By a series of orders issued during the same month (August) General Hancock was substituted for General Sheridan in the command of the fifth military district and General Canby for General Sickles in the command of the second district. Both of the generals thus relieved were great favorites at the North, especially Sheridan. The President felt that they were too much imbued with the military spirit to make good administrators of civil affairs. But the people of the North saw in these changes only the purpose of the President to place his political friends among the army officers in command of the military districts, and through them to modify the intent of the Reconstruction Acts in the course of their execution. {144} CHAPTER VIII THE EXECUTION OF THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS The Attempt to Prevent the Execution of the Reconstruction Acts in Mississippi and Georgia--The Case of Mississippi vs. Johnson--The Case of Georgia vs. Stanton--The Operations of the Commanders--The Registration--The Numbers Registered--The Change in the Electorate in the South--The Elections--Efforts of the Commanders to Get the Vote Out--The Result of the Elections--The Character of the Convention Delegates Chosen--The Work of the Conventions--The Vote upon Ratification--Fraudulent Voting and Unlawful Voting--The Recall of Pope and the Appointment of Meade in His Stead--Rejection of the Constitution in Alabama--The Statute of Congress Changing the Proportion of Votes to Registration in the Ratification of a Constitution--Criticism of the Statute--Ratification in Arkansas--Ratification in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana--Second Attempt in Georgia to Obstruct Reconstruction--Rejection of the Constitution in Mississippi. [Sidenote: The attempt to prevent the execution of the Reconstruction Acts in Mississippi and Georgia.] [Sidenote: The case of Mississippi vs. Johnson.]