Abe Lincoln had a plan for reconstruction, hoping to get the southern states to get back into the union. Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863, his policy for dealing with the South. The Proclamation stated that all Southerners could become a U.S citizen if they took an oath of allegiance to the Constitution and to the Union, and promised to abide by emancipation. There was a congressional reaction against the Reconstruction after ex-confederates came back to high offices, as well as the passage of the black codes by southern legislators made the Republicans in congress angry. Congress wanted to impose their own version of Reconstruction to the south. They were against presidential Reconstruction, therefore adopting a plan that was harsher on southern whites and helpful for freed blacks.
President Johnson was against the Tenure of Office Act. Congress wanted this law to protect the radical republicans in Johnson's cabinet, specifically the secretary of war Edwin Stanton. Johnson ended up challenging this law by dismissing Stanton on his own authority. Because of this the house decided to impeach President Johnson and charged him with eleven "high crimes and misdemeanors."
13th Amendment- Declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
14th Amendment- Granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” This included former slaves that had been freed. It also forbids states from denying any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
15th Amendment- Granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
Southern whites resisted Northern attempts at reconstructing the South. Southerners felt threatened by adjusting to a life without being aloud to exercise legal control over other humans. Many also had bad feelings against the North, which they had just spent years fighting against. One way they resisted was the creation of Black Codes. Another way was the formation of the KKK in 1865.
Andrew Johnson
Radical Reconstruction consisted of Congress trying to change Johnson's form of Reconstruction and shape it more into what they wanted. Congress decided that the other states could come back into the union if they would accept the 14th amendment and let black men vote. They also created the 15th amendment and divided the South into five military districts, making the southern state governments that Johnson set up illegitimate.
Americans decided that after many years of Reconstruction it was time to put it to an end. In the election of 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden both ran for president. Although Tilden got most of the popular vote Hayes won the presidency. Southerners were intentionally against Hayes but excepted him when he not only decided to remove troops from the south and put a southerner in congress but he called for the official end of Reconstruction.
The Jim Crows laws were put into action by white southerners to make African Americans have fewer rights and opportunities. Crow began this by focusing on segregating blacks and whites, giving whites nicer facilities and more power. Since whites were not used to living in close association with African Americans,they were also not used to competing with them economically. The new laws gave whites a sense of control over blacks regardless of abolition.
The Plessy.v. Ferguson took place in 1896 in Louisiana. This case established the "separate but equal" commendations fro blacks and whites on inner state trains. This law legitimized segregation and allowed whites more power to keep black out of their areas. Facilities were unequal between blacks and whites, including railroads cars, schools, or public restrooms. This case had an effect on society for blacks for over 50 years.