Category Archives: Notes and Quotes

The Official End of the Civil War

Posted by:

President Andrew Johnson’s Proclamation Declares The Civil War Has Ended

August 20, 1866

On August 20, 1866, President Andrew Johnson gave a proclamation declaring the Civil War was now officially over.

“[…] peace, order, tranquility and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole United States of America.” –President Andrew Johnson

President Andrew Johnson’s Words On April 2, 1866

Earlier, with these words on April 2, 1866, President Johnson proclaimed that the insurrection was over:

Vice President Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

“Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which heretofore existed in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida is at an end and is henceforth to be so regarded.”

Notice that Texas is not included in Johnson’s list of states where the “insurrection” had come to an end. Texas had not yet formed a new state government, and so it could not officially be said that its insurrection had ended. Texas was the twenty-eighth state to join the United States when it became a state in 1845. Texas seceded from the United States in early 1861, becoming part of the Confederate States of America. To once again become a state in the United States, Texas had to replace its Confederate-based state government.

President Andrew Johnson’s End Of The Civil War Proclamation

After Texas had established a new state government, President Johnson followed his words of April 2, with a proclamation on August 20, 1866, finally declaring the insurrection to have ended:

“I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is at an end and that peace, order, tranquility, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole United States of America.”

With these words of President Johnson, the Civil War was now officially decreed to be over.

Reconstruction was underway as the nation worked to rebuild all that had been destroyed in the Civil War. Healing the wounds of the nation from the Civil War continues on today. As a united country with a bloody and awful Civil War in our past, we are still striving for: “peace, order, tranquility, and civil authority” to spread completely “throughout the whole United States of America.”

Related posts:
Palmito Ranch – The Last Significant Land Battle Of The Civil War

Lee Surrenders to Grant

Abraham Lincoln Elected to his Second Term as President

Posted by:

November 8, 1864

On this day in 1864, Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president of the United States.

President Abraham Lincoln

President Abraham Lincoln

This was one of the few elections in world history held in the middle of a civil war. As the country’s president and with the difficult circumstances of the ongoing Civil War, Lincoln might have tried to cancel or postpone the election until the war was over. Instead, Lincoln said:

“If the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”

The Confederate Army had recently advanced so close to Washington, D.C., that by standing on top of a parapet with field glasses, Lincoln was able to watch a battle. On July 30, 4,000 Union soldiers were killed in a disastrous attempt to invade Petersburg, Virginia.

The army needed 500,000 more soldiers, Lincoln would probably have to call for another draft and the war debt was becoming unsustainable. On August 23, Lincoln wrote a memo to his cabinet saying:

“This morning, and for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected.”

As the presidential election day drew near, President Lincoln’s hopes for a second term were fading.

The Democrat Party had as its candidate former Union general George B. McClellan and its platform was based on ending the war. This policy turned out to be a huge mistake when news arrived early September that the Union Army had captured Atlanta and Mobile. The Union forces were now starting to win battles and the war. Suddenly, the Democrats looked like the party of surrender and this made all the difference in the election.

Abraham Lincoln won the election with 2,330,552 votes to challenger George B. McClellan’s 1,835,985 votes. Lincoln had 212 Electoral College votes to McClellan’s 21 votes. Lincoln carried every state except New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky.