Andrew Johnson
& Presidential Reconstruction
Presentation by Robert Martinez
Primary Content Source: Reconstructing America by Joy Hakim
Images as cited.
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It was an actor’s bullet (John Wilkes Booth) that gave the country a new president.
People didn’t know quite what to expect of
President Johnson.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackassjones/2165716203
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Before the war, Johnson was a Democrat and a slave owner. He was a Senator when the Southern states, including Tennessee, seceded.
http://www.old-picture.com/mathew-brady-studio/thumbnails/Johnson-Andrew-th.jpg

Even though Johnson was a Democrat, and
Lincoln a Republican, Abraham Lincoln asked Andrew Johnson to be vicepresident.
http://headshots.speakercalendar.com/10/lincoln.jpg

Now that the war was over, it was time for healing. Most people were encouraged.
Johnson seemed like the perfect person to bring the North and South together again.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/jb/nation/jb_nation_johnson_3_m.jpg

After all, Johnson was a Southerner who had the courage to stay with the Union.
Both Democrats and Republicans supported him.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/impeach/JOHNSON.jpg

But those who knew Johnson weren’t so sure. Yes, he had courage, but he was also extremely stubborn. He didn’t ask for advice, or listen when it was given.
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Lincoln asked questions, listened, and changed his mind when he thought it needed changing. He knew how to compromise. Andrew Johnson was uncompromising.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nastyemlay/2629604692/

During the first two years of
Reconstruction, President Andrew Johnson was in control. That time is called
“Presidential Reconstruction.” http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/May/andrew-johnson_small.jpg

In the beginning things seemed to go well.
Congress created a Freedman’s Bureau. It was to help the newly freed blacks. They need food, clothing, and shelter.
http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/images/smith-family-m.jpg

Some Northerners went south to help.
Many of them were teachers. The
Freedman’s Bureau began operating schools. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dark_spinner/3646144266/

In the years of the Confederacy, every
Southern state except Tennessee had laws making it a crime to teach slaves to read and write.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/reconstruction_images/school_detail.jpg

Now, as free people, they were thirsty for knowledge. When schools opened, parents often sat in the classrooms with children.
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But it’s hard to learn if you’re hungry, and many Southerners were hungry. The
Freedman’s Bureau kept most people from starving. Clothing was also distributed.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/reconstruction_images/school_detail.jpg

Northern soldiers kept order in the South.
Just looking at those blue uniforms upset many Southerners. And some whites couldn’t accept the idea of a society where people were equal.
http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/freedom/images/cartoon7.jpg

In protest, thousands of Southerners left the country for Mexico and South America.
Former Confederate General Robert E. Lee was not pleased to see them leave the
United States.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23263004@N07/2227712918/

“Virginia has need for all her sons and can ill afford to spare you…Abandon all these local animosities and make your sons
Americans.”
– Robert E. Lee http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/general-robert-e-lee-ken-hendrickson.jpg

Many white people in the South were willing to be good United States citizens, except when it came to treating their fellow black citizens fairly.
http://www.archives.gov/calendar/images/edisto-island.jpg

Right after the war, most of the same
Southern leaders were in charge, and every
Southern state passed laws that discriminated against blacks.
http://c.ancestry.com/i/landing/bhm/pic_freedmens_bureau.jpg

The laws were called “black codes.” they made blacks practically slaves again. The codes gave whites almost unlimited powers. No Southern state would establish public schools for blacks.
http://daphne.palomar.edu/marguello_students/Spring_2003/006035149/labor%20in%20reconstruction.jpg

Some whites put masks over their faces and burned black churches and schools.
They terrorized and killed blacks. These were members of a newly formed hate group called the Ku Klux Klan.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/images/early-kkk-l.jpg

http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/assets/photos/1010.jpg

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When Southern states sent representatives to Congress, they sent former Confederate officers and politicians. Northerners were outraged. General Grant had paroled the
Rebel soldiers, but should they be rewarded and made congressmen?
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President Johnson asked the Southern states to protect the freedmen’s rights, but didn’t do anything to make them.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archive/05/0512001r.jpg

In addition, Johnson was being nasty to
Southerners who had supported the Union
(as he had done.) He seemed to be taking sides with the South, when he should have tried to be president for all the people.
http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/ListOfCartoons/KickingFreedmensBureauCrop480.jpg