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What Was Andrew Johnson's Flaws

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At the end of the American Civil War the United States were on the eve of destruction. In order to avoid this destruction people in The Union had to come up with plans to rehabilitate. The first plan for reconstruction was created by Abraham Lincoln, but it had major faults in which Lincoln’s main focus was to get the states back together and he didn’t much care how. After Lincoln’s assassination Andrew Johnson not only took over the spot of presidency but he took over the responsibility for reconstruction. Johnson composed a plan that he believed would surely work, but he too had major flaws. Johnson’s flaws were Primarily based on his views of certain people and how he handled those views. The last plan was conceived by the congress. The people in congress looked over the two plans preceding them, saw their errors, and forged a plan of their own. Out of these three plans the one that would’ve been the most successful is the congressional reconstruction plan.

Abraham Lincoln’s views on reconstruction were that the south had never actually seceded, and this made his plan full of compassion and fault. Some may argue …show more content…

He also put African Americans in a situation similar to slavery. People could say that the place he put African Americans was where they needed to be for reconstruction to work and that it was in no way similar to slavery but where he put them was right back on the bottom of the food chain with no way to get out; They were once again working in the fields and the only difference was that they weren’t property. As for treating southern leaders to harsh it was dangerous because they were what everyone in the south looked up to. If these leaders asked them to once again revolt they surely would. Johnson’s harshness and bias view made his plan the one that would’ve been the least

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