bureau Bill. The original had been
vetoed by President Johnson on February 19, 1866, and failed the
next day to receive a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which
was necessary to override the veto. On May 29, the House
passed, by a 96-32 margin, a new Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, which
was essentially the same as the original but had to go through
the legislative process again because of the veto. On June 26,
the Senate
passed an amended version, which it
returned to the House. Two days later, unable to pass the
Senate’s bill, House leaders called for a joint conference
committee to reconcile the two versions. On July 3, both
chambers
passed the committee’s compromise
measure.
On July 16, 1866, the House and Senate received the
presidential veto message, which was
overridden
the same day. As a result, the life and authority of the
Freedmen’s Bureau was extended, and animosity between Johnson
and Congress over Reconstruction intensified. In the July 28
issue of Harper’s Weekly (published July 18), editor
George William Curtis
responded to a charge by the
New York Evening Post that Congress was “fastening a
quarrel” upon the president. Curtis explained, to the contrary,
that (Republican) congressional leaders had initially assumed
that they and the president were in broad agreement and would
cooperate concerning Reconstruction. From the point of view of
Curtis and other Republicans, it was President Johnson who had
acted against Congress with his vetoes and statements. |
1)
July 14, 1866, p. 435, c. 4
“Domestic Intelligence”
column
2)
July 21, 1866, p. 451, c. 3
“Domestic Intelligence”
column
3)
July 28, 1866, p. 467, c. 3
“Domestic Intelligence”
column
4) July 28, 1866, p. 466, c. 2-3
editorial, “‘Fastening a
Quarrel’ upon the President”
|