Radical Congressional
Reconstruction
Congress
Reconstruction
What's This?
What's This?
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Radical Reconstruction was the period of time in which Congress was
in control of fixing laws, legislation, and southern governments after
the civil war
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The violence of New Orleans race riots got the
attention of congress
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The riots highlighted the problems with president
Johnson's methods of reconstruction
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Congress felt the need to step in and take control
New Orleans Race Riots
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In July 30 1864, 25 white radical
republicans, angry at the black
codes in Louisiana, reconvened
the constitution convention along
with 200 primarily African
American civil war veterans
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Former confederates feared the
state would come under
republican and African American
power
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Together with the New Orleans
police they attacked the gathering
killing 37 and injuring 100
Rise of the
Radicals
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Johnson breaks with
Republican Party in 1865
Congressional elections in
1866 resulted in sweeping
Republican victories
With enough power to
override Johnson's vetos,
radical Republicans begin
"radical reconstruction" in
1867
First
Reconstruction Act
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Known as the Military
Reconstruction Act
Made the South into five
military districts controlled
by Union generals
Congress declared martial
law in these territories and
dispatched troops to
maintain peace
More on the First
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Declared that states needed to redraft their constitutions and ratify the
14th amendment, along with providing suffrage to blacks and ratifying
the civil rights act in order to be re-admitted to the Union
The 14th amendment protected the rights of all citizens, mainly
intended for African Americans
The civil rights act defined exactly what made a person a citizen.
*primary document*
Another One?
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In order to safeguard blacks' right to vote, Congress passed
the Second Reconstruction Act
This put Union troops in charge of voter registration
"You're Not the
Boss of Me!"
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President Johnson
vetoed both acts
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Congress overrode the
vetos on both of these
acts.
Presidential
Power
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Congress passed multiple
acts to limit the power of
the President.
One of which was the
Tenure of Office Act
This barred the President
from removing
administration members
without Congressional
consent.
The Tenure Act (continued)
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The Tenure Act also
limited his power over the
army
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The laws prevented him
from appointing Supreme
Court justices and
government officials
without approval
Johnson Says
No
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The Tenure of Office Act
was designed to both keep
radical republicans in
Johnson's administration
and to force Johnson into
going against Congress,
giving them a reason to
impeach him.
Johnson replaced his
Secretary of war, Edwin M.
Stanton with Ulysses S.
Grant without approval,
defying the act.
Disciplining the
Johnson
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Johnson's violation of the
Tenure of Office Act gave
the Radical Republicans in
the House of
Representatives the
excuse they needed to
impeach him.
Main drive for the
impeachment was
retaliation for his plan of
reconstruction that had left
them out of the discussion.
Ooh Andrew Johnson
The Senate
Shows Rationality
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Republicans fall one vote
short of convicting Johnson
in the Senate.
They realized that a
frivolous impeachment was
a dangerous precedent.
Plus, Johnson had no Vice
President and the president
pro tempore (Benjamin
Wade) wasn't an agreeable
substitute (liberal
Republican, not trusted).
Bibliography
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http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/carr/riottext.html
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&p
sid=3103
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/tenure-ofoffice-act/
http://wwwrohan.sdsu.edu/dept/polsciwb/brianl/docs/1867FirstReconstruc
tionAct.pdf
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Reconstruction
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/reconstruction/se
ction3.rhtml
http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/exhibits/blackhistory/pdfs2/1866
CivilRightsAct.pdf
http://youtu.be/bHSBfaZI6n0