President Andrew Johnson and the Reconstruction Era - Literature review Example

President Andrew Johnson President Andrew Johnson The reconstruction era marked a change in politics and the status quo with the issuing of amendments and gain of rights for the minority, President Johnson was the sole person who had to deal with it all and his negligence in the amendment making led the republicans to gain control and establish political roots again. In American politics, Andrew Johnson is known as a controversial figure. His ruling and reconstruction policies impacted the American way of life and the introduction of Black codes and biasness against the Blacks led to the backwardness of the present African-American (Constitutional Rights Foundation n.d.). When Lincoln was assassinated in his presidential era, Johnson being the Vice President had the weight of reuniting the country back together. The black and the whites and not to mention the southern and the western states. He had no political background or any affiliation in politics and gradually established his foot in the area. The paper will discuss of the role Andrew Johnson in the Reconstruction era and how the Republicans gained power. The main focus is to elaborate the role played by President Andrew Johnson during the reconstruction era and what he did with the confederacy. It will also discuss how the black codes affected the minority ethnic race. After the Civil war ended and the legislature in the White House was busy forming Laws to accommodate the minority and ease the political struggle, this is what the reconstruction aimed for. The south remained at power and tried its very best to alter the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments and retain the previous status quo. Millions of Blacks were left homeless after the civil war and though the north granted them rights, the south was against it and was seen to instill the old status slavery that prevailed (Constitutional Rights Foundation n.d.). A shift in politics started after Lincoln was shot dead after six weeks in power and Johnson came into power. Before he became President, Johnson served as the Governor of Tennessee for a period of four years and in 1857 was elected by the legislature as a part of the Senate. He was the first president ever to be impeached by the House of Representatives, he was then acquitted in the Senate by one vote.(Freidel et al 2006). Johnson was a democrat in power who imposed white supremacy-and held strong opposition on giving basic human rights to former slaves. He stated the ideology of an interracial democratic state/house which was the biggest failure of his career. He strongly opposed giving the black their basic rights and said no to the fourteenth amendment which granted the African-Americans the right to citizenship. Johnson, after coming into power implemented his own Presidential reforms and imposed white domination over the colored creed. During the time he ruled, the conflicts of different governmental branches grew and feuds became common. Congress therefore passed the Tenure of Office which restricted Johnson in firing Cabinet officials-which was becoming a normal trend at that time. He was the first ever president to be impeached by the House of Representatives for trying to persist on the dismissal of Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton who was saved from one vote in the senate and not removed from his office (Kennedy n.d.). After his era of presidency was over, he returned to Tennessee and called out for political vindication and was elected in the Senate again in 1875, being the only person to have served as president as well in the cabinet (Freidel et al 2006). Johnson had succeeded Lincoln as the president. Lincoln being a democrat had the loyalist government movement as a part of his presidency. The authorization of these loyal governments meant that the governmental officials and state houses in Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee were a part of Lincolns union and initiated the ten percent plan which meant in state election, ten percent of the voters in any of the aforementioned states took the oath of future loyalty to the union. The other part of the congress had the idea that this plan initiated by Lincoln was very lenient and had tangling ends. It, thus, proposed its own requiring that the majority of the voters take the loyalty oath. The houses passed it in 1864 but Lincoln pocket vetoed it (Harpweek n.d.). This mentioned as the background and was the principal that Johnson had to work on. Johnson had plotted out three main goals in Reconstruction and had planned to work on them solely for the betterment of America and its deteriorating states. He made a plan for the recovery on fast level of the states. He laid the foundational basis to it that since they never truly left the Union, it was better to recognize them again and form the Union as a loyal part of the states and in turn a loyal government. In Johnsons mind African-Americans problem at that time was a delay and never was worth the whole effort. He considered it truly a state responsibility to opt for who had the rights to vote. Second in mind, was the idea that political powers in the Southern states he sought should pass from the planter class to his privileged and biased on “plebians”. It showed how biased Johnson actually was. The fear of free slaves instilled in his mind and their vote of direction made him indecisive about it. His last goal was the elections in his own right in 1868, which was a feat that nobody who had succeeded a deceased president, had managed to accomplish. (Harpers Weekly 1866) The unions win did give about four million slaves the freedom and rights but the Reconstruction had new obstacles planned for them which they did not see coming (Constitutional Rights Foundation n.d.). Andrew Johnson as mentioned before established policies that made the civil authority in the formerly confederate states, in 1865 and 1866. This gave rise to the idea of “black codes” which in short superficially made the African-Americans free but restricted them and still ensured that they were a part of the labor force while giving out the message that slavery had been abolished. It was deduced that the purpose of these policies was not served which proved that the government had failed to establish laws (Foster 1866). “Black availability” was the term that was used to ensure that they were a part of working team when required. Example of this is that many states required the black minorities to sign a “labor contract” that held a yearly value and if they rejected or refused to sign it, then the punishments included unpaid labor, fine and even prison. This led the radical republicans to form and empower the minorities and fight for the rights of labor class. They sought that the minor classes should have rights and should be able to vote and this idea was for their own benefits. They held the belief that if they boosted up the blacks and fought for them, the chances of them to be in power would be greater as it would be a form of gratitude from the African-Americans. The whole agenda was to keep the Democrats out of power at national level. (History.com Staff,2010) Johnson was left to devise the reconstruction plan which ended up dividing the cabinet on the issue. The Radical Republicans proposed to use his power to side on the rights of the slave class as a condition that the Union had been restored. But Johnson with the support of many of his officials said that the franchise was a state and not a federal matter. This clearly pointed out to the fact that he did not care for the rights or liberties of the slave class. Instead, he was focused on other issues and pressed down whenever the freedom of the slaves came up.(History.com Staff, 2010). This delaying tactic played a vital role in the true freedom of the slave class and made it lag for many years. The black codes established during the era prohibited the lower classes to hold any property and had to give out written statements for the employment. They were fined heavily for refusing to work and sometimes forced into labor. The black codes were a series of laws that defied the rights of the slaves. One of the few codes were the inter-racial marriage, that was the blacks and white could not be married. The Labor contracts as mentioned were set up where it was allowed to whip under the 18 black person and there were legal contracts signed to maintain the master-slave relationship. The black still had to work and the white creed ruled them. In the courts, the punishments for both the white and blacks were different and the rulings for the criminals were carried out on different levels. The blacks were severely punished under the minor of crimes but the white got away with it and were not as heavily punished for it. The blacks could not practice any occupation besides farmer, since the white sought they might gain more economical power (Constitutional Rights Foundation n.d.). The matters changed when the fourteenth amendment was written and proposed in the Congress but President Johnson ended up opposing it. The amendment was shaped in a way to put the Civil Rights Act into the constitution and extended the citizenship to every person born in the United States of America. This included the blacks as well. It also disqualified many former confederates from their office. The houses ended up passing the act and again Johnson ended up opposing it and vetoed it. By the end of it, Tennessee ended up ratifying the fourteenth amendment which embarrassed Johnson since he had opposed it. The Congress seated the proposed delegation in the place immediately. This finally paved the way for the Radical Republicans to win in the future and gave way to the Radical Reconstruction. The election of 1866 was where the two parties initiated the final battle. Johnson ended up making vigorous speeches and going around known as “Swing around the Circle” but the elections were won by the Republicans in a majority and increased their two-third majority in the Congress. Now they had plans to fully control the process of reconstruction (Freidel et al 2006). The fourteenth amendment paved way into the Congress once more. Johnson actually had the thought that he might be very strong in his position till now since the amendment had been ratified by none of the border states and had been rejected in other areas of the state as well. A three quarter approval was required. Nebraska was made a part of the Union over a veto and hence, the Republicans gained two senators which ratified the amendment. The first reconstruction act was presented to Johnson and he could have pocket vetoed it but he directly chose to veto it. Congress overruled him that same day and ended up passing the Tenure of Office act (Foner2006). In conclusion, the reconstruction marked a change in the American politics where the minorities were given rights and the slavery system was abolished. It however, did impact the progress of the blacks since the restrictions imposed could not let them flourish both socially or economically. The radical republicans who sought civil liberty for all ended up winning the next elections and established the rights for blacks. Even though under the amendments the rights were granted but it can still be seen that racism exists and the whites use intimidating techniques to suppress the blacks down. References Constitutional Rights Foundation (n.d.). "The Southern Black Codes of 1865-1866." Constitutional Rights Foundation USA. Retrieved from http://www.crf-usa.org/brown-v-board-50th-anniversary/southern-black-codes.html Foner,E. (2006, December 3)."Hes The Worst Ever."The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101509.html Foster, L. (1866). Andrew Johnson, president of the United States: His life and speeches. New York: Richardson. Freidel, F. B., Sidey, H., & White House Historical Association. (2006). The presidents of the United States of America. London: Scala. HarpWeek.(1866, September 15). "The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson: Johnsons Background." Harpers Weekly. p. 583.Retrieved from http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/03BackgroundOfAJ/i-10.htm HarpWeek.(n.d.). "The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson: Johnsons Background." Harpers Weekly. Retrieved from: http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/03BackgroundOfAJ/BackgroundOfAJ.htm History.com Staff (2010)."Black Codes." History.com. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-codes Kennedy, R.C. (n.d.). "The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson: Andrew Johnsons." Harpers Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.andrewjohnson.com/11biographieskeyindividuals/andrewjohnson.htm Read More