Download President Johnson and Reconstruction

President Andrew Johnson’s
Reconstruction Plan
Pgs. 185-187
Thirteenth Amendment
• The 13th amendment, which abolished
slavery in the United States, passed the
Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on
January 31, 1865.
• On February 1, 1865, President Abraham
Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of
Congress submitting the proposed
amendment to the state legislatures for
approval.
Thirteenth Amendment
• Prior to the ratification of the Thirteenth
Amendment, slavery remained legal only
in Delaware and Kentucky; everywhere
else the slaves had been freed by state
action and the Emancipation
Proclamation.
Thirteenth Amendment
• The 13th amendment was passed at the end of
the Civil War before the Southern states had
been restored to the Union and should have
easily passed the Congress.
• Although the Senate passed it in April 1864, the
House did not.
• At that point, Lincoln took an active role to
ensure passage through congress.
• He insisted that passage of the 13th amendment
be added to the Republican Party platform for
the upcoming Presidential elections.
Lincoln’s Death
• Lincoln did not live long enough to see the
13 amendment accepted by a majority of
states and then become law.
• The amendment was declared, in a
proclamation of Secretary of State William
Henry Seward, dated December 18, 1865,
to have been ratified by the legislatures of
twenty-seven of the then thirty-six states.
Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan
• Lincoln formed a plan for allowing the
Confederate States to rejoin the Union.
• The plan was carried out by President
Andrew Johnson. These states could only
be readmitted back into the Union under
three conditions:
• 1) each state declare its secession illegal
• 2) swear allegiance to the Union
• 3) ratify the 13th amendment
Lincoln’s Plan = UNFAIR
• Many Northern states wanted to punish
the Confederate states, but Lincoln’s goal
was to quickly reunite the country.
• It was up to President Johnson to see that
the country was reunited.
• This was not an easy task!
Tennessee Returns to the Union
• By December 1865, most Confederate
states, including Tennessee, had accepted
the 13th amendment.
• When Tennessee asked to be allowed
back into the Union in 1866, it found a new
law made such a return more difficult.
• Confederate states now had to also accept
the 14th amendment.
Fourteenth Amendment
• The 14th Amendment made blacks citizens
of the United States and guaranteed them
the same legal rights as whites.
• In July of 1866, Tennessee Governor
William Brownlow convinced Tennessee
leaders to accept the 14th Amendment.
• Under his leadership, Tennessee became
a part of the Union in 1866.
Black Codes
• Many Southern states passed new laws
called Black Codes.
• The black codes made it illegal for former
slaves to live in certain areas and to hold
certain jobs.
• African Americans without jobs could be
arrested or fined.
• Black Codes differed from state to state.
Black Codes
• In most states Blacks were not allowed to
vote or travel freely.
• They could be made to work in the fields
without pay if they could not find another
job.
Ku Klux Klan
• Shortly after the war ended secret groups were
formed in the South to prevent former slaves
from enjoying their new found freedoms.
• One such group was the Ku Klux Klan or KKK.
This group disguised themselves in white robes
and hoods.
• Klan members broke into homes and attacked
and killed former slaves.
• They burned African schools and churches and
punished anyone who helped former slaves.
• It was a time of terror for many people.