Transcript Lincoln`s Plans for Reconstruction

Lincoln’s Plans for
Reconstruction
President Lincoln had been making
plans for reconstruction of the South
before the war was over. Lincoln’s
plans treated the South very
generously. He did not want to punish
the southern states. He wanted to
forgive them. He wanted to help them
rejoin the Union
Lincoln’s Plans for Reconstruction
• Not everyone agreed with Lincoln. There
was a group of Congressmen who were
known as Radical Republicans. They
though Lincoln was too easy on the South.
They wanted stricter rules for the states
that were rejoining the Union. They
wanted more rights for blacks. Most
southern states weren’t willing to let blacks
have their rights.
Freedmen’s Bureau
• In March, 1865, just before the war ended,
Congress passed a new law. It set up a
Freedmen’s Bureau. The Bureau gave
food, clothing, and medicine to freed
blacks and poor whites. It set up schools
and helped people find jobs. The
Freedmen’s Bureau was the first federal
organization set up to help people in need.
Andrews Johnson Becomes
President
• Lincoln did not live to see his
Reconstruction plans carried out. Five
days after the war ended, he was
assassinated.
• Andrew Johnson, the vice president, took
over as President of the United States.
This was in keeping with Constitutional
law. Rebuilding the South became the
new president’s job.
Andrew Johnson Become
President
• Johnson planned to follow Lincoln’s
reconstruction ideas. He wanted to make
it as easy as possible for the southern
states to rejoin the Union.
• The Radical Republicans found even more
fault with Johnson than they had with
Lincoln. Johnson was a southern
Democrat himself. He had even owned
slaves at one time.
Andrew Johnson Becomes
President
• The Radical Republicans accused
Johnson of favoring the southern states.
Black Codes
• Under President Johnson’s plans, men who had
been Confederate leaders could still hold high
government jobs. The 13th Amendment had
outlawed slavery in 1865. But these men
passed state laws known as the Black Codes.
• The Black Codes were like the old slave laws.
In many ways, it was simply as if the word
“Black” had replaced the word “slave.”
Black Codes
• The Black codes took away many of the
rights of the free blacks. Among other
things, they kept blacks out of schools and
off juries.
• Black codes also kept former slaves out of
good jobs. In South Carolina, for example,
a law required African Americans to pay
$10 to $100 for a license to hold any job
other than that of servant or farmer.
The Radical Republicans vs.
Andrew Johnson
• The Radical Republicans were in an
uproar during the next session of
Congress. They felt Johnson was too
easy on the South. They said the Black
Codes were hardly better than slavery.
They said that former confederate leaders
had no right in government jobs.
The Radical Republicans vs.
Andrew Johnson
• Congress set up its own plans for
Reconstruction. It was different from the
president’s. In 1866, Congress passed
the Civil Rights Act. It said that black
people should have the same rights as
whites.
• President Johnson refused to sign it. He
vetoed the Civil Rights Act.
The Radical Republicans vs.
Andrew Johnson
• The Constitution said that Congress cold
pass the bill over the president’s veto.
Two-thirds of Congress would have ot vote
in favor of the bill. A vote was taken. The
Civil Rights Act became law.
The 14th Amendment
• Republicans in Congress wanted
something stronger than the Civil
Rights Act. They wrote a 14th
Amendment to the Constitution.
The 14th Amendment gave former
slaves citizenship. It also said
that former Confederate leaders
could not hold office or vote.
The 14th Amendment
• President Johnson was against the
amendment. But, by 1868, it was
approved by most states . Southern
states had to approve it before they could
come back into the Union.
• Federal troops were sent into the South to
make sure the states followed Congress’s
rules.
Reconstruction Acts
• In 1867 Radical Republicans passed these
acts over President Johnson’s veto.
• 1. Federal troops would maintain law and
order in the South.
• 2. Former Confederate soldiers and
leaders could not vote or hold office.
• 3. Freed slaves had the right to vote and
hold office.
Reconstruction Acts
• 4. New state constitutions must be written
and approved by Congress.
• 5. To rejoin the Union, southern states
must approve the 14th Amendment.