Download Ch. 12.1

Ch. 12 Reconstruction and its Effects
Ch. 12.1 The Politics of Reconstruction
1. Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction
• Reconstruction- Period during which
the U.S. began to rebuild after the
Civil War (1865-1877).
A. Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan
• The government would pardon all
Confederates that swore allegiance
to the Union (except high ranking
Confederate officials)
• Radical Republicans- Wanted
to destroy the political power of
former slaveholders and give
African Americans the right to
vote.
• Thaddeus Stevens- Helped
lead the Radical Republicans
(Rep. from Pennsylvania)
B. Radical Reaction
• Radical Republicans
• Wade-Davis Bill- Proposed that Congress,
not the president, be responsible for
Reconstruction.
• Lincoln used a pocket veto.
2. Johnson’s Plan
A. Johnson Continues Lincoln’s Policies
• The only difference between Lincoln
and Johnson was that Johnson wanted
to prevent high ranking Confederates and
wealthy Southern landowners from
voting.
B. Presidential Reconstruction Comes to a Standstill
• Radical Republicans refused to admit
the newly elected Southern
legislators.
• Freedmen’s Bureau- Established by
Congress in the last month of the war,
it assisted former slaves and poor whites
in the South.
• Set up more than 40 hospitals,
approximately 4,000 schools,
61 industrial institutes, and
74 teacher-training centers.
C. Civil Rights Act of 1866
• The Civil Rights Act gave African
Americans citizenship and forbade
states from passing black codes.
• Black codes- Discriminatory laws
that severely restricted African
Americans’ lives.
• black codes restricted blacks
from carrying weapons,
serving on juries, testifying
against whites, marrying
whites, and traveling without
permits.
Civil Rights Act of 1866
3. Congressional Reconstruction
A. Moderates and Radicals Join Forces
• The Civil Rights Act
• Fourteenth Amendment- Made all
persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
citizens of the country.
• This provided a constitutional basis for
the Civil Rights Act.
B. 1866 Congressional Elections
• Johnson offended voters with
his rough language and behavior.
• Race riots led Northern voters
to believe the federal government
needed to step in to help the
former slaves.
C. Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Didn’t recognize state governments
formed under the Lincoln and Johnson
plans.
• It also divided ten former Confederate
states into five military districts led by
a Union general.
• For a state to reenter the Union they had
to give African Americans the right to vote
and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment
Reconstruction Act of 1867
D. Johnson Impeached
• Radical leaders felt Johnson wasn’t
carrying out his constitutional duties
to enforce the Reconstruction Act.
• impeach- Formally charge the president
with misconduct in office.
E. Ulysses S. Grant Elected
• Radicals feared pro-Confederate
Southern whites would try to
restrict black suffrage.
• Fifteenth Amendment- States
no one can be denied the right to
vote based on race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.