How did the Radical Republicans plan for Reconstruction differ from Lincoln and Johnsons?

35b. Radical Reconstruction

The Radical Republicans believed blacks were entitled to the same political rights and opportunities as whites. They also believed that the Confederate leaders should be punished for their roles in the Civil War. Leaders like Pennsylvania Representative Thaddeus Stevens and Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner vigorously opposed Andrew Johnson's lenient policies. A great political battle was about to unfold.

Americans had long been suspicious of the federal government playing too large a role in the affairs of state. But the Radicals felt that extraordinary times called for direct intervention in state affairs and laws designed to protect the emancipated blacks. At the heart of their beliefs was the notion that blacks must be given a chance to compete in a free-labor economy. In 1866, this activist Congress also introduced a bill to extend the life of the Freedmen's Bureau and began work on a Civil Rights Bill.

President Johnson stood in opposition. He vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, claiming that it would bloat the size of government. He vetoed the Civil Rights Bill rejecting that blacks have the "same rights of property and person" as whites.

Moderate Republicans were appalled at Johnson's racism. They joined with the Radicals to overturn Johnson's Civil Rights Act veto. This marked the first time in history that a major piece of legislation was overturned. The Radicals hoped that the Civil Rights Act would lead to an active federal judiciary with courts enforcing rights.

Congress then turned its attention to amending the Constitution. In 1867 they approved the far-reaching Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibited "states from abridging equality before the law." The second part of the Amendment provided for a reduction of a state's representatives if suffrage was denied. Republicans, in essence, offered the South a choice — accept black enfranchisement or lose congressional representation. A third clause barred ex-Confederates from holding state or national office.

Emboldened by the work of the Fourteenth Amendment and by local political victories in the 1866 elections, the Republicans went on to introduce the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This removed the right to vote and seek office by "leading rebels." Now the Southern Unionists — Southerners who supported the Union during the War — became the new Southern leadership. The Reconstruction Act also divided the South into five military districts under commanders empowered to employ the army to protect black property and citizens.

The first two years of Congressional Reconstruction saw Southern states rewrite their Constitutions and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Congress seemed fully in control. One thing stood in the way — it was President Johnson himself. Radical leaders employed an extraordinary Constitutional remedy to clear the impediment — Presidential impeachment.

The South needed to be rebuilt following the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson, the successor to President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, had very different ideas about it than did congressional Radical Republicans. Johnson, a Southern Democrat, took a more lenient, conciliatory approach to the South, which did not sit well with the Radical Republicans, who favored civil rights for African-Americans, even if that meant increased federal intervention into Southern states’ affairs. This conflict eventually led to Johnson’s impeachment, and his near removal from office.

Johnson’s Plan

President Johnson believed that even though Southern states had seceded from and made war against the Union, they never gave up their right to govern themselves. In his view they would retain this right so long as they respected the 13th Amendment, which banned slavery, paid off war debts and swore loyalty to the Union. Under Johnson’s Presidential Reconstruction, announced in May 1865, land that the Union Army had confiscated during the war and distributed to freed former slaves would revert back to its prewar owners. Johnson was, in a sense, following Lincoln’s lead. Before his death, Lincoln had laid the groundwork for conciliation, pocket-vetoing a congressional measure mandating that a majority of a Southern state’s electorate must swear allegiance to the Union before that state could be readmitted to the Union. Lincoln's plan, instead, called for only a 10-percent requirement, which set him at odds with some Radical Republicans before the 1864 presidential campaign.

The Black Codes

Because of Johnson's lenient, hands-off approach, Southern states began passing “black codes,” laws that chipped away at African-Americans’ newly won rights and ensured that they remained a source of cheap, exploitable labor. In some cases, African-Americans were forced to sign yearly labor contracts, and if they refused they could be arrested for vagrancy. This angered the Radical Republicans. In 1866 they pushed Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act, which would grant blacks equal status as whites. Johnson vetoed this bill, but then for the first time in U.S. history, Congress overrode his veto. During the 1866 congressional elections, Johnson campaigned against the Radical Republicans, but the Radicals won. The next year, they passed the 14th Amendment, which, after its ratification, granted African-Americans equality under the law.

Radical Reconstruction

The period from 1867, when Radical Republicans took control of Congress, and 1876, when Reconstruction ended, is known as Radical Reconstruction. In 1867 the Radicals passed the Reconstruction Act, which divided the South into five military districts, mandated universal male suffrage and forced Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment to be readmitted to the Union. In 1870, Congress passed the 15th Amendment, guaranteeing blacks the right to vote. During Radical Reconstruction blacks gained rights in the South that would have been unthinkable just decades earlier, and some were elected to office. Radical Reconstruction also saw the South’s first publicly funded education system, economic development programs and anti-discrimination laws.

Johnson’s Impeachment

President Johnson’s relationship with congressional Radical Republicans quickly deteriorated after his election. After he unsuccessfully campaigned against them in 1866, they passed the Tenure of Office Act, which prohibited Johnson from removing civil officers in the government. One of those officers, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, a holdover from the Lincoln administration, had been working with the Radicals to undermine Johnson’s Reconstruction policy. When Johnson suspended Stanton for disloyalty, the House of Representatives -- for the first time in American history -- voted to impeach the president. Johnson came one vote shy in the Senate from being removed from office, and thereafter became more amenable to the Radicals’ Reconstruction demands. Johnson did not seek reelection in 1868.

How did radical Reconstruction differ from Johnson's plan?

What were the differences between the president's plan and the Radical Republicans plan for Reconstruction?