Who Is Andrew Johnson Blueprint For Reconstruction

In the spring of 1865, the Civil War came to a close with the North victorious, but that was not an end to the country’s problems. The question that was now at hand and on everyone’s mind was how to rebuild the broken and shattered nation. Lincoln during the Civil War had introduced the Ten Percent plan in which states that were in rebellion against the federal government could rejoin the union if ten percent of the state’s population took an oath of allegiance to the U.S and agreed to the emancipation of slaves. However, this plan was hardly a whole blueprint for reconstruction instead it was a wartime plan designed to tempt southern states with low moral to rejoin the union. What Lincoln’s full plan was for reconstruction is heavily

Lincoln’s successor was his vice president Andrew Johnson. Some have tried to argue that Andrew Johnson’s plans for reconstruction would have been what Lincoln himself was going to do, but this cannot be further from the truth. Lincoln showed some of his intentions with his decision to revoke the invitation to state legislature of Virginia to meet and officially remove Virginia from the confederacy, and in his last public speech he openly advocated for limed black suffrage. Johnson on the other hand had a very different vision of reconstruction and black suffrage. Johnson believed in state rights and thought that the federal government should be minimally involved in the affairs of the states. Furthermore, Johnson held deeply racist views and didn’t believe in black suffrage at all. These two positions would be the foundation of Johnson’s plans for reconstruction and they would put him in direct conflict with the Republican controlled congress that believed in black suffrage and a strong role for the federal government in reconstruction. Johnson’s betrayal of reconstruction and black suffrage would have a huge impact on the country for decades

At first Republicans had reason for hope with the new president. On the same day Johnson was sworn in a group of radical republicans led by the Senator from Ohio and the chairman of the Conduct of the War committee, Benjamin Wade, meet with Johnson and he reassured them, going as far as to say this to them “I can only say you can judge of my policy by the past. Everybody knows what that is. I hold this: Robbery is a crime; rape is a crime; treason is a crime; and crime must be punished. The law provides for it; the courts are open. Treason must be made infamous and traitors punished.”[3] At first Johnson seemed to be sincere with this statement, giving out harsh punishments to Lincoln’s assassins. Johnson true intentions were to become clear in the following months proving his tough talk was misleading. Johnson give out pardons to almost all white southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the Union with the exception of Confederate leaders and individuals with $20,000 or more dollars. In the end even most of the people excluded would end up getting pardoned. Johnson a strong believer in state rights, appointed provisional governors and ordered them to call conventions and elections with only whites and besides necessary requirements that the states end slavery, denounce secession and not pay confederate debt, Johnson give them a free hand in local affairs. Even these lenient terms