On Dec. 18, 1865 the people of the U. S. formally abolished slavery. On July 28, 1868 they granted citizenship to all natives and naturalized persons, guaranteed due process of law for every citizen, disqualified for Federal office Confederate leaders who had broken their oath to support the Constitution. On March 30, 1870 they clinched the franchise for Negroes. These acts were the proclamations of Johnson's Secretary of State William Henry Seward and Grant's Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, three-fourths of the States having notified the Secretary in each instance that...
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