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Johnson and Reconstruction
In May 1865, Johnson issued his own Reconstruction proclamation that was very similar to Lincoln's 10 percent plan. In addition to Lincoln's terms, it provided for the disfranchisement (loss of the right to vote and hold office) of ( 1) all former leaders and officeholders of the Confederacy and (2) Confederates with more than $20,000 in taxable property. As a result of the president's pardons, many former Confederate leaders were back in office by the fall of 1865. -
Black Codes
The Republicans became further disillusioned with Johnson as Southern state legislatures adopted Black Codes that restricted the rights and movements of the former slaves. The codes (1) prohibited blacks from either renting land or borrowing money to buy land; (2) placed freedmen into a form of semi bondage by forcing them, as "vagrants" and "apprentices," to sign work contracts; and (3) prohibited blacks from testifying against whites in court. -
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Over Johnson's vetoes, Congress passed three Reconstruction acts in early 1867, which took the drastic step of placing the South under military occupation. The acts divided the former Confederate states into five military districts, each under the control of the Union army. To win such readmission, an ex-Confederate state had to ratify the 14th Amendment and place guarantees in its constitution for granting the franchise (right to vote) to all adult males, regardless of race. -
Fourteenth Amendment
The 14th Amendment • declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were citizens • obligated the states to respect the rights of U.S. citizens and provide them with "equal protection of the laws" and "due process of law"( clauses full of meaning for future generations)These clauses • penalized a state if it kept any eligible person from voting by reducing that state's proportional representation in Congress and the electoral college, etc. -
Civil Rights Acts of 1875
The last civil rights reform enacted by Congress in Reconstruction was the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This law guaranteed equal accommodations in public places (hotels, railroads, and theaters) and prohibited courts from excluding African Americans from juries. However, the law was poorly enforced because moderate and conservative Republicans felt frustrated trying to reform an unwilling South-and feared losing white votes in the North.
