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President Johnson's Black Codes

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President Johnson was a supporter of state rights so he was not going to say or do anything. To him, the power to decide what to do with the newly free African-American was in the hands of the states. But when the Congress had a majority of Republicans after the election, it decided to overrule the southern states and with that, the period called Radical Reconstruction began. First, there was the Civil Rights Act in 1866, passed despite Johnson 's veto. There was no doubt anymore that freedmen were citizens and were to be treated as such. "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons born in the United States […] are hereby declared to be citizens of the United …show more content…

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." . This meant that the Black Codes were illegal and unconstitutional and the southern states had to get rid of them. Southern states refused to ratify 14th amendment. The Congress required all the southern states to ratify it before they were accepted back into the Union, so that all citizens had "equal protection" once and for all. Georgia was the last to agree to it in 1871. In 1869, the federal government passed the 15th amendment, forbidding any government from denying the right to vote "on the grounds of race, color or previous condition of servitude." This is a big step as the former slaves are finally granted citizenship by the federal government. They even had the right to be elected and during this period, some of them held offices and even got to …show more content…

DuBois, "The slave went free, stood a brief moment in the sun, and then moved back again towards slavery" summarizes the situation of the former slaves during reconstruction quite well. The slaves had a moment of glory with the 14th and 15th amendment to the constitution, granting them rights. But the federal government and the Northern white quickly lost interest in the "black issue" and did not push it further. At the end of Reconstruction, the freedmen were still exploited, treated badly and unfairly and still economically dependent on the whites. Reconstruction was "a splendid failure" (W.E.B. DuBois) in granting former slaves freedom and equal rights; but then, the war had not been about freeing

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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.

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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.

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And with the 15th Amendment (Voting Right) was passed in 1870, all men regardless of race or color were able to vote. All ex-slaves became a republican due to President Lincoln actions. But even with the Voting Right amendment passing, it was more difficult for ex-slaves in the South to exercise the voting right then those in the

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African Americans were allowed to vote however they were intimidated fear their lives to both so it was useless. Newly freed slaves were aided through the usage of federal laws and constitutional amendments. Former slaves were enabled to vote, own property, legally marriage, receive and education and file lawsuits. This extended the power of the newly freedmen. Women were jealous because they still weren't allowed to vote or have a say in

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Once Johnson was no longer in charge congress put into place the Civil Rights Act, an act that declared everyone who was born in the United states to be granted a citizen no matter their race or previous conditions. This meant all former slaves could become true legal citizens. Similarly, the 14th amendment made it so that each state was to give equal protection of the laws to everyone because it too declared all citizens were equal. This amendment also would not allow for confederate political leaders to hold positions and it would not forgive any debts of the confederacy. Following the civil rights act and the 14th amendment the 15th amendment and then another civil rights act were also put into effect.

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