Welcome

The first posting of this site compromised the academic integrity of all those involved. The plagiarism has now been corrected and all work is original.

The purpose of this website is to examine the short era of Presidential Reconstruction.

President Andrew Johnson

The short, two-year period of the presidential reconstruction took place between 1865 and 1867. Starting his plans for reconstruction, president Andrew Johnson began to issue specific proclamations to lead the country to his idea of a successful nation. He offered pardons to most white southerners which restored their political and property rights, with the exception of their slaves. Although President Johnson excluded Confederate leaders and wealthy planters from these pardons at first, eventually, he sent most of them individual pardons. President Johnson also appointed provisional governors and required them to have state conventions to establish loyal governments in the south. Besides the unavoidable consequences that the confederacy had to face because of their defeat, they were not punished more severely. They had a “free hand” in managing the local affairs that they faced in their individual states however they pleased. Legislators, elected only by whites, soon brought back all of the old Confederates and elites back to power in the south. The actions of the South soon made the Republican North oppose Johnson and his reconstruction plan. Johnson’s presidential reconstruction had failed.

Thesis

During the era of the Presidential Reconstruction, many factors affected the overall outcome of Johnson’s reconstruction plan.While Democrats and Republicans, especially the Radical Republicans in the north, held a certain opinion for him based on his idea of how the reconstruction for the Union should take place, while he was vice president, they quickly changed once he was president. His support for black codes and leniency with former members of the Confederacy led to the downfall of Johnson’s public opinion and, eventually, the collapse of his reconstruction plan.

A Brief Video on Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan