Missouri Rebels Regain Civil Liberties Late in the summer of
1870, Missouri's State Republican Committee addressed its
members and suggested they reinstate all rights to those who
rebelled against the Union. The Republicans of Missouri, taught
by a sublime religion, remember that while to err is human, to
forgive is divine. The Civil War had been over for over five
years, but former rebels in Missouri still could not fully
participate in the state government. Members of the State
Republican Committee released this address on the eve of an
election to fix the political character of the state. The
announcement declared it was time to propose an amendment to the
state constitution, granting the right of suffrage to those
lately in rebellion. The last General Assembly decided by a
respectable majority that the people at large would use a direct
vote to resolve the question at hand. It was in the opinion of
the State Republican Committee that civil privileges should be
given back to those who rebelled. On August 1