Differences Between Johnson And The Radicals

Andrew Johnson, who was in office from 1865, shared similar views to Woodrow Wilson. They favoured the Southern Democratic elite, however took a different approach and attempted to pass more legislation. Johnson was in office at the point of when the civil war had ended, and the Southern states had been defeated, although refusing to admit defeat. Johnson was left with the question of what to do with these states, and unusually for a democrat, believed they needed to join the union. The motive behind these beliefs are unknown, however the likelihood is that he believed this due to the laws on slavery in union

Shelby Foote once said “But the Civil war defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads.” In this famous phrase he states how the civil war shaped the future of generations ahead, and was the collision of our beliefs, which led to issuing many policies and the burst of many disagreements, which were later solved with violence. His statement is valid because it interprets the situation the people where in, how they felt, and how the Civil War later affected people’s actions and beliefs.

Ideological differences came to the fore prior to the Civil War and the downward spiral of divisions from the Jacksonian period only continued to take on increasingly radical political manifestos. Both sides poured diatribes on each other and the political climate was highly charged. The northern states believed in a concentration of power at the seat of government to build highways and effective public infrastructure. The opposite side however felt that

After the Civil War between 1865 and 1877, the country went into Reconstruction. They had to rebuild the south because of Sherman’s plan of total war. In Sherman’s plan, his army took food and burned property, destroying everything that could be used by the Confederates during the war. President Lincoln helped by giving amnesty for Confederate soldiers and a plan for readmission to the Union of the Southern states. He also proposed the Ten Percent Plan. The plan allowed states to be readmitted to the Union if ten percent of its voters swore a loyalty oath to the Union and agreed to the end of slavery. President Johnson took office once Lincoln got assassinated, this changed the course of Reconstruction because he was a southerner and a democrat. He had more sympathy for southerners and many former Confederates assumed political office as soon as their state was readmitted to the Union.

In addition to being divided on the issue on how to bring the Southern states back into the Union, the nation later became divided on the rights that should be bestowed upon the emancipated slaves. After the assassination of President Lincoln, Democratic Vice President Andrew Johnson took control of the executive branch and his background foreshadowed the “political drama” that would take place. President Johnson was a Senator from Tennessee before he entered the Vice Presidency and he had racist leanings and he opposed political rights for the freedmen. Additionally, Johnson was open about his sympathy for the South and he was determined to control the path of Reconstruction. The first example of conflict between Johnson and the Republican

Johnson stated that the seven remaining states would be admitted if: they withdrew its secession, swore allegiance to Union, anul Confederate was debts, and ratify the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. The only main difference being that Johnson did not want high-ranking Confederates and wealthy Southern landowners to take the oath needed to vote. The Radical Republicans were infuriated by Johnson’s Plan because it failed to effectively help former slaves. They wanted a plan stricter on the punishment of the Southerners, and one that addressed the land, voting, and protection under the law of slaves. This is why when Johnson pardoned all Southerners the Radicals refused to admit the Southern representatives back into Congress.

When the American Civil War began in the spring of 1861, those flocking to enlistment stations in states both north and south chiefly defined their cause as one of preservation. From Maine to Minnesota, young men joined up to preserve the Union. From Virginia to Texas, their future foes on the battlefield enlisted to preserve a social order, a social order at its core built on the institution of slavery and racial superiority . Secession had not been framed by prominent Southerners like Robert Toombs as a defensive measure to retain the fruits of the revolution against King George, a fight against those who sought to “intrique insurrection with all its nameless horrors.” (Toombs Speech) On January 1, 1863, when Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect the war became a revolution. The Union, the soldiers in blue fought to preserve could no longer exist. On every mile of soil, they would return to the Stars and Stripes from that moment on, the fabric of society would be irrevocably changed. In May of 1865, with the abolition of slavery engrained into the Constitution with the passage of the 13th Amendment, the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston disbanded, and Lincoln dead of an assassin’s bullet; this change was the only certainty the torn fabric of the newly reunited states was left to be resown. Andrew Johnson and Southern Democrats believed the revolution of 1863 had gone far enough. Radical Republicans and African-Americans sought instead to bring it to

If the South had been more divided they might have been more willing to compromise.

The line between the North and South was deeply imbedded due to both moral and economic factors. Events in our country's history meant that this rift was eventually going to happen and war would ensue. The South always thought they were oppressed and looked down upon. They decided enough was enough when Lincoln became president and fought back. But, the economics of the two factions were far too vast to ever make a permanent compromise. Just like Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided.” which is what led to the war. The country divided because of the North success in the Industrial Revolution and the South’s refusal to join this revolution and relieve itself of its dependency on the economic

President Johnson was a very political man. He made lots of political decisions. Before he became president he was a senator. He was a senator for Texas, Texas was a southern state, they were very racist to african american people. As a senator he had to do what the people of Texas wanted him to do. So he had to pass a bunch of racist things in congress. Doc D

Throughout American history, the south and the north have consistently held different beliefs on how to handle some subjects. Whether it ranged from slavery, to taxing, or to business, southerners and northerners often seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. It was not any different back in the 1800’s. Though intensely different, they were still part of the same country. One of the biggest issues that made the north and the south so distinct from one another was their view and perspective on slavery. The north, who was considered mostly republican, saw slavery as something that needed to be abolished for it was a great sin committed by mankind; while the south, who were mostly considered democrats, viewed it as a necessity for they considered African-Americans a race that needed to be controlled because they were less intelligent than the white man but very violent and because they were “built” for the hard labor. Over the 1800’s they had been a tension built between the two sides of the country. The tension rose to a boiling point when the 1860 election rolled around. After the elections occurred, a chain of events followed which would leave a lasting impact on the current United States. In the heart of these events was the civil war. To this day, it is very debatable that the war started because of the unsure future of slavery under new leadership.

President Johnson’s Plan, known as Johnson’s Plan was to restore the Old South minus slavery and minus the plantation elite. The second theory was the Radicals in Congress. They wanted a kind of revolution within southern society. They also wanted to give blacks the vote. However, Johnson’s Plan ended in utter failure. Johnson was known to have terrible characteristics, to be a drunken demigod, have no politics, and heckled by hostile crowds but, he protected the South from the Radicals in some way (source 6).

As soon as President Andrew Johnson signed a Proclamation which promised order and peace to the United States on August 20th, 1865, the Civil War was formally ended. Though the Confederates had been dominated, there was still a battle to preserve the Southern lifestyle against the impeding Northern republican ideals. President Lincoln had plans to peacefully restore the country to the Union it was prior to the war, but his assassination created set-backs to his plan. While both the North and the South were working toward reconciliation in the nation, the north was more interested in creating a controlling, centralized government while the south was concerned with protecting and preserving their southern customs and ideals. While there were many attempts at reconstructing, the Reconstruction era ultimately failed at unifying the Union under agreed terms due to the constant disagreements between the north and the south.

The outburst of the Civil War forever changed the future of the American nation. At first, it began as a fight to protect the Union, not as a struggle to free the slaves. Many citizens from the North and South felt that the conflict would ultimately decide both issues. Slavery was one of the primary issues which physically divided the northern U.S. from the Southern U.S. during the Civil War. Even after the Reconstruction Era it continue to divide the two. The Southern resistance to ending slavery was the main reason as to why the South believed in rejecting outsider ideals and it helped establish the Southern Code of Honor that emphasizes aggression and violence.

A second issue that would spark tensions between the states that eventually would lead to war was the argument of states’ rights. The South would vigorously argue throughout the years before the war that the federal government’s authority was not above that of each individual state. (Mcpherson 25) This would mean the federal government was in violation of what the founding fathers created it to do. Many historians believe that this response was elicited by the fact that the Northern population was growing so quickly that it would soon have control of the federal government. Before 1860 many of the presidents that had been elected were pro-south or they were indeed from the south. (Mcpherson 35) With the north