Wade Davis Bill
From Free net encyclopedia
The Wade-Davis Bill of 1864 was proposed by Benjamin Wade and Henry Winter Davis. The Republican Congress's response to Lincoln's exceptionally lenient 10% plan, the bill made readmittance to the Union hard. If the Southern States were readmitted to the Union, the Republicans would lose their comfortable majority in Congress, so it was in their best interest to make the process difficult.
1. Until states were readmitted, they would be under the control of a governor appointed by the president.
2. The Wade-Davis Bill required at least 50% of a states population to take an "Ironclad Oath" before it would be allowed to frame a new constitution. The "Ironclad Oath," verifying that the white male had never borne arms against the Union, would have made readmittance near-impossible. Considering the numbers in the Confederate army, it would have been very difficult for a southern state to meet this requirement.
3. After 1/2 of the population had made the oath, the appointed governor would summon a state constitution convention, with members elected by the oath-takers only. The new constitution would be forced to abolish slavery, punish Confederate leaders by distriubting their property, and repudiate debts collected during the war (like the North, the Confederacy had issued bonds to help finance the war.) After meeting these conditions, a state could finally be readmitted to the Union. Lincoln destroyed the bill with a Pocket Veto.
External links
- Nicolay and Hay, "Abraham Lincoln: A History. The Wade-Davis Manifesto" (1889) The Century pp 414-21
- Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Wade-Davis Bill
Most information from American History \ A Survery by Alan Brinkley
Template:US-hist-stub