1.1 Johnson

Question 1

What party was Johnson from?

Answer 1

Democrat

Question 2

When did Johnson become president?

Answer 2

April 1865 after the assassination of Lincoln.

Question 3

What were initial reactions and attitudes when Johnson first became president?

Answer 3

-Regarded as the right man for the job.
-He was respected for his decision to stay on in Congress after Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861 and was the only Southern senator to do so.
-He had served as military governor of Tennessee and was supportive of Lincoln when he himself was vice president.
-He was a supporter of emancipation and a critic of the old plantation-owning Southern elite.
-Radical republicans were hopeful he would bring the change they wanted.

Question 4

How did Radical Republicans see Johnson’s reconstruction plan?

Answer 4

‘Soft’ towards the Southern states

Question 5

What was Johnson’s approach to unite the Southern states that had seceded with the Union?

Answer 5

He announced that all Southerners, except Confederate soldiers and the rich plantations owners, would be pardoned if they swore an oath of allegiance to the Union, and he eventually issued approximately 13,000 pardons.

Question 6

Which 7 Southern states had not yet approved Reconstruction governments by Johnson’s presidency?

Answer 6

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas

Question 7

What was the result of Johnson’s attempt to reunite the South with the Union?

Answer 7

-It opened the way for state conventions to set up new, lawful state governments, which would then accept the abolition of slavery and renounce the illegal action of breaking away from the Union in 1861
-However, it aroused intense opposition from Republicans

Question 8

Why was Johnson keen to restore the Southern states as quickly as possible?

Answer 8

Congress was due to reconvene in December 1865 and he would soon face strong opposition from Radical Republicans.

Question 9

What was Johnson’s approach to the Wade-Davis Bill?

Answer 9

He accepted it but agreed that when each former Confederate state held a convention to revise its own constitution, those attending the convention would be elected by the 1860 white electorate

Question 10

What were the new Southern state governments like under Johnson?

Answer 10

-They were dominated by the same old Southern elites
-The men elected to represent the Southern states in Congress were mostly former Confederate politicians and military officers
-Also back-tracked on the question of rights for African-Americans and every state brought in ‘black codes’.
-Several states refused to ratify the Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery

Question 11

What was Johnson’s approach to the new state government?

Answer 11

His original plan was to prosecute Confederate leaders for treason but this was dropped. He wanted to purge the old plantation aristocracy and prevent them from regaining power and influence in state government.

Question 12

What were the ‘black codes’?

Answer 12

Introduced by new state government to replace the old slave codes, they accepted the very basic rights of freed slaves such as to marry and own property. However, many states imposed segregation and prohibited interracial marriage. Blacks were not allowed to testify in court against whites; blacks also faced great difficulties in gaining economic freedom from work on the plantations.

Question 13

What were some sections of the Louisiana black codes?

Answer 13

-Blacks weren’t allowed to come within the limits of the town without special permission from employers
-Blacks couldn’t live in the town if they weren’t in regular service of some white person or former owner
-No public meetings of black in the town without permission of the mayor or president of the board of police
-Couldn’t carry weapons without special permission of his employer, in writing, and approved by the mayor or president of the board of police

Question 14

What were the reactions of Johnson’s forced reunion of the South with the North?

Answer 14

Whilst it was vital to reconcile the South to prevent former Confederates from becoming ‘a degraded and debased people’, Johnson had betrayed high hopes of Northern Liberals after victory in the war. He undermined the status of black people in the South and allowed former Confederates back into politics. When Congress reconvened in December 1865, it was dominated by angry Republicans determined to wipe out the black codes and removed former Confederates from power.

Question 15

What was Johnson’s first use of the veto?

Answer 15

Congress voted to extend the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau for three more years and to strengthen its powers to prosecute offenders guilty of discrimination against freedmen. Johnson vetoed this in February 1866.

Question 16

What is the Freedmen’s Bureau?

Answer 16

It was set up by Lincoln in March 1865 as part of the United States Department of War. They tried to help the newly freedmen settle and did things like provide legal services, advice for those who had never worked for wages, and reunited separated families.

Question 17

What other bills did Johnson veto?

Answer 17

The Civil Rights Act, which was passed by Congress in March 1866, re-stating the equal rights of African-Americans and authorising federal intervention to enforce them, this was vetoed in April.
In July 1866 Congress passed another Freedmen’s Bureau Act, but Johnson vetoed this, too.

Question 18

How did Congress fight back against Johnson’s vetoes?

Answer 18

They voted to override the presidential veto. In April 1866, the alliance between moderate Republicans and the Radicals pushed Congress into adopting the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution to secure the Civil Rights Act. The third clause of the Amendment disqualified from office anyone who had supported the Confederacy, thus cancelling most of the pardons previously issued by Johnson.

Question 19

When was the fourteenth amendment proposed and when was it ratified?

Answer 19

Proposed in April 1866 and ratified in July 1866

Question 20

What did the fourteenth amendment do?

Answer 20

Guaranteed equal citizenship and voting rights.

Question 21

What were the reactions of the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment?

Answer 21

It led to a major political confrontation. Johnson refused to compromise and denounced it, encouraging Southern states to reject it. Almost the entire south regarded it as unfair Northern revenge, though abolitionists thought it did not go far enough.

Question 22

What caused the transition from Presidential Reconstruction to Congressional Reconstruction?

Answer 22

The 1866 mid-term elections were disastrous for Johnson, who hoped that he could form a new centrist political party, the National Union Party. Republicans won two thirds of the seats in the House and gained an even stronger hold on the Senate.

Question 23

How was the Reconstruction Act passed?

Answer 23

After complex negotiations between moderates and Radicals, it was passed in February 1867. Johnson vetoed it but in March, Congress voted it through again, overriding the presidential veto.

Question 24

What steps did the Reconstruction Act take?

Answer 24

All previous measures to reintegrate the Southern states were declared void; Tennessee was the only state to be recognised. The other ten ex-Confederate states were effectively abolished and placed under temporary military rule until elected delegates agreed a new state constitution that ensured voting rights for all AFrican-American males. Then, after ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment, the state would be accepted back into the Union.

Question 25

Who was leader of the Radicals?

Answer 25

Thaddeus Stevens

Question 26

Want did Thaddeus Stevens think of the Reconstruction Act?

Answer 26

The Radicals saw the act as a compromise and didn’t go far enough. Stevens wanted to confiscate estates and to redistribute the land to freedmen. He knew that economic freedom would be as important for former slaves as political freedom.

Question 27

What did Johnson think of the Reconstruction Act?

Answer 27

He though the Act went much too far and he did much to obstruct it, especially by placing conservative military officers in control of the five military districts

Question 28

What was the Southern reaction to Congressional Reconstruction?

Answer 28

There was a hostile reaction. There was open defiance of the new laws passed by Congress and deep resentment of the Northerner sent to rule over the South. In December 1865, a small group of Confederate ex-soldiers in Tennessee formed the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a ‘white racial brotherhood’ that spread rapidly into other states. In the summer of 1866, there were major race riots in Memphis, New Orleans, and other Southern cities. By 1868 there was entrenched opposition to Reconstruction across the South.

Question 29

What three Acts did Congress pass to ensure Radical Reconstruction in 1867?

Answer 29

The Military Reconstruction Bill- imposed military rule on the South (except Tennessee). The 10 remaining states were grouped into five military districts and placed under a federal commander.
The command of the Army Act- reduced Johnson’s military powers
The Tenure of Office Act- prevented Johnson from removing a host of office-holders

Question 30

What was the main purpose of the Tenure of Office Act?

Answer 30

It was known that Johnson wanted to get rid of his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, who was a supporter of the Radicals.

Question 31

What started Congress’s search for ground to impeach Johnson?

Answer 31

In August 1867 Johnson suspended Stanton. this strengthened the alliance between moderate and Radical Republicans.

Question 32

What actually started the process of Johnson’s impeachment?

Answer 32

In February 1868, Johnson tried to dismiss Edwin Stanton. Led by Thaddeus Stevens, the House of Representatives started the process of impeachment. Eleven charges were laid against Johnson, most of them based on his breaches of the Tenure of Office Act. This led to Johnson being placed on trial in the Senate.

Question 33

Why did many Republicans in the Senate hesitate to impeach Johnson?

Answer 33

They did not want to take such extreme steps as Johnson had been lawfully appointed. They were fearful of setting a dangerous precedent. Moderates were not enthusiastic about the Radical Republican Benjamin Wade, the man most likely to replace Johnson.

Question 34

What was the result of Johnson’s impeachment trial?

Answer 34

35 Senators voted against Johnson and 19 for him. This was one short of the 36 votes needed for a 2/3 majority.

Question 35

What was the impact of Johnson’s close impeachment on his reputation?

Answer 35

His political standing had been fatally damaged. He would play no part in the key political decisions and the 1868 election was to be fought by other men.

Question 36

What are the three impeachable crimes in the US?

Answer 36

-Treason
-Bribery
-High crimes and misdemeanors

Question 37

What is the basic process of impeachment in the US?

Answer 37

-Congress opens an investigation and gathers information
-The House votes on each article of impeachment to decide if they will impeach
-The impeached official faces trial in the United States Senate
-The Senate votes on each article to determine if the official will be removed or not