Andrew Johnson & Presidential Reconstruction

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Presentation by Robert MartinezPrimary Content Source: Reconstructing America by Joy HakimImages as cited.

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.

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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.

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Even though Johnson was a Democrat, and Lincoln a Republican, Abraham Lincoln

asked Andrew Johnson to be vice-president.

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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.

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After all, Johnson was a Southerner who had the courage to stay with the Union.

Both Democrats and Republicans supported him.

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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.

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During the first two years of Reconstruction, President Andrew

Johnson was in control. That time is called “Presidential Reconstruction.”

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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.

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Some Northerners went south to help. Many of them were teachers. The

Freedman’s Bureau began operating schools.

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In the years of the Confederacy, every Southern state except Tennessee had laws

making it a crime to teach slaves to read and write.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“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

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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.

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Right after the war, most of the same Southern leaders were in charge, and every

Southern state passed laws that discriminated against blacks.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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