Reconstruction Writing - Assignment Example

Andrew Johnson who was the vice president became the president of the United States after the assassination of the president Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a non slave holding individual and he remained loyal to the north and carried a distinct grudge towards the wealthy Southern Planter Class (Zuczek et al, 10). President Johnson was a white supremacist who clashed with the republicans over the reconstruction the liberation and union of the slaves African American. However, Johnson was determined to carry out the reconstruction policies of Lincoln’s (American Experience).

Nevertheless, his policies were different from Lincoln’s and the congressmen’s. Johnson favored reconstruction policy, opposed African American equality and supported states rights unlike the leader of the congress in the radical republican who employed harsh punishment of the southern state but also worked towards the African American getting an equal treatment. In contrast to the passive approach of President Johnson, the radical republicans had a much tougher approach towards the African American.

The republican were idealistic who were mostly driven by an almost religious fervor. The republican congress did not accept the commonly assumed notion that African Americans were inferior and therefore, they insisted on full social, civil and political rights for the former slaves. Furthermore, they were true reformers with very different ideas about reconstruction as compared to President Johnson. In the summer of 1965, the confederates’ state that had remained met Johnson’s reconstruction ideas that none of the constitutions allowed voting rights to African American.

Congress refused to seat the representatives of the south to congress and the radicals in the congress were voting for reconstruction to punish the south harshly unlike the plan of Johnson ( Egerton, et al, 359). Also the presidential reconstruction of the southern government limited the African American rights by passing a black code and prohibiting blacks from testifying in court, borrowing money to buy land or renting land. These black codes combined with the reconstruction plan of Johnson widen the wage between the Republicans in congress and Johnson.

This was because unlike the reconstruction plan of Johnson the republican’s reconstruction campaigned for equal rights to the African American. The plan that was better according to me is the reconstruction plan of the republican in congress. This is because of many things in their plan. First of all, by waving the bloody shirt of 1866 congressional elections of republican campaign on hatred towards the southerners over the civil war hardships gained the republicans more than 2/3 majority seats in both houses of congress hence getting the power needed to override a presidential vote.

Also the republican in congress reconstruction were more harsh on the southern states and more supportive and protective of African American rights. Secondly, the republican had two types of Republicans which made it better than the presidential reconstruction ( Egerton, et al, 360). The first was the Moderates which were mainly concerned with the economic gains for the white middle class and the north while the second type the Radicals also know as progressive championed for equal righ