President Johnson: Unfit For The Political World

Despite its achievements, Reconstruction faced tremendous challenges, mostly due to white resistance. While Abraham Lincoln’s objective was reunion and reconciliation, Andrew Johnson resisted and believed that African Americans had no role to play in Reconstruction. Johnson’s

Though Johnson was officially a free man, He still struggled with white supremacy. Throughout his lifetime, he viewed whites as a priority over blacks, even if they were free. Johnson had been taught by society that no black man could ever become anything more than subservient to whites. On the other hand, white slave owners viewed Johnson’s story as an opportunity to show the north that slavery was a fair and just system that provided most blacks with the opportunity to free themselves and others by only paying a fair price. Imagine reading a news headline that read “Black man buys himself out of slavery”, this is what the South would attempt to feed the North with. On the other hand,

Presidential reconstruction, alongside Lincoln and Johnson had a political goal of re-entering the south into the Union. Politically, the south needed to swear loyalty oaths to the Union before being allowed to participate and hold any offices. Johnson’s plan specifically did not offer a role to blacks in the political world. Socially, those in the north did not want to see these southerners rejoin so quickly with ease, and made sure others knew. The plan was to rejoin the south to the Union, regardless of their crimes. Economically, they wanted to see the Union together again to repair the country and thrive as a whole. Congressional reconstruction had different goals. First off, politically, those who supported congressional or radical reconstruction believed that blacks should have just as many rights politically and such as those who were white. Socially, they wanted to punish the south for the things they had done as a Confederacy and they also wanted to help and protect the African Americans. Economically, they did not approve of Lincoln’s plan, finding it too lenient and therefore taking action to benefit them and destruct the

Something that President Johnson did to start the period of Reconstruction was to pardon all Confederates soldiers if they plead loyalty and alliance to the Union. No one was held accountable for what happened, one man was murder. Also he demanded that the states in the south abolish slavery and change their constitution in order to be accepted into the United States. Those were Andrew Johnson terms for Reconstructions. Not very efficient because it leaves all these defeated soldiers, filled with anger and violence in the streets. Then Congress tried to pass the Civil Rights bill and the 14th amendment which

Johnson issued thirteen though sand five hundred Presidential pardons to those he earlier hoped to keep out. There were many ex-Confederates who were elected to Congress. Also the state legislatures in the south demoted blacks to a second class status, and this was known as the Black Codes. These codes states blacks were not allowed to vote, be on juries, testify against whites, could not interracially marry, and it was most unfair in Mississippi and South Carolina. Johnson like Lincoln wanted to restore the Union in as little time as possible.

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

Congress passes the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which divided the South into districts and required Southern states to approve the 14th Amendment to grant blacks citizenship, before rejoining the Union. Later, congress gives African Americans the right to vote by ratifying the 15th Amendment. The Reconstruction established the South’s first state-funded public school systems, created a just taxation legislation, and passed laws against discrimination and economic development programs. The approach of Congress was different than Johnson’s plan, because they worked to improve the lives of African Americans by passing laws in their favor, and expanding their rights. Congress did not care what the South wanted, and expected the South to abide by their rules. On the other hand, Johnson wanted to preserve the nation, and did not want to do anything to anger the South. Moreover, he was a strong believer in states rights, and the idea that the federal government had no right to enforce restrictive laws on the entire country.

The Reconstruction Period I think is a problem for the African Americans back then. They were treated unfairly during this period, when it was to being them a new started and hope of change. Don’t get me wrong there were some people who were for them to e happy, but not many. So, let start at the being; where it all happened. In January of 1865, Union General William T. Sherman issued a special field order Number 15, which temporary granted each freed family 40 acres of land off the region of Georgia in the islands and coastal area. Also the Union Army donated mules to them after the war was over. In the summer of 1865 when President Andrew Johnson was in office, his first act of Reconstruction was to give back all the federal control land back to its previous owner. When the land was giving back to the owners, freed men and women could sign a labor contracts with the planters or they could leave the land they occupied this was called Freedman’s Bureau. Soon after when the land was giving back, the former Confederate state stated “Black Codes”. Black Codes would deny African Americans to legal have equality and political rights. Also it would require then to sign yearly labor contracts with the planters. When this happen, Congress made the Reconstruction Act in the 1867, when the 14th (June 13, 1866) and the 15th (February 26, 1869, ratified on February 3, 1870) Amendments. These two amendments granted African Americans the right to vote, and equality before the law and

After assassination of Lincoln, new president Andrew Johnson started his reconstruction policy called “Presidential reconstruction” which acted as one of the failures of reconstruction. Andrew left the status of freed slaves in

The period from 1865 to 1877, commonly referred to as Reconstruction, saw a culmination of effects from the Civil War. During this time, America saw the freedom of slaves, blacks in office, and voting rights for all men regardless of color. However, Reconstruction was not perfect. During Andrew Johnson’s presidency, many conflicts arose between the viewpoints of Congress and Johnson regarding Reconstruction and the future of ex-slaves. Johnson’s views represented most of the democratic South’s, while the views of Congress represented the North.

Reconstruction efforts were complicated. After Lincoln's assassination, President Andrew Johnson favored legislation placating the South and the former Confederacy and returning property to prewar owners (History.com Staff, "Carpetbaggers & Scalawags"). Using his pardoning powers, Johnson restored virtually all political rights to most Confederates. Southern states balked when forced to repeal

This was a tough political period for the entire United State’s population since it would affect not only one group made of people from the same ethnicity but would include all of them on its results. Even though both process were rough ones for these groups made of African-Americans, Whites, Northerners and Southerners, I believe the Presidential Reconstruction was the most challenging one for the Southerners states to fulfill. By that time, the Civil War had just ended, and the South was getting reorganized and reintegrated into the Union and at the same time, the possibility of inclusion, equality of rights and freedom for African-American slaves was still being discussed. This transition to free the slaves was just getting started, but there were not many people supporting this idea because of the possible consequences this could had brought.

Andrew Johnson was the seventeenth president of the United States. He was born on December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina. His father, Jacob Johnson, worked as a handyman in a tavern (World Book Student 2). Andrews mother, Mary McDonough Johnson, was a maid in the tavern (World Book Student 2). Johnson was the youngest of their two sons. When Andrew was three years old, his brother Jacob passed away. Too poor to attend school, Andrews mother apprenticed him to a tailor when he was thirteen years old (World Book Student 2). He probably learned to read from the shops foreperson. He did not attend college. By reading books and newspapers, he became well informed with the constitution, American history, and politics. On May 17, 1827, Johnson

After the Civil War, there were two major paths of reconstruction–presidential reconstruction and radical reconstruction. Presidential reconstruction was headed by President Andrew Johnson, who believed that the southern states had never given up their rights to govern themselves, and failed to institute any sort of voting requirements. Aside from having to take an oath of allegiance to the Union and pay off war debt, the South was free to do what they like. This leniency led to the instillation of Black Codes and the continuation of wrongful treatment of African Americans. This caused the Republicans in Congress to take control of Reconstruction in the South after Johnson’s

The Presidential Reconstruction was led by Andrew Johnson. He was committed to maintaining white supremacy, so he created a policy to rapidly re-establish Southern state governments and restore the Union (Keene, 412). Pardons, amnesty, and the return of confiscated property was offered to Southerners who took an oath to the Union (Keene, 412). Johnson also laid out terms for Confederate states to follow to gain readmission into the Union (Keene, 412). The Presidential Reconstruction was over when “all 11 former Confederate states established new governments under his terms” (Keene, 413).