rebels, which now so jarred upon the feelings of the hour, his well known
views on the subject of reconstruction were as distasteful as possible to
radical Republicans." Senator Wade declared to the President: "Johnson, we
have faith in you. By the gods, there will be no trouble now in running the
Government!" To which Johnson replied: "Treason is a crime and crime must be
punished. Treason must be made infamous and traitors must be impoverished."
These words are an index to the speeches of Johnson during 1863-65. Even his
radical friends feared that he would be too vindictive. For a few weeks he was
much inclined to the radical plans, and some of the leaders certainly
understood that he was in favor of Negro suffrage, the supreme test of
radicalism. But when the excitement caused by the assassination of Lincoln and
the break-up of the Confederacy had moderated somewhat, Johnson saw before him
a task so great that his desire for violent measures was chilled. He must
disband the great armies and bring all war work to an end; he must restore
intercourse with the South, which had been blockaded for years; he must for a
time police the country, look after the Negroes, and set up a temporary civil
government; and finally he must work out a restoration of the Union. Sobered
by responsibility and by the influence of moderate advisers, he rather quickly
adopted Lincoln's policy. Johnson at first set his face against the movements
toward reconstruction by the state governments already organized and by those
people who wished to organize new governments on Lincoln's ten percent plan.
As soon as possible the War Department notified the Union commanders to stop
all attempts at reconstruction and to pursue and arrest all Confederate
governors and other prominent civil leaders. The President was even anxious to
arrest the military leaders who had been paroled but was checked in this
desire by General Grant's firm protest. His cabinet advisers supported Johnson
in refusing to recognize the Southern state governments; but three of
them--Seward, Welles, and McCulloch--were influential in moderating his zeal
for inflicting punishments. Nevertheless,he soon had in prison the most
prominent of the Confederate civilians and several general officers. The