Chapter 17, Section 2
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Reports sent to Congress that Confederate flags
were being sold in the southern cities.
Patrons sang Confederate songs.
This was considered evidence of an intense
hostility toward the federal union and love for
the Confederacy.
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Black codes: laws that severely limited the
rights of freedmen.
Forbade rights to vote, own guns, or serve in
juries.
In some states freedmen were permitted to
work only as servants or farm laborers.
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They were forced to sign a contract agreeing to
work for a year. If they didn’t have a contract
they could be arrested and sentenced to work
on a plantation.
Black codes allowed blacks to legally marry
and own property.
Black codes were clearly developed to keep
freedmen from gaining economic or political
power.
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Joint Committee on Reconstruction sent
President Johnson a report condemning
southern practices.
Johnson ignored the report.
Members of congress vowed to take
Reconstruction out of the president’s hands.
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Radical Republicans: ( Radicals) those who led
the opposition to President Johnson
Thaddeus Stevenson of Pennsylvania led the
Radicals in the House.
Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was the chief
Radical Republican in the Senate.
2 Main Goals:
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1. Break the power of the rich plantation owners in
the south.
2. Ensure that freedmen received the right to vote.
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Radical republicans did not control Congress;
they needed help from moderate Republicans.
Moderate Republicans made up the largest
group in Congress.
Moderates did not agree with all of the radicals
ideas.
They did agree on creating a strict policy
toward the South.
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April 1866 Congress passed the Civil Rights
Act.
Civil Rights Act: gave citizenship to African
Americans; passed in hopes of combating the
black codes
President Johnson vetoed the bill.
Republicans in Congress overrode the veto.
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Some worried that the Supreme Court would
declare the Civil Rights issue unconstitutional.
Dred Scott decision in 1857 ruled African
Americans were not citizens.
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Fourteenth Amendment: granted citizenship to
all persons born in the United States. This
included nearly all African Americans.
Granted all citizens equal protection under the law.
 Declared no state shall deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law. This
made it illegal to discriminate against any individual
for any reason such as color.
 Any state that denied African Americans the right to
vote would have their representation in Congress
reduced.
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President Johnson opposed the Fourteenth
Amendment and urged former Confederate
states to reject it.
In time all former Confederate states did so
except for Tennessee.
During the election 1866 Johnson urged
northern voters to reject the radical republicans
plan and endorse his plan for Reconstruction.
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Audiences heckled President Johnson and at
times he yelled back.
July 1866 white mobs rioted in New Orleans
killing 34 African Americans. This convinced
many northern that Johnson’s plan was not
working.
Republicans won majorities in both the houses
of Congress and every northern governorship,
as well as majorities in every northern state
legislature.
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Radical Reconstruction: the period following the
election of 1866 when Republicans controlled
Congress and could override Johnson’s vetoes.
Reconstruction Act: threw out the southern state
governments that had refused to ratify the
Fourteenth Amendment. (All the former
confederate states except Tennessee).
Divided the South into 5 military districts.
 Required the former Confederate states to write new
constitutions.
 Required new state governments to ratify the Fourteenth
Amendment.
 Stated that African Americans must be allowed to vote.
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Many white southern stayed away from the
poles to show their disgust with Radical
Reconstruction policies.
Freedmen proudly lined up to vote. And
Republicans gained control of the new
southern state governments.
Congress continued to pass reconstruction Acts
overriding President Johnson’s vetoes.
Fearful that Johnson would not enforce the
legislation, Congress decided to remove the
President from office.
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February 24, 1868 the House of Representatives
votes to impeach President Johnson.
Impeach: to bring formal charges of
wrongdoing against an elected official.
The house can impeach the President for high
crimes and misdemeanors. The case is tried in
the Senate
President can be removed from office if found
guilty by 2/3 of the Senate.
Despite pressure from fellow republicans the
Senate was one vote shy needed to impeach
Johnson.
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1868 Republican nominated general Ulysses S.
Grant as their candidate. (Union hero from the
Civil War)
Most southern states had now rejoined the
union.
About 700,000 blacks went to the pole to vote.
Grant easily won the Presidency.
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Fifteenth Amendment: forbade any state from
denying African Americans the right to vote.
Republican realized that if African Americans
could vote in the north it would help elect
republicans
African American soldiers had made great
sacrifices during the Civil War.
1870 Fifteenth amendment was ratified.