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American reconstruction
Reconstruction in America
American reconstruction
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More handpicked essays just for you.
American reconstruction
Reconstruction in America
American reconstruction
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
How did Lincoln and Johnson approach Reconstruction differently? Lincoln and Johnson both supported the Ten Percent Plan .However, Johnson lacked Lincoln's moral sense and political judgement. He was a War Democrat who disagreed with the Republicans. The South would rejoin the Union on his terms. But, Johnson, who had long talked down against southern planters, allied himself with ex-Confederate leaders, forgiving them when they appealed for pardons.
After the civil war, the question of “what’s next” was the main focus throughout politics, the government and the country. Abraham Lincoln was president during that time and he had a plan for reconstruction he hoped would bring the nation back together quickly and easily without too many harsh punishments or difficulties. Unfortunately, after Lincoln was murdered, his Vice President, Andrew Johnson had a plan for reconstruction that was different than Lincoln’s and many disagreed with Johnson’s views and ideas. Radical Republicans, were a large majority of the people who did not like Johnson the most, and so they came up with a reconstruction plan of their own as well, however only one was put into place and it changed the future of the United States forever.
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.
The actions and words of Andrew Johnson were very contradictory. The cartoon states: "Treason is a crime and must be made odious, and traitors must be punished". He told the people of a reconstruction plan that was supposed to punish the confederate rebels. Johnson did the opposite by ordering many pardons The Northern Republicans in Congress were ostracized because he continually vetoed their attempts at reconstruction.
President Lincoln and Congress, which was controlled by Radical Republicans, agreed on many policies and the ultimate objective to Reconstruction, but the method and deliverance of Reconstruction is what separated the two.7 Congress believed that Reconstruction should be swift, which required military intervention to impose Union ideals and decisive punishment of anyone who supported secession and/or stood against the Union.8 This was contrary to President Lincoln’s now moderate and relatively successful Reconstruction up to 1863. Congress, continued to fight the President by utilizing its legislative powers by issuing the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 and the Wade-Davis reconstruction bill of 1864.9 Even with the difference in methods of Reconstruction, Lincoln was still able to work with Congress to root his moderate approach to Reconstruction. This was until his assassination on April 15, 1865 and momentum of President Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan came to a halt. Vice President Johnson attempted to continue Lincoln’s method of reconstruction, but it was not the same as Lincoln who had established his position with Congress and gained trust with select southern states. Congress saw its opportunity to take control of Reconstruction and the beginning of Radical Reconstruction began.
Both President Abraham Lincoln, and the Republicans thought that they should lead the process of reconstruction. The Radical Republicans was led by Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens. The Republicans opposed Lincoln's easy terms for reuniting the United States. Their terms wanted more forceful status toward the war and more protection for the freed slaves. During this Reconstruction, the Radical Republicans
There were several significant differences between Andrew Johnson’s reconstruction plans and the plans of the Radical Republicans in Congress. Johnson was a proponent of strong state governments. His plans included restoring all white state governments in the south and giving the states full power over their local affairs. The Radicals supported the extension of the powers of the federal government. They wanted to build new governments in the south, ban former Confederates from the government, and guarantee black men the right to vote.
President Johnson gave a pardon to all ex-confederates. He also gave all land the government had taken over back to its previous owners. Which turned the north against Johnston. Congressional reconstruction is when the radical republicans basically took over President Johnsons reconstruction plan because they were appalled about the black codes. They wrote and passed the 14th amendment that gave African Americans the right to vote.
Many Americans had high hopes for life after the Civil War. This period was called Reconstruction and happened partially in the Southern starters from 1865 to 1877. During this time, the government was focused on restoring the landscape destroyed during the war but also regaining the unity of the people and states. For Radical Republicans, Reconstruction was an opportunity for freedmen to finally gain their rights back and to punish the South for their actions. On the other hand, President Andrew Johnson had a different plan for Reconstruction, this included giving former Confederate officials the right to hold office and not granting equality to all freedmen.
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.
Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction era in the United States was a turbulent time in history. It was a period marked by political and economic changes resulting from the end of slavery and emancipation. Historian Eric Foner describes Reconstruction as a moment when the nation grappled with the concept of equality for the time although it didn't fully achieve its ambitious goals (Gross). Key figures during this period included Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, whose differing approaches to Reconstruction highlighted the complexities and difficulties faced during this transition. Abraham Lincoln, serving as President during the Civil War, embodied a strategy of "Hard War, Soft Peace."
Johnson was a democrat and a previous slave owner, which didn’t make him an avid supporter of Lincoln’s plan of Southern Reconstruction. What Lincoln had previously intended on doing was have criminal amnesty to Confederates who pledged allegiance to the Union and allowed states to hold a constitutional convention along with setting up their state government. Though Johnson kept some of the plan intact, he called for there to be no limits on voter allegiance for the Southern states. This sparked opposition from the Radical Republicans, a group of congressmen who believed black southerners should be guaranteed equality with whites. They deduced that Johnson shouldn’t set legislative policy for reconstruction as it wouldn’t lead to a country of tolerance that they worked to achieve.
Andrew Johnson, former Vice President to President Abraham Lincoln, was sworn into office after the assassination of Lincoln in April of 1865. Andrew Johnson served as the 17th President of the United Stated from 1865-1869. Johnson, seemingly an honest and righteous man had every odd up against him including the Radical Republicans. He had no chance when up against the jurisdiction of the Radicals and fell short of dominion every time. Johnson’s reign was one of the few compelling presidency’s due to his continuous mix-ups and battles with the Radicals.
The Presidential reconstruction was led by Andrew Johnson. Johnson had planned to go easy on the south and let each southern state decide their own plans for reentering the Union. Also, Johnson did not believe that African-Americans could manage their own lives and he let southern states pass black codes which restricted the African-American’s rights. With that being said he also did not believe African-Americans should have the right to vote, Johnson’s reconstruction plan allowed southern states to take away all rights for African-Americans.
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.