Reconstruction s Presidents

Reconstruction s Presidents

Lincoln s Plan Former Confederate states: 10% of its citizens must swear loyalty to the United States. Representatives from that state would then be seated at Congress and the state would be a part of the U.S. again.

Andrew Johnson President 1865-1869

Andrew Johnson- History Channel Bio Click here if you have your earbuds.

Andrew Johnson Quickly sworn into office upon Lincoln s death. No Vice-President Former Slave-owner and Tennessee Southern who stayed loyal to the Union. Blamed the war of wealthy southerners. Believed the poor farmers were tricked into the war. Did not believe that freedmen should have equal rights. Continued Lincoln s less detailed plan for states re-admittance into the Union. Pardoned hundreds of former Confederates. Many took control again of the South s government positions.

Andrew Johnson-The Veto President A partial list of Bills vetoed by Andrew Johnson. Freedmen's Bureau Bill Civil Rights Bill Colorado Statehood Bill District of Columbia Franchise Law Nebraska Statehood Bill Tenure of Office Act First Military Reconstruction Act Second Military Reconstruction Act Third Military Reconstruction Act Judiciary Act Amendment Arkansas Statehood Bill Admission of Six Southern States Restrictions of Electoral Votes

Andrew Johnson Congress attempted to remove Johnson from office stating he violated the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson, claiming the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional, fired the Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (a friend of the Radical Republicans). The Tenure of Office Act said the president could not dismiss a member of the Cabinet without the Senate s approval (remember checks and balances???) The House of Representatives did impeach Johnson with a 126 yea to 47 nay vote. The Senate was unable to remove Johnson from Presidency. They were one vote shy of the 2/3 vote needed for removal.

Ulysses S. Grant President 1869-1877

Ulysses S. Grant History Channel Bio Click here if you have your earbuds.

Ulysses S. Grant As President, Grant was determined to follow Lincoln's policy of reconciliation. He also wanted to make sure that the federal government preserved the sacrifices of the war by sustaining a strong Union while at the same time protecting the newly freed slaves and preventing former unreconstructed Confederates from regaining power in the South. Racism plagued much of American society, and although the North supported abolishing slavery to hasten the end of the war, many whites did not equate black freedom with racial equality. In this social climate, the President faced a unique challenge: How could he actively protect the rights of the newly freed slaves without alienating a large segment of the American public?

Ulysses S. Grant Grant continued the policies of congressional Reconstruction, and he used both the military and federal legislation to protect black citizens. He also wanted to help the Republican Party flourish in the South, a goal unattainable without black voters and at least a portion of the white voters. In his inaugural address, he urged the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, which would give citizens the right to vote regardless of race or previous servitude. He proudly signed off on the Amendment in 1870.

Ulysses S. Grant Beginning in 1870, Congress passed a laws known collectively as the Enforcement Acts to help protect the right to vote. One of these was the Ku Klux Klan Act, which Grant signed in April 1871 to counter the rise of terrorist activity in the South. When white Southerners could not prevent blacks from voting legally, they terrorized them to try to keep them away from the polls. The President used South Carolina as an example to prove that the federal government would intervene in extreme cases of violence. In October 1871, he instituted martial law in nine counties in South Carolina and used federal troops to restore law and order in those areas. However, there were many examples when the President did not interfere in the South, especially when such intervention became increasingly unpopular in the North, threatening the Republican electoral majority.

Ulysses S. Grant By 1872, most Northerners were losing interest in Reconstruction. The depression (which usually follows a war) generated a heightened desire by Americans to focus on their own individual needs. Many Republicans, including those within the Grant administration, began to turn away from the South in order to maintain their strength in the North. Proof of this changing opinion was evidenced in 1872, when Congress passed the Amnesty Act of 1872. Amnesty means forgiveness of past offenses. The Amnesty Act allowed most former Confederates to vote again. The effects of the Amnesty Acts were almost immediate. By 1876, Democrats had regained control of all but three states in the South. Republicans clung to power in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, but only with the help of federal troops.

Ulysses S. Grant Critics have assailed Grant's policy toward Reconstruction as either doing too much (by sending federal troops into Southern states) or by doing too little (not effectively protecting black rights). Grant wanted to meet the needs of the newly freed slaves and, at the same time, entice white Southerners into a Republican Party dedicated to creating jobs and solid businesses in the defeated region. However, it proved impossible for him to achieve these two competing goals. When he used federal troops or legislation to defend the rights of blacks, whites assailed him as a tyrant trampling states' rights. Yet it went against his personal and political goals to abandon the freed slaves and the Republican Party in the South. In the end, Grant had little chance to take his good intentions and make them into effective policy.

Rutherford B. Hayes President1877-1881

Rutherford B. Hayes History Channel Bio Click here if you have your earbuds.

Rutherford B. Hayes Compromise of 1877- Hayes met in secret with Southern Democratic to discuss conditions that would lead to his winning the Presidency. Once of these conditions was to pull federal troops out of southern states. This is known as the Compromise of 1877. Upon election in 1877 Hayes withdrew troops from the Reconstruction states in order to restore local control and good will, a decision that many perceived as a betrayal of African Americans in the South. In addition Hayes: Appointed one Southern Democrat to his Cabinet Funded a 2 nd Transcontinental Railroad Funded the industrialization of the South.