Brief presentation about the political wrangling between Congress and President Andrew Johnson. For use with section 12.1 of "The Americans"

1. The Politics of Reconstruction
THE AMERICANS SECTION 12.1

2. Lincoln’s Plan
Lenient
 Goal: Lenient to the South to quickly rebuild the Union
Ten Percent Plan
 10% of Southerners must take an oath of allegiance
 Unsuccessful because Congress wants to punish the
South
Outcome
 Lincoln dies before the plan could be put into action

3. Republican Reaction
Harsh
 Goal: Wanted to punish
the Southern whites and
empower freed slaves
 Leader: Thaddeus
Stevens

4. Republican Reaction
 Wade-Davis Bill: Proposed that Congress, not
the President be in charge of Reconstruction.
 Also,
held that a majority (51%, not just
10%) of former Confederates must take
an oath of allegiance

Unsuccessful because Lincoln pocket vetoes the
bill

5. Republican Reaction
Pocket Veto
•
•
if Congress submits a bill with less than 10 days
remaining in the session, the President can veto
a bill by not taking any action on it all – letting
it sit
when this happens, the bill dies without ever
being finally decided

6. Johnson’s Plan
Presidential Reconstruction
 Lenient (easier than Lincoln’s
“Ten-Percent Plan”)
 Goal:


Reunite North and South
Punish wealthy white
Southerners

7. Johnson’s Plan
Four Parts
1. Each state would have to withdraw it secession
2. Swear allegiance to United States
3. Annul Confederate war debts
4. Ratify the 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery)

8. Johnson’s Plan
“white men alone must manage the South.”
 Opposed to slavery, Johnson did not want equal
rights for African-Americans
 Johnson was lenient on Southern states abiding by
the terms of Presidential Reconstruction (for
example, Mississippi did not ratify the 13th
Amendment)
 Johnson pardoned Confederates who had fought
against the US angering Radical Republicans and
African-Americans

9. Johnson’s Vetoes
 Freedman’s Bureau:
 goal
was to feed and house freed slaves and poor
whites
 Civil Rights Act of 1866
 Goal was to forbid black codes passed by states
 Johnson’s reaction: Vetoes both!

10. In the Congressional midterm
election in 1866, Radical
Republicans get 2/3 control of
both houses of Congress and can
override any future Johnson veto

11. Congressional Reconstruction
Reconstruction Act of 1867
 Harsh
 Sought to punish Confederates for the war and for
slavery
 Did not recognize state government admitted under
the Lincoln and Johnson plans

12. Reconstruction Act of 1867
Four Parts
1. Divided the other 10 former Confederate States
into 5 military districts, each headed by a Union
General
2. Voters in the districts, including AfricanAmericans, would elect delegates to state
constitution conventions
3. New state constitutions had to ensure suffrage to
African-American men
4. Each state had to ratify the 14th Amendment

13. Fourteenth Amendment
Four Parts
1. African-Americans are citizens
2. Equal protection under the law for blacks
3. Banned Confederates from voting/holding office
4. Annulled all Confederate debts from the war

14. Congressional Reconstruction
Tenure of Office Act
 President cannot remove an appointed cabinet
members with out Senate permission
 Johnson did anyway
 Although he was impeached by the House of
Representatives, he was not removed by a margin of
one vote

15. Congressional Reconstruction
15th Amendment
 Affected Northern and Southern states alike
 No one can be prevented from voting based on
“race, color, or previous condition of servitude”