These bodies chose to do their work in the form of amendments to the old constitutions of the "States," whose constituent powers they assumed to hold, rather than in the form of new constitutions. Before the meeting of Congress on the first Monday of December, they had all passed ordinances, either repealing the secession ordinances of their respective "States," or pronouncing them null and void; had all voted amendments to the constitutions of their respective "States" abolishing slavery; and all, except Mississippi and South Carolina, had passed ordinances repudiating the debt incurred by their respective "States" in aid of rebellion against the United States. [Sidenote: The erection of "State" governments and the election of Members of Congress.] Before the meeting of Congress also, elections of the members of the respective "State" legislatures and of "State" officers, and of the members of the House of Representatives in Congress, had been held by the {39} Provisional Governors, under the direction of the respective conventions. And, finally, before the assembly of Congress, these Legislatures had, with the exception of that of Florida, met, organized, and elected United States Senators, and, with the exception of those of Florida and Mississippi, had adopted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The legislature of Florida, not having met and organized, had not at that date been able to consider the Amendment. It met on December 18th and elected United States Senators, and adopted the Thirteenth Amendment on the 28th. The legislature of Mississippi, on the other hand, rejected the Thirteenth Amendment on the 27th of November. [Sidenote: The orders of the President putting the civil Government of the United States into operation everywhere.] During the same period, the President had by his several proclamations and orders declared the cessation of armed resistance, the restoration of intercourse throughout the country, and the raising of the blockade and the opening of the ports, and had put the different branches of the civil Government of the United States into operation in all the "States" which had been the scene of the recent rebellion. He had not, however, restored the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus in these regions or in the District of Columbia, and he reserved the right to have recourse to military control therein in case of necessity. The Governors of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida under the Confederacy had, in the spring of 1865, assumed to summon the legislatures, chosen by these "States" while members, or pretended members, of the Confederacy, to meet together for reconstruction purposes. The President had, through his military officials, ignored and prevented all such movements. No farther resistance to his plan of Reconstruction had been attempted, but he saw {40} plainly that, without the United States military power to sustain the new "State" governments, there might be.