Essay Questions On Andrew Johnsons Plan For Reconstruction

In 1865, slavery was abolished, by the Thirteenth amendment. This Amendment brought humongous changes and a large number of problems. (Lecture 1) After the destruction of slavery, it left nearly four million African American with no property, little training, and few rights; which made the definition of freedom for African Americans the central question on the nation’s agenda. The big question of the time period was, “what was freedom for African Americans?” (Give me liberty! An American 550)

After the conclusion of America’s Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln pitched the idea of “Reconstruction,” which would bring the southern states back into the Union. President Lincoln, according to many radical Republicans, was too gentle on the south. The government was divided on how to solve the issue of readmitting the southern states back into the Union. In addition to that, the government was not certain on what rights to enumerate to the newly emancipated slaves. These issues became more difficult to solve after President Lincoln was murdered. Lincoln’s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee Democrat that lacked respect of the Republican Congress. The legislative and executive branches of the American government

Examine the condition of African-Americans in the late nineteenth century and explain why the Thirteenth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which were enacted to aid the new freedmen, actually did little.

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.

Under this plan the south was divided into five districts. Excluding Tennessee because they had already been readmitted into the Union. Each of the districts were headed by a general. The main goal of the leader was to increase voter registration of blacks and to see to it that white confederates did not get back into office as they were before. The new voters would then vote on a new constitution that allowed blacks to vote. If the majority of the voters ratified the new constitution and the fourteenth amendment then the state would be eligible for readmission to the Union. These bills covered the objectives of Radical Republicans. They called for universal suffrage, made it likely that republicans would be put into office in southern states, and they set the standards for readmission. The south had to suffer the consequences of being defeated. To ensure their acts, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act which prohibited the president from removing certain officeholders without the permission of the Senate. President Johnson deliberately violated this by firing Secretary of State Edwin Stanton. President Johnson was tried for impeachment but the Senate could not convict him.

From 1775 to 1830, many African Americans gained freedom from slavery, yet during the same period the institution of slavery expanded. Explain why BOTH of those changes took place. Analyze the ways that BOTH free African Americans and enslaved African Americans responded to the

After the tragedy of Lincoln's death, Vice President Andrew Johnson stepped up into the presidential position and started his own plans for reconstruction; his too, would turn out to be a failure. He supported hardcore Democratic principles and restoring Southern power. He brought in the remaining states back into the constitution. He divided the power of planters and restricted there voting He created the idea of "blanket pardons" which allowed Southern states that had abolished slavery and repealed their articles of secession to re-assume their powers of government and elect representatives to the Congress. This all backfired because while the south was happy and the Blacks weren't voting under Johnson, the Radical Republicans were angered and more conflict was started. The whole idea of everyone being happy wasn't working at all with anyone. Johnson was the second to go, being the first impeached president ever.

The restoration process began with small plans that were put forward by President Lincoln as well as President Johnson. The two president’s main aim was to combine the confederacy with the unions (Flanagan). This fact was called the presidential reconstruction. The Republicans were put into office to ensure that the freed people’s rights were protected as well as to make sure that America was united. The civil rights act was passed and the southern state began to follow the rule. The Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act that would ensure that the federal authorities could be able to protect the freed citizens. However, even with the introduction of such laws the African Americans were

We can also say that, in a way, Republicans wanted reconstruction to change. There were bigger issues at hand and it was economically draining on the South. A lot of people up North did not like the fact that black Americans were soon sharing a social status with white Americans. The North was no safe space for blacks, there was still prejudice and unfair brutality. One of the only reasons the North was anti-slavery was because they simply did not use it, they used poor white people and other lower class minorities to boost the Northern Industrial work. But that did not stop the inherent prejudice that a majority of people had during that

Wanted the rebuild relations with the south and believed the faster this happened the quicker the country could heal. Lincoln was assassinated , only days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender and didn’t have the chance to carry out his plans and vision for reconstruction. Lincolns plans for Reconstruction were taken over by his vice president, Johnson, who became president after Lincoln’s death and applied the reconstruction policies. President Johnson believed the sooner relationship between the north and south could be mended the sooner the country could move forward and grow. Radical republicans managed to gain extensive votes in the fall election.

When Reconstruction began in 1865, the country was in desperate need of unification after the end of the Civil War. The fate of a becoming a unified country was left in the hands of Andrew Johnson after the sudden assassination of President Lincoln in April of 1865, just as Reconstruction was set to begin. President Johnson had a similar plan for Reconstruction as Lincoln, with the main goal being getting the South back into the Union without too much dispute. However, President Johnson did not have a good relationship with congress from the beginning and had different views on Civil Rights than Lincoln. Johnson would have to fight against a group called the Radical Republicans, which

The government had multiple plans for reconstruction and President Lincoln had one in specific. He favored a policy that “Southern white unionists (former Whigs) could become the nucleus of the new loyal state

At the time of them wanting to secede, the Southern states were very successful in agriculture. They thought that they could make their money just from the slaves working on their crops and could eventually expand to make their crop space larger. The Confederacy would give the power to the State instead of the Federal Government. Having the Confederates not run on a central document, was like anarchy or lawlessness. Secession would have caused more problems in the Confederacy than what they already had.

Thaddeus Stevens, a political man, held a place in the House of Representatives. His main concern was the economic opportunity for slaves. Stevens wanted them to be able to make a living on their own, and not depend on the “white man” as they had done all their lives. Thinking almost on these same lines was

On the other hand the South wanted to withhold all undetermined powers to the individual states and to withhold all these projects. The predominant issue why the South seceded was the slavery issue. The South wanted and called for slavery and would do anything they could to keep it. Cold-heartedly the slaves were items and if taken away would put a huge dent in investments towards Southerners. The value to the slaveholding planter class was immeasurable.