Andrew Johnson's Plan Of Reconstruction

With the assassination of president Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, a Southern democrat, came into office. Despite being staunchly pro-Union and anti-secession, Johnson's approach to reconstruction seemed far less attractive, perhaps due to the fact that he was a slave owner. Following Johnson's entrance, moderates and radicals formed an alliance for arguably two decisive reasons: both groups shared a parallel distrust and disliking for Johnson, and Johnson's measures seemed far too sparing in his efforts of reconciliation with Southern states. Moreover, during Johnson's presidency, Northerners recognized a South that had once again become unruly, which many believed was a result of the lenient tendencies that Johnson approached reconstruction with.

Felipe Ferla US History 1: Lesson 7 The Reconstruction plan proposed by President Lincoln was a failure due to some factors regarding mainly the different mind-sets of the North and South. First, both in the North and South there were radicals that recurred to violent and extreme acts to impose their will. In addition, because, especially in the north they were a political party, they created laws that greatly affected the South and consequently the Reconstruction. Second, even though there were a number of laws declaring equality of black and white people, the population in the South still treated former slaves and colored people as inferior beings, limiting their work opportunities and preventing them from voting. Finally, and probably

During the Reconstruction Era, Abraham Lincoln was the president and he wanted to rebuild the Union since the Civil War split the nation into the Union and the Confederacy. Andrew Johnson was the vice president that served for Lincoln. Lincoln gave full amnesty to the Confederacy and welcomed them back with the Union. After Lincoln got assassinated in his 2nd term in office, Johnson became the new president. Andrew Johnson agreed with the idea of amnesty and kept it to help reconstruct the Union.

Congress answered them and refused to seat legislators from those states, and advanced legislation to overrule the Southern actions and give the spaces their rights. Johnson denied their bills, and Congress overpowered him, setting a pattern for the remainder of his presidency and his time in the office. Johnson opposed the Fourteenth Amendment, which gave citizenship to former slaves. Then congress created a new act. The Tenure of Office Act.

As shown Andrew Johnson had many personal issues and things that he disliked about the Reconstruction plan and the rights that were being given to Blacks. His opinions are mainly what made him a limited leader and not very likable by the standards of most of the American people. The mindset and the way that people saw Johnson started to change in a bad way, once they saw how he truly felt. His thoughts on civil rights and political rights contradicted those of Lincoln’s which were embraced by many across the nation. Rules and regulations that Abraham Lincoln had wanted and designed were edited for the worse.

Johnson was a democrat and a previous slave owner, which didn’t make him an avid supporter of Lincoln’s plan of Southern Reconstruction. What Lincoln had previously intended on doing was have criminal amnesty to Confederates who pledged allegiance to the Union and allowed states to hold a constitutional convention along with setting up their state government. Though Johnson kept some of the plan intact, he called for there to be no limits on voter allegiance for the Southern states. This sparked opposition from the Radical Republicans, a group of congressmen who believed black southerners should be guaranteed equality with whites. They deduced that Johnson shouldn’t set legislative policy for reconstruction as it wouldn’t lead to a country of tolerance that they worked to achieve.

Another Black Code stated that any man whose grandfather could not vote was not able to vote himself, which forbid any black men from voting because their grandfathers did not have that privilege. While congress already did not approve of Johnsons tactics or lack there of in restoring the country, the final straw came when Johnson refused to sign onto the extension of the Freedman’s Bureau and eventually vetoed which led to his impeachment. The bill later became the first to be passed through a presidential

Andrew Johnson was a former slave owner and vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau, an important factor that needed to be a part of any reconstruction

Johnson had a belief to have America to this “Great Society” he had plans to be. Johnson said his plan to a “Great Society” to be that it rests on plenty and freedom for the people and it demands an end to poverty and racial inequality, saying this is only the beginning of the society. It was clear Johnson had a plan for America and where he wanted it to go. Though, through his Presidency he had some issues with the war and he wanted to run again for a second term. It didn’t look good for Johnson though to be able to be President for a second term due to his approval rating being low because of Vietnam.

The southern whites who worked around the Presidents moderate plan of Reconstruction did so in a manner that would be frowned upon today. The Southern whites had been guaranteed charity from Lincoln. “With his [Lincoln’s] enormous prestige as commander of the victorious North and as victor in the 1864 election, he was able to promise freedom to the Negro, charity to the southern white, security to the North” (page 3). An example of how Congress worked around Johnson’s disliked program of Reconstruction was passing through bills for him to sign. Johnson vetoed them and as a result Congress over ruled him and passed them anyway.

The American civil war led to the reunion of the South and the North. But, its consequences led the Republicans to take the lead of reconstructing what the war had destroyed especially in the South because it contained larger numbers of newly freed slaves. Just after the civil war, America entered into what was called as the reconstruction era. Reconstruction refers to when “the federal government established the terms on which rebellious Southern states would be integrated back into the Union” (Watts 246). As a further matter, it also meant “the process of helping the 4 million freed slaves after the civil war [to] make the transition to freedom” (DeFord and Schwarz 96).

The Presidential Reconstruction and Congressional Reconstruction plans were frequently different from one another. As I continue, I will state in my opinion the most significant differences between the two plans. To begin, Lincoln and Johnson’s plans were far too lenient with the Confederate states. The Presidential Reconstruction plan under Johnson allowed former Confederate states to be part of the Union, when they accepted the 13th amendment and swore to the Union. While, the Congressional Reconstruction plan was to allow those states to rejoin the Union if and only when they accepted the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

Reconstruction is the time period after the Civil War, where the country attempted to improve the Union. There were many successes, but what also comes along with success is failure. During the reconstruction many failures were present; such as the lack of racial equality and blatant racism towards blacks, a failing economy in the South, and tense relations between the North and the South. This created a very intense and challenging period of time for the Union.

After Lincoln got assassinated, Andrew Johnson became president. During the summer of 1865 Johnson planned his reconstruction plan, and in his reconstruction said that states had to agree with the 13th amendment ( which abolished slavery ). February 1866 Congress passed the freedmen’s bureau and this gives the military responsibility for protecting the blacks, but Johnson vetoed the bill, surprising many republicans. Congress enacts the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on April 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 means… “ it grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and guarantees them equal rights under the law.”

He also wanted to keep slavery but also keep the union together. Andrew Johnson was a man that tried to persuade things to go his way for the benefit for himself. It was hard for him to pick a side because he was a democrat in a nation of republicans. Johnson was also chief diplomat.