Presidential%20Reconstruction

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Presidential Reconstruction

• Aim Were Presidents Lincoln and Johnson too
  lenient on the South?

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• Family well, Horses well, Hogs well
  everything else are well so far as I know, if it
  was not for the free Negroes. On their account
  everything is turned upside down. So much so
  that we do not know what to do with our land, nor
  who to hire if we wanted it worked. We are in
  the midst of troublesome times do not know what
  will turn up.
• --David Harris, southern farmer, June 1865

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Emancipation

• Gen. Sherman offered 40 acres and a mule to all
  freedmen (Field Order 15)
• Promise was broken
• Southern states enacted Black Codes to make
  freedmen subordinate to whites
• African Americans couldnt own guns, make
  insulting gestures, serve on juries, vote, etc.
• Could only work in agriculture or domestic service

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Lincolns Plan for Reconstruction

• A. 1865 - Thirteenth Amendment to the
  Constitution banned slavery in the U.S.
• - hurt Southern economy,
• B. Lincoln wanted a moderate plan that wouldnt
  punish the South
• Ten Percent Plan
• - Pardoned rebellious Southerners once they
  took a loyalty oath
• - Required 10 of a states voters to
  pledge for readmission to the Union

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Congress Rejected Lincolns Plan

• A. Radical Republican goals
• 1. Prevent Confederate leaders from returning to
  power
• 2. Help African Americans achieve political
  equality
• B. Introduced the Wade-Davis Bill
• - Required the majority of white male voters
  to take oath of loyalty
• - Much harsher than Lincolns plan
• - Lincoln blocked it with a pocket veto
• C. Freedmans Bureau
• - Helped freedmen find food, shelter, clothing,
  medicine, education, and employment

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President Andrew Johnson

• After Lincolns assassination, Andrew Johnson
  became president.
• Followed Lincolns plan for leniency
• Johnson faced tension from Radical Republicans,
  who wanted to punish the South
• Johnson granted amnesty (forgiveness) to most
  southerners
• Congress impeached Johnson