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Summary Of Give Me Liberty By Eric Foner

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The Redeemers were a group of democrats who won the votes of southern white males. Texas, Tennessee, and North Carolina are examples of states who had a majority of white population and therefore voted for these democrats. This group of democrats labeled themselves “the Redeemers” because they thought they saved the white population. In Give Me Liberty! by Eric Foner, it is stated that the Redeemers thought they were saving the south from “corruption, misgovernment, and northern and black control”(584). The racial reconstruction of the United States, after the Civil War, failed because of southern control after the Bargain of 1877, the decline of the economy, and President Johnson's presidential actions.
After Grant's term as president, the …show more content…

Eric Foner states that “some 2,000 African-Americans occupied public offices during Reconstruction represented a fundamental shift of power in the South and a radical departure in American government”(575).The offices and positions they held were in every level of government, including, the House of Representatives, Senators, a Governor, and many held positions in local offices. The change from African American being treated as a possession of white men to being in control of some part of the government was a major change in the United States …show more content…

The plan declared that if ten percent of the south agreed to Lincoln’s plan, then the south would be able to rebuild their state constitution and ignore the war debts. The only condition of the ten percent plan was that the state constitutions had to include the thirteenth amendment. The south would have to give African Americans the right to vote before they are able to make their own state constitutions. Lincoln’s ten percent plan did not have a straightforward goal for the African Americans. After Abraham Lincoln's death, the Vice President Andrew Johnson succeeded into Presidency. Johnson was loyal to the Union but did not agree completely with Lincoln’s view on the freedom of African Americans since he was from Tennessee. Andrew Johnson wanted to reconstruct the nation but did not think the freedom of African Americans had anything role in it. Johnson pardons confederate leaders and lets the southern states incorporate Black Codes into their state constitutions. Eric Foner explains that “what aroused the most opposition to Johnson’s Reconstruction policy were the Black Codes, laws passed by the new southern governments that attempted to regulate the lives of the former slaves”(565). The Black Codes kept African Americans freedom limited, which is not what the republicans wanted.Johnson lost the support of the republicans because he did not uphold the

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The Reconstruction of many Southern states from the year 1865 to 1877 is a failure, although reconstruction plans are set up, African Americans still face the same poor treatment they are given prior to the Civil War. The president at the time, Abraham Lincoln, puts in place a reconstruction plan to help rebuild the South in a way it has never been before, without slaves. Lincoln also puts the thirteenth amendment in place, which abolishes slavery. However, after Lincoln’s death, his Vice President, Andrew Johnson takes over and overrules his reconstruction plan, and puts in place his own, which favors the former Confederate states. Johnson fights with congress over the passing of the fourteenth amendemnet, but Congress overrules his vetoes,

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Johnson shared very little in common with the late president Lincoln. One of their few similarities was the intent to not

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AP US History Mr. Loveday Unit V (Reconstruction Era) Reading Assignment Your homework assignment for the holiday break is to read the entirety of Chapter 17 in the textbook and provide TYPED responses in your OWN ORIGINAL WORDING to the questions below (laid out in the order in which they appear in the text).

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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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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).

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Johnson, a southern Democrat who supported the Union, had been chosen as a running mate by Lincoln in 1860 to try and appease both sides of the slavery debate. Johnson had been a tailor by trade prior to entering politics and had none of Lincoln’s skills as orator or negotiator. From the state of Tennessee, he had sympathy for the South and supported Lincoln’s plan of “restoration.” After Lincoln’s death, Johnson implemented his own plan, based loosely on the desires of Lincoln to shepherd the South back into the Union, but with several distinct changes. Johnson chose not to allow military nor civil leaders of the Confederacy to participate in the new government.

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As Commander in Chief, Abraham Lincoln made numerous decisions that impacted the outcome of the war. He used a broad interpretation of his Oath of Office to justify nearly any action he took. Many of these actions overstepped the bounds of the Constitution, but all were made with the greater good of the country in mind. Despite having the best intentions, Lincoln did make mistakes throughout his presidency, such as how he handled the military.

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Andrew Johnson had only been vice-president for 42 days when he became president. He seemed supportive of the penal measures against the Confederates in the past, believing that they were to blame for the Civil War. However, Johnson was even more lenient to the Confederates even pardoning leaders and members. He was constantly clashing with the Radicals in the Congress solely on the status of the freed slaves and whites in the South. Many former Confederates were in denial to accepting both social changes and political domination by former slaves.

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Who Killed Reconstruction? “The blacks, as a people, are unfitted for the proper exercise of political duties…..” said a Boston newspaper in 1873 saying that the Africans-Americans were too dumb to be in Congress or any political office. Three years later, was the 100th year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. With the irony of the election of 1876 had officially crushed the African-American dream. In 1877, the Reconstruction efforts finally ended, so people were wondering who killed Reconstruction.

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After the Civil War the era of the Reconstruction began with the 13th Amendment which President Abraham Lincoln's announced as the Emancipation Proclamation in 1883. The 13th Amendment was a huge deal because it eliminated slavery and obligatory servitude. After Lincoln's assassination in April 1865 his successor Andrew Johnson became the 17th president. He also was the first president to be impeached, but he was not removed from office he only served one term from 1808-1875. Despite the initiation of the reconstruction president Andrew Johnson was not a supporter of the Republican Party which most of them come from the northern states.

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While Johnson was the senator from Texas, he tried did everything possible to stop federal civil rights laws. He only supported one law on voting rights but the law had no effect because it had been so weakened. Johnson seemed to not support the civil rights because he was just representing what the people from Texas wanted. When Johnson was asked why it took so long for him to act on a situation he felt strongly about, Johnson replied by saying that he was free at last and thanking God for finally being free. This shows that Johnson felt trapped as the senator from Texas, meaning he was not afraid to lose the support of Texas or of the South

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Frederickson argues African Americans simply did not have the time or preparation to oppose racist forces. Using paramilitary forces, southern redeemers easily made threats to reconstruction forces as seen through the emergence of the violent Ku Klux Klan during the election of 1866. The opportunity for African Americans to gain a stance in society was short lived by the racist efforts of democrats in the south and impartial ideals from

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After the Civil War, the North began Reconstruction efforts between the years of 1864 and 1877 in the South to maintain the freedom and equality of blacks. Northern Republicans went to great lengths to ensure the equality of previously enslaved African Americans and preserve the Union. Under Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan, Andrew Johnson began to readmit states back into the Union, requiring the ratification of the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery and ten percent of eligible voters to swear an oath of allegiance to the Union. However, there was controversy as radical Republicans took on a “forfeited-rights” perspective against the seceded states, believing that they deserved to be punished and that Congress should decide re-admittance. Soon after,

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During his presidency, Congress ratified the 13th-Amendment that abolished slavery in 1865. In addition, President Johnson made contributions to the black people by vetoing bills that increased protection offered by Freedman Bureau. His vetoes also nullified the Black Codes and guaranteed full citizenship and equal rights to black people. This brought up the Civil Rights Act of 1866, an act that granted citizenships and same rights that both black and white enjoyed. As a result, the Civil Rights Act set up the basis for the 14th amendments that was also later ratified in 1866.

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Reconstruction era, which was followed by post-civil war, was meant to unite the states back together, reconstruct properties, and most importantly, abolish slavery in the South. Although the factors such as amendments legally freed former slaves, yet WRITE THESIS After the end of civil war in 1865, Reconstruction era, which was controlled by President Abraham Lincoln, appeared to quickly coalesce the Northern and Southern states. reconstruction amendments, which were approved between 1865 and 1870, played a huge role on giving legal rights to blacks and former slaves. 13th amendment constitutionally abolished slavery in 1865 and followed up by that, 14th and 15th amendment admitted equal citizenship, protection, and rights of suffrage despite the one’s race or skin color. Former slaves were no longer belongings of their owners.

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