Notes

The Failure of Presidential Reconstruction

The Civil War brought an end to slavery but created new challenges for the nation. The Union needed to establish a policy for allowing Southern states to rejoin the Union. It also wanted to protect the rights of the newly freed slaves. To accomplish those objectives, President Abraham Lincoln developed a plan called Reconstruction. His plan had the following goals:

to reunite the former Confederate states with the Union

to assist freed slaves in adjusting to their new lives

President Lincoln was assassinated before he could completely put his presidential Reconstruction plan into action. Lincoln’s successor, President Andrew Johnson, created a different plan for presidential Reconstruction.

Johnson carried out a lenient, or forgiving, policy toward the former Confederate officials. He allowed the Southerners to elect such officials to political office in their states. These officials held prejudiced views toward African Americans. As a result, they immediately began to pass laws in Southern states that restricted the rights of former slaves. These laws became known as the Black Codes.

The goal of the Black Codes was to recreate the inferior position that the slaves and free blacks had held in the antebellum South. The codes reflected the attitude of most white Southerners. They did not view the freed slaves as being equal to them. And they did not believe that the freed slaves had the ability to work effectively on their own.

On November 22, 1865, Mississippi became the first Southern state to pass Black Codes. It banned blacks from buying and selling farmland. Soon, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina passed their own codes.

The codes of each state were different. However, they all shared the same goal of restricting the rights of blacks. The federal government and the blacks of the South couldn’t ignore the message that the South was sending them through the codes: “You may have won the war, but we will not surrender our traditions.”

The Black Codes enraged the freed slaves and other Americans who opposed slavery. In New Orleans, Louisiana, they organized meetings and protests. In response, white Southerners attacked them, and violent riots broke out. Another riot broke out in Memphis, Tennessee, when white Southerners attacked the homes of freed slaves. These fights led to many deaths, mostly among the freed slaves.

President Johnson and Congress clashed on almost all aspects of Reconstruction. Democrats and some conservative Republicans supported Johnson’s Reconstruction plan. However, moderate Republicans were not happy with his lenient policies. Even so, they mostly went along with him.

Johnson’s biggest opponents were the Radical Republicans in Congress. They strongly disagreed with Johnson’s Reconstruction plan. They demanded radical and harsh treatment of the South. To protest Johnson’s plan, they refused to allow newly elected congressmen from the South to join Congress.

Johnson made the situation worse by refusing to work with the moderate Republicans. They turned against him and joined hands with Radical Republicans. Johnson then lost any support in Congress he might have had.

In 1866 and 1867, Johnson further angered many Republicans in Congress by vetoing two important bills. First, he vetoed a bill to continue the Freedmen’s Bureau. This government agency provided assistance to freed slaves and poor white Southerners. In Johnson’s view, it was not the government’s responsibility to provide such services to people in need. Congress fought back by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This act granted citizenship to blacks and gave them the same rights as whites.

Johnson vetoed this act as well. He felt that it was flawed because it favored blacks over other races. He also argued that few Southern lawmakers were in Congress when the act was debated and passed. He said that he didn’t want to pass laws that would affect the Southern states without their participation.

In response, Congress overrode the veto, and the act became law. Congress also passed new laws to renew the Freedmen’s Bureau. Johnson vetoed several more laws. These actions only increased tensions between him and the Republicans in Congress.



Radical Reconstruction

Johnson’s policies and actions lost him the support of many Northern voters. They elected a large number of Republicans to Congress. As a result, the Radical Republicans gained even more power. They soon took over the task of Reconstruction in the South. The Radical Republicans called for harsher punishment of the South for causing the Civil War. They also wanted to extend more civil rights to freed blacks.

The leaders of the Radical Republicans in Congress continued trying to block the Southern states from rejoining the Union. One such Republican was Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, a fierce abolitionist. He felt that the Union should rule the former Confederate states. He also believed that the Southern states should have no rights as states. His views were echoed by the Radical Republican’s leader in the Senate, Charles Sumner. Both men tirelessly worked to improve social, economic, and political conditions for blacks in the South. They especially fought for suffrage for blacks.



Radical Reconstruction

Johnson’s policies and actions lost him the support of many Northern voters. They elected a large number of Republicans to Congress. As a result, the Radical Republicans gained even more power. They soon took over the task of Reconstruction in the South. The Radical Republicans called for harsher punishment of the South for causing the Civil War. They also wanted to extend more civil rights to freed blacks.

The leaders of the Radical Republicans in Congress continued trying to block the Southern states from rejoining the Union. One such Republican was Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, a fierce abolitionist. He felt that the Union should rule the former Confederate states. He also believed that the Southern states should have no rights as states. His views were echoed by the Radical Republican’s leader in the Senate, Charles Sumner. Both men tirelessly worked to improve social, economic, and political conditions for blacks in the South. They especially fought for suffrage for blacks.



The Fourteenth Amendment also affected former Confederate leaders. It blocked them from holding office at the state or federal level. To be allowed to participate in government, a former Confederate leader had to receive a two-thirds favorable vote in Congress.

The Fourteenth Amendment sparked sharp disagreement. Southerners were outraged that the amendment blocked former Confederate leaders from having a role in the government. They considered it a severe form of punishment. Johnson also challenged the amendment. He claimed that it made the central government too powerful. However, he did not have the ability to block it. The Radical Republicans had enough votes in Congress to override any attempts Johnson made to veto the amendment.
a voter dropping a ballot into a box.



n 1867, Congress passed a series of Reconstruction acts that established a plan for rejoining former Confederate states with the Union. The Military Reconstruction Act divided the Southern states into five military districts. Each district was assigned a military commander from the Union. His duty was to maintain law and order.

The Reconstruction Acts also outlined how former Confederate states should rewrite their state constitutions. These constitutions would then have to be reviewed and accepted by Congress. The acts also required states to provide suffrage to all males, regardless of their race.

In addition, the Southern states had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. Once the states fulfilled all these conditions, they would be allowed to rejoin the Union. By 1870, all former Confederate states had met the requirements and had rejoined the Union.
a map showing the military districts created during Reconstruction



General Ulysses S. Grant was the leader of the US Army when the Command of the Army Act was passed.

In March 1867, Congress passed two laws to limit President Johnson’s involvement with Reconstruction. One was the Tenure of Office Act. It severely limited the president’s ability to remove appointed officials from their positions in the federal government. To remove such an official, Johnson would require the Senate’s approval. For example, he could not get rid of members of his cabinet who disagreed with him unless the Senate approved it. This act decreased presidential power over the Radical Republican-led Congress. Johnson tried to veto the act, but Congress overrode him.

Congress also passed the Command of the Army Act. This act limited Johnson’s control over Reconstruction. It blocked the president from giving direct orders to the military commanders of the five Southern districts. Instead, all of Johnson’s orders would first have to go through the leader of the US Army, Ulysses S. Grant.

In 1868, Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment. It guaranteed black men the right to vote. The amendment stated that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

Many Republicans favored this amendment. However, the Democrats opposed it. So did many Northerners. Yet despite this opposition, the amendment was ratified in 1870, after Johnson’s presidency had ended.
an illustration showing the rights provided by the Fifteenth Amendment



In 1869, the political cartoonist Thomas Nast showed his support for the Fifteenth Amendment. He created a cartoon showing Americans from many ethnicities enjoying a Thanksgiving meal together.

Even in the North, many people opposed giving black men the right to vote. So it would have been difficult to gain popular support for the Fifteenth Amendment. Fortunately for the Radical Republicans, they did not have to depend on a popular vote when they passed the Fifteenth Amendment.

State legislatures had the power to ratify or reject any amendment. Because most state legislatures had a majority of Radical Republicans, they were able to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment.



The Impeachment of Johnson

Tensions between President Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress grew worse after the passage of the Reconstruction Acts, the Tenure of Office Act, and the Commander of the Army Act. Angered by these acts, Johnson continued to challenge the Radical Republicans.

The Radical Republicans had enough power to override any presidential veto. However, they now wanted to use their power to remove Johnson from office by impeachment. Take a moment to read more about the process of impeachment.

President Johnson appearing at his impeachment trial in front of the Senate



The process of impeachment is outlined in Article II, Section 4, of the Constitution. Most Americans believe impeachment means the removal of a government official from office. In reality, it is only the first step in the process. An impeachment may or may not end with the official’s removal.

A president, vice president, or any other official in the US government can be impeached. Presidential impeachment, in particular, is rare. Congress has tended to use it only for what it considers the most serious misconduct. A president can only be removed from office after an impeachment in the House and a trial and conviction in the Senate.

A presidential impeachment begins when the House of Representatives charges the president with a crime of misconduct. The House Judiciary Committee makes a list of charges called "Articles of Impeachment." The charges must then be approved by a majority of Judiciary Committee members. After that, the full House of Representatives considers the Articles of Impeachment. The members of the House must pass the articles by a majority vote. If the Articles of Impeachment are passed, the president is then considered impeached.

Next, the impeachment goes to the Senate for a trial. The chief justice of the US Supreme Court runs the trial in the Senate. At trial, the president is either found guilty or found innocent of the charges. Two-thirds of all senators must vote to convict the president as being guilty of the crime. Only then can the president be removed from office.

In the history of the United States, only two presidents have been impeached. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868, and Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998. Neither man was convicted and both continued to serve as president.

Johnson’s impeachment was the direct result of a series of bitter battles between him and the Radical Republicans.

The first battle had to do with the Reconstruction Acts and the Command of the Army Act. Johnson’s secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, informed him of the details of the new acts. Johnson was not happy when he heard that the five military governors and not the president were mainly responsible for running the South. He was also upset that all his military orders had to be passed through the commander of the army. For those reasons, he opposed both acts.

Johnson opposed the Tenure of Office Act as well. He viewed this new law as going against the Constitution. He challenged the law by replacing Edwin Stanton with Ulysses S. Grant as secretary of war, without the approval of Congress. The Radical Republicans saw this move as a crime. They argued that Johnson broke the law laid out by the Tenure of Office Act. Therefore, they demanded that Johnson be impeached.



In February 1868, the House of Representatives unanimously agreed to impeach Johnson. Johnson was put on trial, and the Senate heard the court case for three months. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase was in charge of the trial. Seven House members led the case against Johnson. They included Thaddeus Stevens and Benjamin F. Butler, a powerful politician and a lawyer.

In May the Senate voted on whether to convict Johnson and remove him from office. A two-thirds vote was needed for conviction. Johnson narrowly escaped being convicted by a single vote. As a result, he was able to stay in office.

Next, you’ll watch a video about Johnson’s impeachment.
Thaddeus Stevens giving a speech on the impeachment of Johnson