12.1

Johnson Impeached

(Feb-May 1868) Johnson violated the law by firing the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. Because of this violation he was impeached but not removed from office. Republicans in the House impeached Johnson. The Senate voted to acquit the president (found not guilty of charges) by a margin of only one vote

Thaddeus Stevens

A Radical Republican in the House of Representatives who believed in harsh punishments for the South. Leader of the Radical Republicans in Congress.

Charles Sumner

A leader of the Radical republicans along with Thaddeus Stevens. He was from Massachusetts and was in the senate. His two main goals were breaking the power of wealthy planters and ensuring that freedmen could vote

Congressional Reconstruction

A process led by the Radical Republicans that led to the usage of military force to protect blacks' rights. The Radical Republicans and moderate Republicans worked together to shift the control of Reconstruction from the president to the Congress. They overrode the president's vetoes of the Civil Rights Act and the Freedmen's Bureau Act. In addition, Congress drafted the 14th Amendment which provided a constitutional basis for the Civil Rights Act.

The Fourteenth Amendment was passed to provide a constitutional basis for the

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Ulysses Grant elected president

November 1868. The Democrats knew Johnson could not win the election for them, so they chose Civil War general and hero Ulysses Grant as their candidate. Grant won by a wide margin the electoral college but the popular vote was less decisive. Many African Americans in the South voted for him, helping him win the presidency.

Freedmen's Bureau Acts (1865-1866)

Offered assistance, such as medical aid and education, to freed slaves and war refugees

Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

One of the Reconstruction Amendments passed by the Radical Republicans after Grant was elected. Provisions: Prohibited the government from using a citizen's race, color, or previous status as a slave as a voting qualification.

Freedmen's Bureau

Organization run by the army to care for and protect southern Blacks after the Civil War. Assisted former slaves and poor whites in the South by distributing clothing and food. In addition, it set up more than 40 hospitals, approximately 4,000 schools, 61 industrial institutes, and 74 teacher-training centers.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Passed by Congress on 9th April 1866 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. The goal was to give African Americans citizenship and to forbid states from passing black codes.

Andrew Johnson

Democrat who became president after Lincoln's assassination in April of 1865. A devoted Unionist, he often expressed his desire to deal harshly with Confederate leaders. Most white Southerners therefore considered Johnson a traitor to his region (he was from the South), while Radical Republicans believed that he was one of them. Both would end up being wrong.

What did the Radical Republicans want?

Destroy the political power of former slaveholders, allow freedmen to vote and to be given full citizenship rights, and in general to punish the South more harshly than Lincoln did

Black codes

Discriminatory laws that severely restricted African Americans' lives. Passed by Southern states after the Civil War. Had the effect of restoring many of the restrictions of slavery by prohibiting blacks from carrying weapons, serving on juries, testifying against whites, marrying whites, and traveling without permits. In some states, African Americans were forbidden to own land. Even worse, in many areas resentful whites used violence to keep blacks from improving their position in society. To many members of Congress, the passage of black codes indicated that the South had not given up the idea of keeping African Americans in bondage.

No one can be kept from voting because of race, color, or former enslavement, according to

Fifteenth Amendment

Impeach

Formerly charge a the president with misconduct while in office

Civil Rights Act (1866)

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to African Americans

Why were white Southerners relieved about Johnson and his plan?

He supported states' rights instead of a strong central government, and although he supported abolition, Johnson was not in favor of allowing former slaves to vote. He pardoned more than 13,000 former Confederates because he believed that "white men alone must manage the South."

What action showed that President Andrew Johnson did not support greater rights for African Americans in the South?

He vetoed the Freedman's Bureau Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1866

Under the Ten-Percent Plan, the federal government would pardon all Confederates except

High-ranking officials and those accused of crimes against prisoners of war

Johnson's Plan

In May 1865, with Congress in recess, Johnson announced his own plan, Presidential Reconstruction. He declared that each remaining Confederate state could be readmitted to the Union if it would meet several conditions. Each state would have to withdraw its secession, swear allegiance to the Union, nullify Confederate war debts, and ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

Issued while the Civil War was still going on in December of 1863. Basically another name for the Ten-Percent Plan that Lincoln wanted to implement after the war.

Why were the Radical Republicans in conflict with Johnson's (and Lincoln's) plan?

It failed to address the needs of former slaves in three areas: land, voting rights, and protection under the law.

What word best describes Lincoln's original plan for Reconstruction?

Lenient

What was Lincoln's planned approach to Reconstruction?

Lincoln wanted to make the South's return to the Union as quick and easy as possible. He would forgive all but a few members of the Confederacy and allow them back into the Union with full rights and would not ask for very much in return.

Johnson's plan for Reconstruction differed little from

Lincoln's plan

Lincoln's Ten-Percent Plan

Lincoln's plan for readmitting the southern states that stated that once ten percent of voters in a state made an oath of loyalty to the United States and would accept a ban on slavery, they could form a new government and be readmitted to the Union.

Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

Made "all persons born or naturalized in the US" citizens of the country who were entitled to equal protection under the law, and no state could deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This amendment did not give African Americans the right to vote specifically, but it did say that if any state prevented a portion of its male citizens from voting, that state would lose a percentage of its congressional seats equal to the percentage of citizens kept from the polls. Another provision barred most confederate leaders from holding federal or state offices unless they were permitted to do so by a two-thirds majority vote of Congress.

Fourteenth Amendment (ratified 1868)

Makes all persons "born or naturalized in the United States" citizens; stipulates that states that prevented male citizens fro voting would lose a percentage of their congressional seats; barred most Confederate leaders from holding political offices

Enforcement Act of 1870

Protected the voting rights of African Americans and gave the federal government power to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment

Wade-Davis Bill

Radical Republicans' response to Lincoln's Ten-Percent Plan. Proposed that Congress, not the president, be responsible for Reconstruction. Also declared that for a state government to be formed, a majority (not just ten percent) of those who had been eligible to vote in 1860 would have to take a solemn oath to support the Constitution. Lincoln used his pocket veto to kill this bill.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Radicals and moderates joined in passing this act which did not recognize state governments formed under the Lincoln and Johnson plans, except for Tennessee which had ratified the 14th Amendment. The act divided the other ten former Confederate states into five military districts, each headed by a Union general. The voters in the districts, including African American men, would elect delegates to conventions in which new state constitutions would be drafted. In order for a state to reenter the Union its constitution had to ensure African-American men the right to vote, and the state had to ratify the 14th Amendment.

Reconstruction Act (1867)

Abolished governments formed in the former Confederate States; divided those states into five military districts; set up requirements for readmission to the Union

Radical Republicans

After the Civil War, a group that believed the South should be harshly punished and thought that Lincoln was sometimes too compassionate towards the South.

What happened after Johnson vetoed the Reconstruction Act of 1867?

Congress promptly overrode it

Fifteenth Amendment (ratified 1870)

States that no on can be kept from voting because of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"

Which former Confederate state was not included in any military district and why?

Tennessee, because it had ratified the 14th Amendment giving African American men the right to vote

Reconstruction

The period during which the United States began to rebuild after the Civil War, lasting from 1865 to 1877. The term also refers to the process the federal government used to readmit the Confederate States to the Union. Complicating the process was the fact that Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Congress all had different ideas on how Reconstruction should be handled.

Tenure of Office Act and impeachment

The Tenure of Office Act was a result of the battle for reconstruction between President Johnson and Congress. The act allowed congress the power to control appointments in the president's cabinet, Johnson in response removed southern military officers that worked with congress and strengthened his agenda. He was then impeached, meaning removed from office due to federal crimes, namely his attempt to remove Secretary of War Stanton (Stanton had been an ally of the Radical Republicans in Congress so Johnson wanted to get rid of him). The Senate trial decided to acquit him however.

Who did the Radical Republicans believe should be in charge of Reconstruction policy?

The legislative branch of the federal government

1866 Congressional Elections

The question of who would control Reconstruction was a major issue. President Johnson and General Ulysses S. Grant urged voters to elect representatives who agreed with Johnson's Reconstruction policy (which was easy on the South). But Johnson offended many voters with his rough language and behavior. In addition, race riots in Memphis and New Orleans caused the deaths of at least 80 African Americans which convinced Northern voters that the federal government must step in to protect former slaves. Moderate and Radical Republicans ended up winning landslide majorities in the House and Senate over the Democrats. They gained a two-thirds majority in Congress and could now override a President's veto. By early 1867, they were ready to go ahead with their more radical Reconstruction policy.