More on Reconstruction

As a follow-up to my prior post, I was pleased to learn that Kurt Lash is putting together a collection of Reconstruction materials for the University of Chicago Press.  That is exciting news, and I look forward to seeing that book.

Another comment I received pointed out that the Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction can be understood as the Federalist Papers for that period.  There is some truth in that, though the Executive Summary of that Report focuses more on immediate political questions (are the ex-rebel states entitled to representation) rather than on broader constitutional principles.  Still, I am moved by the closing paragraph of the Report:

"Before closing this report, your committee beg leave to state that the specific recommendations submitted by them are the result of mutual concession, after a long and careful comparison of conflicting opinions. Upon a question of such magnitude, infinitely important as it is to the future of the republic, it was not to be expected that all should think alike. Sensible of the imperfections of the scheme, your committee submit it to Congress as the best they could agree upon, in the hope that its imperfections may be cured, and its deficiencies supplied, by legislative wisdom; and that, when finally adopted, it may tend to restore peace and harmony to the whole country, and to place our republican institutions on a more stable foundation."