“The burned and charred timbers and broken foundations of the old Rebel States were not fit material to work into the great temple of liberty. We dug down to find the solid rock of loyalty…. We had found that whatever might be the color of a man’s skin… he should be made a part of the great political structure. On that broad basis Congress reconstructed the South… the work with which you charged us two years ago has been completed, except in the States of Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama.6”