Andrew Johnson: 1. Vice President under Abraham Lincoln a. Become president following Lincoln assassination 2. Political career began in Tennessee a. Governor b. Congressman c. U. S. Senator d. Vice President e. President 3. He was the only senator from a Confederate state that remained loyal to the Union. a. Other southern senators saw him as a traitor to his region 4. Supported abolition a. Former slave owner 5. Favored strong state rights 6. Hated wealthy planters from the south a. He held them responsible for dragging poor whites into a civil war 7. Did not favor former slaves gaining voting rights 8. He originally endorsed a harsh punishment for Confederate leaders a. As president he had to decide the fate of Confederate leaders i. Punish? ii. Pardon? 9. Had the job of how to bring Confederate states back into the Union. a. Announced his “Presidential Plan for Reconstruction” in May 1865. i. Remaining Confederate states could be readmitted to the Union after meeting certain conditions. 1. Withdraw its secession 2. Swear an allegiance to the Union 3. Annul Confederate war debts 4. Ratify the 13th Amendment a. Abolition of slavery 10. His plan had some proponents different from Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan a. Wanted to prevent most high‐ranking Confederates and wealthy southern landowners from taking the oath needed to satisfy privileges b. Failed to address the needs of former slaves i. Land ii. Voting rights iii. Protection under the law. 11. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act and the Freedman’s Bureau Act which ended his Presidential Reconstruction. 12. Brought up on Impeachment charges by the Radical Republicans a. Radical Republicans felt he was not carrying out his constitutional obligations to enforce the Reconstruction Act. i. Removed military officers that tried to enforce the Act. ii. Failed to comply with the “Tenure of Office Act” 1. Fired Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War b. Radical Republicans failed to get the votes necessary to Impeach Johnson. Reconstruction: 1. The name given to the period when the United States rebuilt following the Civil War. a. This lasted from 1865 through 1877. 2. Refers to the process the federal government used to re‐enter Confederate states back into the Union. 3. There were problems with Reconstruction. a. Lincoln, Johnson and Congress all had different ideas of how the Confederates reentry should be handled. i. Lincoln’s plan was based on the premise secession was constitutionally impossible; therefore the Confederate states never left the Union. 1. Believed individuals not the states had rebelled so he wanted the following a. Wanted lenient reconstruction policy b. Wanted Southern states to return to the Union as fast as and easily as possible ii. Introduced a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in December 1863. 1. Also called the “Ten Percent Plan” Ten Percent Plan: 1. Also known as the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction a. Government would pardon all Confederates with the exception of high ranking Confederate officials i. Included officials and military officers who were accused of crimes against prisoners of war b. After 10% of the citizens on the 1860 voter list took the oath of allegiance could form a new state government and gain representation in Congress. Radical Republicans: 1. Congressional Republicans that believed they needed to destroy the political power of former slaveholders. a. Most of the members of the Radical Republicans wanted African Americans to have full rights as citizens. b. Wanted to ensure African Americans have the right to vote. 2. Thaddeus Stevens was one of the two leaders of the Radical Republicans. a. His partner was Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. 3. The group was against Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan” a. Introduced the “Wade‐Davis Bill” in July 1864. i. Proposed that Congress should be responsible for reconstruction. ii. Rules for Confederate states government to return to the Union had to adhere to the following criteria: 1. A majority not 10% of eligible voters of 1860 would have to take an oath of allegiance to the Union. 4. Lincoln pocket vetoed the Wade‐Davis Bill. a. Radical Republicans were outraged by the veto. i. Declared Congress not the President had supreme authority over Reconstruction. ii. Setup a showdown between Congress and the President. Thaddeus Stevens: 1. Radical Republican leader from Pennsylvania. 2. Known for his wit and sarcasm. 3. Practiced law before being elected to Congress a. Defended runaway slaves 4. Hated slavery a. Hated white southerners i. Believed anyone who would permit slavery was a traitor to liberty and God. Freedmen’s Bureau: 1. Established by Congress in 1865. a. Passed a law to continue and enlarge the bureau in 1866 2. Purpose was to help southerners in need a. Distributed clothing b. Distributed food c. Setup more than forty hospitals d. Setup approximately four thousand schools e. Setup sixty‐one industrial institutes f. Setup seventy‐four teacher‐training centers Black Codes: 1. They were discriminatory laws that severely restricted African Americans lives after the Civil War. a. These laws were passed beginning in 1865. a. Mississippi b. South Carolina 2. Codes restored many of the restrictions of slavery. g. Restricting the right to carry weapons h. Not allowed to serve on a jury i. Not able to testify against whites in a trial j. Prohibited from marrying whites k. Had to have travel permits l. Some states outlawed African Americans from being landowners. 3. Some Congressional members believed passing Black Codes as an effort to keep African Americans as slaves. 4. Andrew Johnson created a battle between his position as President and Congress over black codes. a. Vetoed two major legislations stating they went beyond Constitutional authority. i. Civil Rights Act ii. Freedman’s Bureau Act b. Vetoes alienated moderate Republicans i. They were trying to improve his Reconstruction Plan c. Angered Radical Republicans i. His action appeared to support Southerner’s right to deny full rights to former slaves. Fourteenth Amendment: 1. Provided a constitutional basis for the Civil Rights Act 2. Made “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” citizens of this country. 3. Entitled everyone to equal protection under the law. 4. No state could deprive a citizen of Life, Liberty, or Property without due process of law. 5. Did not give African Americans specifically the right to vote a. Did specify that if any state preventing any males of a specific position from voting the state would lose a percentage of its Congressional seats. i. Loss would be equal to the percentage of citizens kept from the polls. 6. Bared most of the Confederate leaders from holding federal or state offices. a. The exception was if they were permitted to do so by two‐thirds majority vote by Congress 7. President Johnson believed the amendment treated former Confederate leaders too harshly. a. Thought it was wrong to force states to accept the amendment that legislators had no input in the original draft. b. Advised Southern states to reject the amendment 8. All but the Southern state of Tennessee rejected the amendment a. It was not ratified until 1868 Impeachment: 1. The process of accusing a public official of wrong doing followed by formal charges and a hearing for misconduct. 2. Radical leaders felt President Johnson was not carrying out his constitutional obligations of Reconstruction. a. Removing military officers who tried to enforce the Reconstruction Act. 3. Wanted to charge Johnson with misconduct in office. a. He was referred for Impeachment. Fifteenth Amendment: 1. Introduced in 1868. a. Introduced by Radicals in Congress. i. Feared pro‐Confederate Southern whites might try to limit black suffrage. b. The amendment stated no one can be kept from voting because of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude. i. This also affected the North. 1. At time they also barred Blacks from voting c. Ratified in 1870 d. Some Southern states refused to enforce the law i. Used violence to prevent Blacks from voting e. Enforcement Act of 1870 was passed by Congress in response to the violence in the South. i. Gave federal government more power to punish those who tired to prevent Blacks from exercising their right to vote Scalawags: 1. White Southerners who joined the Republican Party during Reconstruction. a. Some members hoped to gain political offices with the help of the Black vote. a. Used the offices for financial gain b. Believed the Republican government offered the best opportunity for the South to rebuild and industrialize. a. Majority were small farmers i. Wanted to improve their position 1. Economically 2. Politically a. Wanted to prevent former wealthy planters from regaining power. Carpetbaggers: 1. Northerners who moved south after the Civil War. a. Name refers to the belief Northerners arrived in the south with so few belongings everything fit into a Carpetbag suitcase. 2. Southerners believed Carpetbaggers wanted to exploit the South’s postwar turmoil for profit. a. There were mixed motives among the Carpetbaggers. i. Some that went south felt they had a moral duty to help former slaves. 1. Freedman Bureau agents 2. Teachers 3. Ministers ii. Others wanted to buy land 1. Hoped to start a new industry legitimately iii. Others were dishonest business people Hiram Revels: 1. First African American Senator from Mississippi. 2. Had many professions. a. Ordained minister in the African Methodist in Baltimore, Maryland b. A Barber c. Chaplin of a Negro regiment in the Civil War 3. Established a school for Freedman in St. Louis in 1886. 4. Elected alderman in Natchez, Mississippi in 1886 5. Elected to State Senate in 1870 6. Elected to the United States Senate in 1870 a. After his credentials had been challenged 7.