A.Johnson 1865-1869

• For Johnson, the fact that the South had agreed to the 13 Amendment was enough to be admitted back into the Union.
• He thought each state should be responsible for how they treated African American population, so he vetoed the Civil Rights Act 1966 and denounced the 14 Amendment.
• He was accused of being soft on the South during Reconstruction and doing nothing to help the freed slaves
• What did Presidential Reconstruction involve?


  1. Johnson did not believe in punishing the South

  2. Johnson believed the South should reconstruct self.

  3. White men alone should manage the South'

  4. Johnson favoured quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union as he did not want to allonate the South and tum them into a degraded and debased people.
• He issued a general amnesty to Southerners who were willing to swear an oath of allegiance and support emancipation
• Southern state legislatures were dominated by pro slavery Democrats who enacted Black Codes.
• He did nothing about the Black Codes as he believed in the rights of the States
• The Impact of Presidential Reconstruction


  • To the North he had betrayed the Union army
  • He had undermined the status of freedmen in the South.
  • He had allowed the old gang of Confederate leaders to creap back into polios
  • No change in power structure or position of African Americans
• In order to ensure the passage of the Amendment, Congress put real pressure on the South with a series of plans known as 'Radical Reconstruction. These included:


  1. The Military Reconstruction Bil 1867, which imposed military rule on the South with the exception of Tennessee. The tan remaining states were grouped into five military districts, each placed under a federal commander. To get back in the Union Southem states had to elect national conventions which would accept black suffrage and accept the Fourteenth Amendment.

  2. The Command of the Army Act which reduced Johnson's military powers

  3. The Tenure of Office Act which prevented Johnson from removing a host of office-holders. This was to try to protect the Secretary of State, Edwin M. Stanton, who was a fierce critic of Johnson, and a staunch Radical Republican, who as long as he remained in office would comply with congressional Reconstruction policies
• The Black Codes


  • Guns forbidden to African Americans
  • Interracial marriage banned
  • African Americans prohibited from testifying in court against white citizens
  • Same states taxed African Americans who did not work on plantations or as servants
  • Some states banned former slaves from buying land or renting property in certain areas
• Black Codes angered African Americanac black Civil War veteran asked, " you call this Freedom, what do you call Slavery?"
• Radical Reconstruction 1896-77


  • Opposition to Johnson's Reconstruction plan increased as the months passed
  • By 1868 Congress began to take over the Reconstruction programme
  • This was called Radical Reconstruction after the Radical Republicans in Congress
  • The Republican-dominated Congress began to introduce legislation to weaken Johnson
  • Radical Republicans were led by Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts and Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania
• Congress passed the Civil Rights Act (1866),


  1. This re-stated the rights of African-Americans and authorised federal intervention to enforce them

  2. Johnson vetoed this as well

  3. Congress overtumed the veto and it became law.
• 1866 Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment
• This secured the Civil Rights Act thus guaranteeing equal citizenship and voting rights.
• Johnson denounced the Amendment
• He also valoed the renewal of the Freedman's Bureau.
• By 1866 Congress began to take over the Reconstruction programme
• This was called Radical Reconstruction after the Radical Republicans in Congress
• Radical Republicans fiercely opposed Johnson's Reconstruction plan;