The victory of the Civil War in 1865 may have given slaves their freedom, but the progression of rebuilding the South during the Reconstruction period introduced a new set of substantial challenges for America. The death of President Abraham Lincoln took American by surprise. President Lincoln was not clear of his plan of Reconstruction, therefore when Andrew Johnson took over presidency he had to improvise. Under the administration of President Andrew Johnson, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” to control the labor and the behavior of former slaves and other African Americans. After President Johnson enforced that rule, an outrage in the North over the “Black Codes” eroded support for the approach, which was …show more content…
The conduct of the governments he established turned many Northerners against the president's policies. Therefore, a clash between President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction was unavoidable. By the end of 1865, Radical Republican views had gained a majority in Congress, and the critical year of 1866 saw a gradual weakening of President Johnson’s power. Johnson failed to provide the nation with enlightened leadership or deal effectively with Congress. Racism prevented him from responding to black demands for civil rights, and personal inflexibility rendered him unable to compromise with Congress. In June of 1866, the Joint Committee on Reconstruction determined that, by seceding, the southern states had forfeited “all civil and political rights under the Constitution.” The Committee then took some drastic changes, starting with rejecting President Johnson’s Reconstruction plan, denning seating of southern legislators, and maintaining that only Congress could determine if and how Reconstruction would take place. Part of the Reconstruction plan developed by the Joint Committee to replace Johnson’s Reconstruction proclamation was demonstrated in the Fourteenth …show more content…
Johnson’s plan stated that freed African Americans had no role in politics, and the new southern legislatures even passed “black codes” restricting the freedom of African Americans and forcing them into repressive labor situations, which was a development that they strongly resisted upon. In the congressional elections of 1866, northern voters rejected Johnson’s view of Reconstruction and handed a major victory to the so-called Radical Republicans, who now took control of Reconstruction. Republicans had strong determination to control the South. Congress’ passage of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 marked the beginning of the Radical Reconstruction period, which lasted for the next decade. That legislation divided the South into five military districts and delineated how new state governments based on universal suffrage for both whites and black were to be systematized. The new state legislatures replicated the revolutionary changes brought about by the Civil War and emancipation; for the first time, blacks and whites stood together in political life. The southern state governments formed during this historical of Reconstruction epitomized a combination of African Americans, and northern whites and
Reconstruction is during which the United States began to rebuild the Southern society after they lost to the civil war. It lasted from 1865 to 1877, and it was initiated by President Lincoln until his assassination in 1865. President Johnson continued Lincoln’s agenda to continue the Reconstruction. Throughout the process of Reconstruction, one of its main purpose was to guarantees for equal rights for all people, especially for the African Americans. Even though slavery was abolished after the civil war, many Southerners were still against the idea of equal rights for all black people, such as the Republicans.
Johnson, a former senator from Tennessee who had remained loyal to the Union during the war, was a firm supporter of states’ rights and believed the federal government had no say in issues such as voting requirements at the state level. Under his Presidential Reconstruction, which began in May 1865, the former Confederate states were required to uphold the abolition of slavery (made official by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution), swear loyalty to the Union and pay off their war debt. Beyond those limitations, the states and their ruling class (traditionally dominated by white planters) were given a relatively free hand in rebuilding their own governments.
When Andrew Johnson succeeded Lincoln as president on April 15th, 1965, he betrayed what Grant viewed as the “promise of Appomattox” through amnesty and rapid Reconstruction of the South that neglected reform of Southern lifestyle. Southerners pushed back against any attempts to change their way of life, citing the “remain undisturbed” term of surrender, insisting that any forced change was inherently punitive. Grant was extremely disappointed by this wasted opportunity to push change upon the South. He began to favor black suffrage in order to keep Southerners from thinking they could control the nation. Likewise, African Americans were disappointed by the lack of change they saw in the years following Appomattox.
A few days after the civil War ended, President Lincoln was assassinated and never had the chance to implement his Reconstruction plan. The Reconstruction Era occurred in the period of 1865 to 1877 under the reign of President Andrew Johnson who was the predecessor of President Lincoln. Congress was not scheduled to convene until December 1865, which gave Johnson eight months to pursue his own Reconstruction policies. Under his Reconstruction policies, the former Confederate states were required to join back into the Union and heal the wounds of the nation.
Finally the marking of the end of Reconstruction was the Election of 1876 and the new President Republican Hayes. Great upset to the Democrats their solution for Republicans to get anything done in congress was to make filibusters. With the constant and neverending interruption the two parties came to agree on the Compromise of 1877. This meant the removal of troops out of the south. This lead to the south once again being controlled by white Democrats.
After the Civil War, the United States tried to mend the relationship between the Union and Confederacy through the institution of reconstruction under Johnson. President Johnson established minimal requirements that created much controversy between the Congressmen supporting that supported the Union during the war. Ultimately, Johnson acted in protecting poor whites since there was now an abundant supply of cheap labor with slavery no longer being enacted. Slowly with the reintegration of the South, there were state laws created to repress African Americans since they were now the population that was in the majority in comparison to whites. The population grew due to freed African Americans in the South, whites saw that the racially-structured
The Union triumph in the Civil War in 1865 may have given exactly 4 million slaves their flexibility, yet the procedure of revamping the South amid the Reconstruction period (1865-1877) presented another arrangement of critical difficulties. Under the organization of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state lawmaking bodies passed prohibitive "dark codes" to control the work and conduct of previous slaves and other African Americans. Insult in the North over these codes disintegrated backing for the methodology known as Presidential Reconstruction and prompted the triumph of the more radical wing of the Republican Party. Amid Radical Reconstruction, which started in 1867, recently liberated blacks picked up a voice in government without precedent for American history, winning decision to southern state lawmaking bodies and even to the U.S. Congress. In under 10 years, in any case, reactionary forces–including the Ku Klux Klan–would reverse the progressions created by Radical
These organizations was actively shaped by the African Americans who were the active agents instead of being victims of the other’s actions (McNeil, 40). The political parties created showed results from the beginning of 1867 when the newly enfranchised blacks acquired a chance for their voices to be heard in government for the first time in the history of the Americans that led to election winning to the state legislatures in the South and even to the U. S’ Congress. The stakes of the Civil War were changed by the emancipation, and this ensured that the victory of the union meant social revolution that was in large-scale in the south (Elliott, 41). Initially, President Abraham Lincoln did not make it a priority for slavery to be abolished but it was through the efforts of the former slaves that things changed. Over the following years, Lincoln started to consider to have the devastated south back into the union and in the speech he delivered on April, he made proposals that some of the blacks to include those who were enlisted in the military and free blacks be allowed to vote as they deserved that
And allowed African Americans the right to vote, yet, denied the southern political leaders the right to vote. In addition, congressional reconstruction demands the south to agree to follow the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments of the constitution, before joining the Union. William Dunning and Eric Foner’s are two historians who interpreted the causes of congressional
One of reasons the confederacy failed was because the U.S. Congress, with Lincoln’s support, proposed the 13th amendment which would abolish slavery in America. Although the confederate peace delegation was unwilling to accept a future without slavery, the radical and moderate Republicans designed a way to takeover the reconstruction program. The Radical Republicans wanted full citizenship rights for African Americans and wanted to implement harsh reconstruction policies toward the south. The radical republican views made up the majority of the Congress and helped to pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens, and protected freedmen from presidential vetoes, southern state legislatures, and federal court decisions. In 1869, Congress passed the fifteenth amendment stating that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Reconstruction era, which was followed by post-civil war, was meant to unite the states back together, reconstruct properties, and most importantly, abolish slavery in the South. Although the factors such as amendments legally freed former slaves, yet WRITE THESIS After the end of civil war in 1865, Reconstruction era, which was controlled by President Abraham Lincoln, appeared to quickly coalesce the Northern and Southern states. reconstruction amendments, which were approved between 1865 and 1870, played a huge role on giving legal rights to blacks and former slaves. 13th amendment constitutionally abolished slavery in 1865 and followed up by that, 14th and 15th amendment admitted equal citizenship, protection, and rights of suffrage despite the one’s race or skin color. Former slaves were no longer belongings of their owners.
Krish Mehta Dr. Noboa-Berman A History of American Democracy in Cases 2 February 2023 The Effects of Reconstruction on the Mindset of the South Reconstruction refers to the period from 1865 to 1877 in the United States, following the Civil War, when the country sought to rebuild itself and address the legal and political status of the newly freed Black population. The period was marked by the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendements to the US Constitution, laws, and acts which aimed to secure civil rights and protections for Black Americans. Although Reconstruction implemented multiple vital laws to help establish rights for African Americans, Reconstruction was unable to change the Southern majority’s opinions of discrimination, underlining
Racism’s Impact on Reconstruction While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans
Abraham Lincoln’s vs Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Lincoln shared the uncommon belief that the confederate states could still be part of the union and that the cause of the rebellion was only a few within the states which lead him to begin the reconstruction in December of 1863. This resulted in plans with lenient guidelines and although they were challenged by Wade-Davis Bill, Lincoln still rejected his ideas and kept his policies in place. Lincoln also allowed land to be given the newly freed slave or homeless white by distributing the land that had been confiscated from former land owners however this fell through once Johnson took office. After Lincoln’s death when Johnson was elected many things started to turn away from giving blacks equal rights and resulted in many things such a black codes which kept newly freed slaves from having the same rights as whites. When Lincoln first acted after the civil war, he offered policies that would allow the confederate slaves to become part of the union again and would allow a pardon for those states.
Reconstruction a Failure or Success? Throughout the years, America has gone through many different political changes. Many presidents selected with different plans for our future. Sadly, many of those objectives have failed or came to an end.