Compare And Contrast Reconstruction And Lincoln Modern Views On Reconstruction

Presidential Reconstruction by Andrew Johnson promoted racism and injustice against the Freedmen and was one of the reasons why Reconstruction failed. “Johnson openly encouraged the South to draft its notorious Black Codes law enacted across the south by the Fall of 1865, that denied the Freedmen political liberty and restricted their economic options and physical mobility” (Blight 29). The Black Code law which was established by the White Southerners was a way to reverse the rights and freedom gained by the African Americans, during the radical Reconstruction era, rights which were very hard for the Freedmen to obtain in the first place. The Black Codes gave power back to the White Supremacists to control and manipulate the Freedmen

Reconstruction is during which the United States began to rebuild the Southern society after they lost to the civil war. It lasted from 1865 to 1877, and it was initiated by President Lincoln until his assassination in 1865. President Johnson continued Lincoln’s agenda to continue the Reconstruction. Throughout the process of Reconstruction, one of its main purpose was to guarantees for equal rights for all people, especially for the African Americans. Even though slavery was abolished after the civil war, many Southerners were still against the idea of equal rights for all black people, such as the Republicans.

Lincoln

The main action taken that affected the South after Reconstruction was the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws legalized racial segregation in everything from education to public facilities to religion. Due to this law, Black Americans struggled for racial equality. Abraham Lincoln’s Death: Abraham Lincoln’s death marked an extending time period of racism, segregation, discrimination, and fight for equal rights under the constitution. Without Lincoln there to guide the United States through reconstruction, the United States took action on the issue at hand.

It would take years to reapair the damges it left, considering it left hunderds of thousands dead. Lincoln made a stand against the majority at the time. But his thoughts on slavery was what the country needed. Trying to end slavery but still not trying

However, the war was over and it was time for the rebuilding of America. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln greatly complicated an already delicate situation. Johnson, who was of the opposition party, was now President. He still had very much the mindset of a Democrat and a Southerner. The Republicans would

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.

Following the Civil War America was finally making amends and on its way to executing Lincoln’s plan of soft resurrection. However, this plan was ruined when John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln at Ford’s Theater. His death would lead to the end of soft reconstruction and despair all over the country. After his death, “Lincoln’s mourners cried as they recorded their emotions, smudging the ink in their journals and letters.” Lincoln’s death not only shifted the spirits of the country; it also changed soft reconstruction to hard reconstruction, which was carried out by the Vice President Andrew Johnson.

Although Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were allies during the war and at the start of reconstruction, they had separate priorities that set an obstacle for Douglass and his goals. Lincoln was a helpful member of Douglass’s team in bettering the lives of black Americans, but because he had his eyes set on ending the Civil War, Douglass was only able to make small steps forward. The most notable changes that arrived during the reconstruction were the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. Freedom for all slaves, all African-Americans receiving protection under the law, and the right to vote set a new pathway for change to continue. Despite their differences in priorities and personality, there were several reasons as to why

He included in his presentation that all white people from the South are able to restore and regain their properties only if they want to be a part of the United States. Lincoln also proposed a 10 percent plan that would help rebuild the state government in the South if the people would agree and vote to abolish the slavery and reconstruct their policies and laws. Although, the majority of radicals republicans demanded from the president Lincoln to treat the people in the South more harshly, they wanted to punish them for what they have done, they saw the reconstruction program a great opportunity to do so. One of the great examples how the republicans wanted to punish the South and made them realize their mistakes was the fact that they created the Wade-Davis Bill, which required a lot of things from the southern population. Not only they had to swear an oath but also claim that they wanted the state government and the laws to be changed right before the election.

Black codes were passed, people were loyal to the union, and the people who started the civil war come back into power like nothing happen. This time was not one of America's brightest moments Lincoln's 10% plan for reconstruction was a very valuable idea. When he was murdered, Johnson would only allow full pardon if the high ranked official came to him personally and ask for full pardon. Now that the people who were head of south were

Therefore, the party could easily implement its policies with little opposition. In 1868 President Andrew Johnson survived an impeachment attempt. This was after the senate failed to ratify the impeachment motion passed by the House of Representatives. The rationale behind the impeachment attempt was attributable to the fact that he acted in contravention of the Tenure of Office Act (Baggett, 2004). His role in influencing reconstruction policies was curtailed by Congress.

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.

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.

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.