The Presidential Reconstruction and Congressional Reconstruction plans were frequently different from one another. As I continue, I will state in my opinion the most significant differences between the two plans. To begin, Lincoln and Johnson’s plans were far too lenient with the Confederate states. The Presidential Reconstruction plan under Johnson allowed former Confederate states to be part of the Union, when they accepted the 13th amendment and swore to the Union. While, the Congressional Reconstruction plan was to allow those states to rejoin the Union if and only when they accepted the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Next, the Presidential Reconstruction plan did not support Blacks, even with slavery abolished, they were believed to
Lincoln is still portrayed similarly in some aspects, such as his willingness to pardon the Confederates in order to create loyal governments. He also tolerated variations on Reconstruction. It is also important to note that Lincoln was not looking for a social revolution in which African Americans would be given full voting rights. However, Lincoln differed from Johnson in that Lincoln was broad-minded, willing to change his mind and cooperate with others, and would have let his ideas progress positively during Reconstruction, whereas Johnson was obstinate, racist, and unable to hear criticisms. Congress eventually became tired of Johnson’s refusal to cooperate and implemented their own plans for Reconstruction, which included passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (all were equal before the law), the Fourteenth Amendment (equality was now in the Constitution), and the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 and 1868 (the South had new governments, and for the first time in American history, black males could vote).
A few days after the civil War ended, President Lincoln was assassinated and never had the chance to implement his Reconstruction plan. The Reconstruction Era occurred in the period of 1865 to 1877 under the reign of President Andrew Johnson who was the predecessor of President Lincoln. Congress was not scheduled to convene until December 1865, which gave Johnson eight months to pursue his own Reconstruction policies. Under his Reconstruction policies, the former Confederate states were required to join back into the Union and heal the wounds of the nation.
The victory of the Civil War in 1865 may have given slaves their freedom, but the progression of rebuilding the South during the Reconstruction period introduced a new set of substantial challenges for America. The death of President Abraham Lincoln took American by surprise. President Lincoln was not clear of his plan of Reconstruction, therefore when Andrew Johnson took over presidency he had to improvise. Under the administration of President Andrew Johnson, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” to control the labor and the behavior of former slaves and other African Americans. After President Johnson enforced that rule, an outrage in the North over the “Black Codes” eroded support for the approach, which was
In 1863, both President Lincoln and a group of legislators were working on plans for reconstruction. The President was working on his reconstruction policy, at the same time Congressman Davis and Senator Wade were presenting a bill to congress. Even though the desired outcome would have been the same, and there were similarities, there were a number of differences between the two. Some of these differences caused the President to veto Wade-Davis. President Lincoln was looking to get reconstruction going even before the war was officially won.
The goals of reconstruction were to rebuild America, and to have white and black men live alongside each other peacefully. Only days after the north won the Civil War, president Lincoln was shot and killed. The new president, Andrew Johnson, because he was a democrat, pitied the South and refused to punish them. While in presidency, his biggest opponents were the radical republicans, who wanted to punish the South, and wanted equal rights for freedmen. In the 1860's the 14th amendment which rules that states can't deny rights or privileges to any U.S. citizens, including black men.
First of all, the problem with bringing the South and the North together is that they should’ve taken one issue at a time. They were juggling between the issue of slavery, economic problems, and state power. It was too much at the same time and was asking things to clash. They didn’t make sure that both of the issues weren’t addressed fairly either.
Now there would be questions about who would direct the process of reconstruction. Reconstruction was a period of history focused on restoring relations with the Confederate states and readmitting southern states into the Union. Before he died, Abraham Lincoln took the first steps toward reconstruction when he announced a post-war plan. This included the states having to abolish slavery and agree to comply with the constitution. White southerns
Both the Presidential Reconstruction and Congressional Reconstruction agreed that the abolition of slaves and giving Africans the right to vote was absolutely essential for the Union. However, they both disagreed on how quickly this should be applied to the government. President Abraham thought that this should be a slow process. Many people thought that this was strange and went against everything that he had originally fought for. Yet, Lincoln was using the idea that if you slowly allowed Africans to vote and become citizens then there would be less violence.
America has gone through their fair share of political changes, but the reconstruction era was one of the more difficult of these changes. The Civil War was over and the U.S. had to somehow reintegrate the country and inforce new laws, while figuring out how to deal with the four million newly freed slaves. The reconstruction era was the time when the United States was trying to put itself back together as a stronger more united nation. While eventually many politicians gave up and moved on to other problems, the era did see many achievements as well as
Neah DeBarros 03/01/23 F-Block Who’s to blame for the US failing to rebuild our country? The government or the people? The Reconstruction era (1865–1877), which was characterized by both successes and failures that influenced the future of the nation, continues today to be a significant period in American history. During this era, we were dealing with issues of racism, equality, and justice.
Sources Analysis Freedom During the Reconstruction era, the idea of freedom could have many different meanings. Everyday factors that we don't often think about today such as the color of our skin, where we were born, and whether or not we own land determined what limitations were placed on the ability to live our life to the fullest. To dig deeper into what freedom meant for different individuals during this time period, I analyzed three primary sources written by those who experienced this first hand. These included “Excerpts from The Black Codes of Mississippi” (1865), “Jourdan Anderson to his old master” (1865), and “Testimony on the Ku Klux Klan in Congressional Hearing” (1872).
Reconstruction was a period of time dedicated to rebuilding the nation after the Civil War. The war ended with the South being defeated and their economy being devastated. Many Southerners struggled after the war with rebuilding their land and lives. The President and Congress had to decide the terms for which the former Confederate states would be permitted to join the Union. President Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the country was found in the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
The reconstruction period was a failure because African Americans, mainly males, were not treated with equality although the constitution said that the they were free and had the right to vote, be educated and had the right to liberty, life and the pursuit to happiness. Organizations, like the KKK, were created to harm freed slaves and their families. Laws were created such as the Black Codes restricting former slaves from their rights. African Americans endured a lot of violence over the years. “In Grayson, Texas, a white man and two friends murdered three former slaves because the wanted to ‘ thin the niggers out and drive them to their hole’”.
Following the deadliest conflict in United States history, the federal government was confronted with the unprecedented task of establishing a modern economic system, settling a new and turbulent society, and rebuilding the ruins of the southern states. The Reconstruction era lasted from January 1, 1865, to March 31, 1877, and encompassed the years following the end of the civil war to the inauguration of President Rutherford B. Hayes. A Republican-controlled Congress imposed martial law, created the Freedmen’s Bureau to protect the newly-granted liberties of former slaves, and overrode a presidential veto to pass the first Civil Rights Act. Approaching these priorities proved to be divisive along political and racial lines; emancipationists called for African-Americans to be granted their full civil rights, moderates like Presidents Lincoln and Johnson wanted the government to treat former Confederates with leniency, and white supremacists like the first generation of the Ku Klux Klan terrorized communities with violence. Reconstruction policy took such a turbulent course and ultimately failed in building the South into a modern society
Abraham Lincoln’s vs Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Lincoln shared the uncommon belief that the confederate states could still be part of the union and that the cause of the rebellion was only a few within the states which lead him to begin the reconstruction in December of 1863. This resulted in plans with lenient guidelines and although they were challenged by Wade-Davis Bill, Lincoln still rejected his ideas and kept his policies in place. Lincoln also allowed land to be given the newly freed slave or homeless white by distributing the land that had been confiscated from former land owners however this fell through once Johnson took office. After Lincoln’s death when Johnson was elected many things started to turn away from giving blacks equal rights and resulted in many things such a black codes which kept newly freed slaves from having the same rights as whites. When Lincoln first acted after the civil war, he offered policies that would allow the confederate slaves to become part of the union again and would allow a pardon for those states.