Reconstruction
By: Jordan Easter
Thaddeus Stevens
- He was a Congressmen from Pennsylvania
- He was a leader of the Radical Republicans
- He sought to secure African Americans' rights during Reconstruction
- He was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, so he played a major role in the Civil War's financing
Andrew Johnson
- Became president after Lincoln was assassinated
- He was a Democrat, with the Radicals opposing him
- He is considered to be one of the most unfortunate presidents
- In 1865, he pardoned all southerners who would take an oath of allegiance, but required leaders and men of wealth to obtain special Presidential pardons
- In December 1865, most southern states were reconstructed, but "black codes" were beginning to appear
- He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, but Congress got enough votes to override his veto (first time in history that this happened)
- Johnson was impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act
Civil Rights Act of 1866
- President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, but Congress overturned the veto with two-thirds majority vote
- This act granted citizenship to all males in the United States, regardless of race, religion, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude
- The act specifically defines the rights of American citizenship
- The act made it unlawful for any person to be denied of these rights
- It was important in the Reconstruction Era because it gave African Americans the right to be assimilated in American society as equals
Freedmen's Bureau
- Established in 1865 by Congress to help newly freed slaves and poor whites in the South after the Civil War
- The bureau provided food, housing, education, medical aid, and offered legal assistance
- They negotiated labor contracts for ex-slaves and settled labor disputes
- They even helped former slaves legalize marriages and locate lost relatives
- However, they had a shortage of funds, so Congress shut the bureau in 1872