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Johnson Argumentative Essay

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Johnson was right in wanting Reconstruction to be simple and meet a minimum test of loyalty. The country won’t agree on everything so why have a full exam on loyalty? We took an oath to the Union and Constitution, rewrote our state constitutions, and got rid of what our entire economy survived on just because you thought it was bad. Isn’t that enough? So our state government shouldn’t be taken away. We never gave up our right to govern ourselves, and the President agrees the federal government has no right to determine questions at our state level. He cares about us, giving Presidential pardons, even to us Southern plantation owners, allowing state government to be reestablished and accepted, and giving our rights back. But not Congress. Only the President wanted to help us Southerners. The Freedmen’s Bureau which gave food, housing, medical and legal aid to free slaves; 40 Acres and a Mule where freedmen were expected to get 40 acres of land and a mule after the war; and the 14th Amendment which gave slaves citizenship were opposed by Johnson, but Congress went and overruled …show more content…

Federal government taking control would ensure free men would be given political equality, economic opportunity, and full civil rights, because the racist Confederate leaders weren’t in charge. This would also take the South’s power away, ensuring they wouldn’t revolt again or try to subjugate us freed slaves. This is what’s fair, as Congress wanted them to suffer what they deserve (we did too), but the President was too lenient. Congress ratified the 14th and 15th Amendments, giving us citizenship and voting rights. Blacks started being represented at the state level, and in higher positions of government. We were given land and opportunity to thrive (40 acres and a mule) and food, housing, medical and legal aid (Freedmen’s Bureau) and became true Americans because of

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