Presidential Reconstruction
VS
Congressional Reconstruction
The Southern States seek
readmission into the United States
and must write a new Constitution
Reconstruction

period of time in which state and local
governments in the South were
reestablished and the Southern states
were brought back into the Union
Problems of the South
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1. much of the South lay in ruins
2. money was scarce
3. former slaves were without food or
shelter
4. bitterness existed between the North
and the South
President Johnson’s Reconstruction
Plan (President’s Plan)
Required states end slavery (13th Amendment)
 Made states declare their secession had been
illegal
 Required states to cancel all war debts
 Required adult white males to pledge loyalty to
the United States to get back the right to vote
* Texas agreed and Johnson admitted Texas
back into the Union

Republicans’ Plan—directed by
Congress
Disagreements erupted between Johnson
and the Radical Republicans, and Congress
would not allow Texas back into the
Union---Texans must:
 accept the 14th Amendment (grant citizenship to
African Americans)
 Cancel public debt of Confederacy, eliminating
the Confederacy’s existence
 Keep Confederate sympathizers from holding
important government positions
Black Codes
Texas denied civil rights to Af. Amer. (14th
Amendment)
 Marriage between African Americans
and whites was outlawed
 Af. Amer. men weren’t allowed to vote,
hold office, serve on a jury, or use
public transportation
 Texas Homestead law excluded
Af. Amer.
Congressional Plan—The
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Adopted after Southern States would not
follow the Republican Plan
 Placed Southern states under military rule
 Divided the ten states left into military districts
 Required states to eliminate the Black Codes
 States required to write new constitutions giving
African Americans the right to vote (15th
Amendment)
 Required registered voters to pledge loyalty to
Union (the Ironclad Oath)
Texas had to Change
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Texans wrote a new Constitution in 1869
(though never totally finished it) that declared
the US Constitution the law and guaranteed the
right of all men to vote
Texas was readmitted into the Union 3/8/1870
Davis (a Unionist) was “elected” as governor
Texans feared that Davis would use the militia
against anyone who opposed him and would
appoint only radicals to state office
The Constitution of 1876
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Democrat Richard Coke elected Gov. in 1872
Many changes made; Af. Amer lost much ground
Texans stripped the Governor and State
Legislature of as much power as possible limiting
the government’s power to make changes
except by an amendment
They allowed the State Legislature to meet only
every other year