President Johnson’s Response to Reconstruction (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes

President Johnson's Response to Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson's background and beliefs

Andrew Johnson became president of the USA in April 1865 following Lincoln's assassination, serving until March 1869. His background and beliefs would significantly shape his approach to Reconstruction.

Political background:

• Johnson was a War Democrat – a member of the Democratic Party who supported the federal government against the Confederacy
• He had been Lincoln's running mate as vice president in 1864 to show unity between Republicans and Democrats during the Civil War
• Self-educated, he had served as mayor, congressman, and military governor of Tennessee during the war
• As a southerner, he was strongly anti-Confederate and claimed to be fighting against the slave-owning plantation class

Views on race:

• Despite his opposition to the Confederacy, Johnson believed black Americans were inferior to white Americans
• He had been a slave owner himself before the war
• Before the Civil War broke out, he stated he wished every family in the USA could have one slave to do menial work
• When he became president, his views on Reconstruction reflected these racist attitudes

Initial relationship with Radical Republicans:

• Johnson's early statements about punishing traitors impressed Radical Republicans in Congress
• Radical Republicans were members of the Republican Party who wanted to punish the South and achieve full equality for black Americans
• When Johnson declared that "treason is a crime and crime must be punished," one Radical Republican even claimed God had replaced Lincoln with "a better man to finish the job"
• However, this positive relationship quickly deteriorated once Johnson announced his Reconstruction programme

Johnson's Reconstruction programme

On 29 May 1865, President Johnson announced his approach to bringing the former Confederate states back into the Union.

The general pardon:

• Johnson extended a general pardon to former Confederates who took an oath of allegiance to the USA
• However, there were important exceptions: men who had held high office in the Confederacy or whose property exceeded $20,000 in value were excluded
• These wealthier, more powerful Confederates could only receive pardons by applying directly to Johnson himself

Recognition of provisional governments:

• Johnson recognised four pro-Union provisional state governments: Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee
• These states had already accepted Lincoln's ten percent plan for Reconstruction
• The ten percent plan allowed a state to rejoin the Union once 10% of its voters took a loyalty oath

Constitutional conventions:

• Johnson requested that other former Confederate states hold constitutional conventions to re-establish elected governments
• Crucially, he left it up to these states to decide who could vote
• None of the states accepted that black Americans should be enfranchised (given the right to vote)

Problems with Johnson's approach

Johnson's lenient approach led to serious problems that undermined his entire Reconstruction programme.

Election of former Confederates:

• Several states chose former senior Confederate leaders for high office
• The newly elected governor of Mississippi had been a brigadier general in the Confederate army
• Georgia went even further, choosing Alexander Stephens – who had been vice president of the Confederate States of America – as a US senator

Rejection of the Thirteenth Amendment:

• Some state governments questioned the legality of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery
• Mississippi rejected it entirely
• Other states ratified (formally approved) the amendment but claimed Congress lacked the power to determine the future of ex-slaves
• Johnson did nothing to challenge these states despite their defiance

The Black Codes

The Black Codes were laws passed by several former Confederate states that did more to undermine Johnson's Reconstruction programme than anything else.

What the Black Codes were:

• These laws attempted to define ex-slaves' new rights and responsibilities
• They dealt with issues such as black people's rights to own property, marry, make contracts, and appear as witnesses in courts
• However, their main purpose was to regulate the labour market and control black workers

Impact on black Americans:

• The Codes aimed to force ex-slaves to work on white employers' terms
• Ex-slaves who refused to work under these conditions would be punished
• Radical Republican Benjamin Flanders observed that the Black Codes were designed "to return the situation as near to slavery as possible"
• The laws severely restricted black Americans' freedom and economic opportunities

Northern reaction:

• The Black Codes caused uproar across the northern states
• Many northerners felt that nothing had changed since the days of the Confederacy
• The Codes proved that Johnson's lenient approach was allowing the South to recreate slavery in all but name

Congressional response

When Congress reassembled in December 1865 following congressional elections, it took decisive action against Johnson's Reconstruction programme.

Blocking Confederate representatives:

• Congress refused to allow representatives from former Confederate states to take their seats
• This was a direct challenge to Johnson's claim that these states had been properly restored to the Union

Joint Committee on Reconstruction:

• Congress established a Joint Committee on Reconstruction
• This committee would decide whether or not a former Confederate state was fit to return to the Union
• This took control of Reconstruction away from the president and gave it to Congress

Rise of the Radical Republicans:

• At this stage, Radical Republicans were still a minority within the Republican Party
• However, Johnson's actions and the Black Codes increased their influence
• Their leaders, Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, became increasingly powerful
• More moderate Republicans began to support their harder line against the South

Conflict between Johnson and Congress

The growing tension between Johnson and Congress came to a head over legislation designed to help black Americans.

Johnson's vetoes:

• Early in 1866, Johnson attacked his Radical Republican critics as traitors
• He then used his presidential veto to block two important bills:
  • The Freedmen's Bureau Bill (which would have extended and strengthened the Bureau helping ex-slaves)
  • The Civil Rights Bill (which aimed to protect black Americans' rights)

Understanding presidential veto:

• In the US system, a proposal becomes law only when passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president
• The president can refuse to sign, preventing it from becoming law – this is the veto
• However, Congress can override a veto if two-thirds of each house votes to do so

Congressional override:

• Congress was so resentful of Johnson's vetoes that supporters of the bills managed to get the two-thirds majority needed to override them
• Both the Freedmen's Bureau Bill and the Civil Rights Bill became law despite Johnson's opposition
• This was a humiliating defeat for the president

The Fourteenth Amendment:

• The Joint Committee proposed a further amendment to the Constitution
• The Fourteenth Amendment would provide ex-slaves with equal protection under the law
• Congress passed this amendment, again overriding Johnson's veto
• This amendment would become one of the most important guarantees of civil rights in American history

The 1866 congressional elections and impeachment

The conflict between Johnson and Congress reached its climax in 1868.

The 1866 elections:

• The congressional elections of November 1866 led to a strong rise in support for Radical Republicans
• This gave them the strength to introduce their own programme for Reconstruction
• Johnson's influence was now severely weakened

Johnson's impeachment:

• The high point of Radical Republican opposition came on 24 February 1868
• The House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 to impeach President Johnson
• The charges were for "high crimes and misdemeanours in office"
• The Radical Republicans hoped to replace him with Benjamin Wade
• Johnson became the first president in American history to be impeached

The Senate trial:

• After impeachment by the House, Johnson was tried by the Senate
• He survived in office by just one vote
• Despite this narrow escape, his authority was destroyed

The failure of Johnson's Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson's attempt at moderate Reconstruction ultimately failed completely.

Why it failed:

• His programme aimed to restore state government to the former Confederacy as quickly as possible
• However, this approach clearly abandoned ex-slaves to the control of white southerners
• Most of these white southerners had fought for and supported the Confederacy during the Civil War
• They had no intention of treating black Americans as equals

Consequences:

• Johnson's lenient approach allowed the South to pass Black Codes that recreated many conditions of slavery
• His refusal to protect black Americans' rights led to increasing Congressional opposition
• His vetoes of civil rights legislation turned even moderate Republicans against him

Transition to Radical Reconstruction:

• Johnson's failed programme gave way to a much tougher approach
• The Radical Republicans now controlled Reconstruction policy
• They would attempt to enforce genuine change in the South and protect black Americans' rights
• This marked a crucial turning point in the Reconstruction period