Excerpt from Reconstruction Claims of the Inhabitants of the States Engaged in the Rebellion to Restoration of Political Rights and Privileges Under the Constitution The practical issue may be thus stated: whether it is competent for the national Government, as now administered, to impose upon the inhabitants of the several States lately in open rebellion against it, such terms and conditions of re-admission to the exercise of their former political powers, in the adminis tration of the national sovereignty, as it may judge to be essential for its future security; or whether, having laid down their arms and professed a readi ness to Obey the laws, those inhabitants are entitled to an immediate recognition of those powers as matter of right, and to be permitted at once to re assume the exercise of them in the councils of the nation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.