Lecture 1 The Era of Reconstruction 1865-1877: The Rise of Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans

The Character and Early Career of Andrew Johnson

Background and Early Life: * Andrew Johnson was born in $1808$ in a log cabin near Raleigh, North Carolina. * He lost his father at the age of $3$ and never attended school. * His mother, who was illiterate, apprenticed him to a tailor to learn a trade. * At age $13$ , he ran away from home and eventually settled in Greeneville, in the mountains of East Tennessee. * He was self-taught in reading; his wife, whom he married when she was $16$ , taught him how to write and perform basic arithmetic.
Professional and Political Rise: * Johnson was a self-made man who eventually prospered, acquiring $5$ enslaved people, whom he sold in $1863$ . * He held numerous public offices: mayor, state legislator, governor, congressional representative, and U.S. senator. * He identified strongly with poor farmers and harbored a deep hatred for the "pampered, bloated, corrupted aristocracy" of wealthy Southern planters.
Personality and Traits: * Known for being humorless, insecure, combative, and self-righteous. * He was a pro-Union Democrat added to Lincoln’s National Union ticket in $1864$ to assist in the reelection campaign. * He lacked the dignity and eloquence of Abraham Lincoln and was noted to have a weakness for liquor.
Racial and Political Views: * While he supported suppressing the Confederate rebellion because he viewed it as a war of wealthy owners against democracy, he was a "venomous racist." * He famously stated, "Damn the negroes," and asserted that "This is a country for white men… and by God, as long as I am president, it shall be a government for white men."

Johnson’s Restoration Plan (1865)

Inheriting Lincoln's Policies: * Early in his term, Johnson claimed he would continue Lincoln’s policies for restoring former Confederate states to the Union.
New Proclamation of Amnesty (May 1865): * Johnson issued a proclamation that excluded ex-Confederates already barred by Lincoln, but added a new exclusion: anyone with property worth more than $\$20,000$ . * The goal was to prevent the wealthiest Southerners from regaining political power.
The Shift in 1866: * By $1866$ , Johnson had pardoned approximately $7,000$ former Confederates, including many of the white "aristocrats" he previously attacked. * Motivation for Pardons: He decided he could buy the political support of prominent Southerners to improve his chances for reelection.
State Requirements for Readmission: * Johnson appointed Unionist provisional governors in southern states. * Governors called conventions of "loyal" (non-Confederate) voters. * States were required to ratify the $13th$ Amendment. * By meeting these requirements, each former Confederate state (except Mississippi) held a convention.

The Freedmen’s Bureau and Civil Rights Activism

Grassroots Organization: * Because neither Lincoln nor Johnson consulted freedpeople, formerly enslaved individuals took independent action. * They organized meetings and marches demanding freedom, citizenship, full civil rights, land ownership, and voting rights. * Active organization occurred in cities such as New Orleans, Mobile, Norfolk, Wilmington, Nashville, Memphis, and Charleston.
Freedmen’s Conventions (1865): * Held during the summer and fall of $1865$ , these were sometimes referred to as Equal Rights Associations. * Participants included emancipated Southerners and free Blacks from the North (termed "missionaries"). * Reverend James D. Lynch told the Tennessee convention that Blacks were "part and parcel of the American republic."
James Walker Hood and North Carolina: * Hood, a free Black man from Connecticut, was elected president of the North Carolina freedmen’s convention. * In his speech, he advocated for harmonizing feelings between races since they had lived together for "a hundred years or more." * He formally demanded three constitutional rights: the right to testify in court, the right to serve on juries, and "the right to carry [a] ballot to the ballot box."
Core Demands: * The Virginia convention asserted that any reconstruction without giving African Americans the same rights and immunities as white citizens was an "act of gross injustice."

The Radical Republicans and Southern Violence

Leadership and Objectives: * Led by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. * They sought full social and political equality for Blacks. * They viewed Confederate states as "conquered provinces" that should be readmitted by Congress, not the President.
Conflict with Johnson: * Radicals resented Johnson’s haste in bringing the South back and his commitment to states' rights over federal authority. * By December $1865$ , new southern governments appeared identical to their pre-war state, with Southerners refusing to extend voting rights to freedpeople.
Election of Confederates: * Southern voters elected former Confederate leaders to Congress, including $4$ generals, $8$ colonels, $6$ cabinet members, and several legislators. * Republicans in Congress refused to seat these "Rebel" officials and formed the Joint Committee on Reconstruction.
Violence in the South: * The Joint Committee found widespread violence against Blacks. In Shreveport, LA, an estimated $2,000$ freedpeople were killed in $1865$ , with reports of Whites bullwhipping Blacks. * Memphis Race Riot (1866): A clash between Black veterans and police led to a two-day riot where Whites raped and murdered Blacks, burning schools and churches. Over $2$ days, $46$ African Americans and $2$ Whites were killed. Violence only ended with the arrival of federal troops. * New Orleans Massacre: Another site of white mob violence against African Americans in $1866$ .

Black Codes and Convict Leasing

Definitions and Purpose: * All-white state legislatures passed "Black Codes" to ensure the ex-slave remained a "free Negro" rather than a truly free man. * The goal was for "the blacks at large [to] belong to the White at large."
State-Specific Regulations: * South Carolina: Required Blacks to stay on former plantations and labor from dawn to dusk. * Mississippi: Prohibited Blacks from hunting or fishing to maintain dependence on white employers. * Marriage Laws: Some codes recognized Black marriages but prohibited interracial marriage; Mississippi violators faced life in prison.
Legal Restrictions: * Blacks were barred from voting, serving on juries, or testifying against Whites. * In Mississippi, all Black males over $18$ had to be apprenticed to a White person (ideally a former owner).
The Vagrancy and Convict Lease System: * Any Black person not employed or apprenticed by January $1866$ was jailed as a "vagrant." * Fines for vagrancy often resulted in jail time or forced labor in "chain gangs." * States rented prisoners to private businesses (coal mines, railroads, plantations) to increase revenue and cut housing costs. * This was described as a thinly disguised, more brutal form of slavery; over $10\%$ of Black convicts died on the job. * One planter noted: "we owned the negroes… but these convicts, we don’t own ‘em. [If] one dies, [we] get another."

The Legislative Power Struggle (1866)

Freedmen's Bureau Veto: * In early $1866$ , Johnson vetoed a bill to renew funding for the Freedmen’s Bureau. This veto was not overturned.
Civil Rights Act of 1866: * Passed in mid-March $1866$ , it was the first federal law to define citizenship. * It declared all persons born in the U.S. (except Native Americans) were citizens entitled to "full and equal benefit of all laws." * Veto and Override: Johnson vetoed the act, arguing Blacks did not deserve citizenship and it trespassed on states' rights. Congress overrode the veto, marking the first time Congress overturned a presidential veto of a major bill.
The 14th Amendment: * Passed in $1866$ (ratified $1868$ ) to secure the Civil Rights Act's legality. * Guaranteed birthright citizenship and prohibited states from violating civil rights or denying "equal protection of the laws." * Every Democrat in the House and Senate voted against it.
1866 Congressional Elections: * Johnson engaged in a $19$ -day "Swing Around the Circle" speaking tour (over $100$ speeches). * He called Radical Republicans traitors. His behavior was described as "boorish" and "disgraceful." * Republicans won more than a two-thirds majority in both houses, giving them the power to override any veto.

Congressional Reconstruction (1867)

First Reconstruction Act (March 2, 1867): * Passed over Johnson’s veto. It included the Military Reconstruction Act, the Command of the Army Act, and the Tenure of Office Act.
Military Reconstruction Act: * Abolished Johnson-era Southern governments. * Divided $10$ of the $11$ former Confederate states into $5$ military districts (Tennessee was exempt for ratifying the $14th$ amendment). * Each district was governed by an army general. * Required states to guarantee all adult males (regardless of race or property) the right to vote for constitutional convention delegates. * Only $10,000$ federal troops (many African American) were sent to police the South; by $1871$ , the entire army was only $30,000$ men.
The Command of the Army Act: * Required the President to issue army orders through General in Chief Ulysses S. Grant to prevent Johnson from appointing anti-Black generals.
The Tenure of Office Act: * Required Senate approval before the President could remove federal officers confirmed by the Senate. Designed to protect Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson

The Catalyst: * Johnson fired Edwin M. Stanton and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant, intentionally violating the Tenure of Office Act.
Articles of Impeachment: * On February $24, 1868$ , the House passed $11$ articles of impeachment. * The primary grievance was that Johnson brought "disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and reproach" upon Congress.
The Senate Trial (March 5, 1868): * The trial lasted $5$ weeks. * The final vote was $35$ for conviction to $19$ for acquittal, falling exactly $1$ vote short of the necessary two-thirds majority.
The Deciding Vote: * Senator Edmund G. Ross (Kansas) cast the deciding vote for acquittal. * While Ross claimed the evidence was insufficient, later research suggests he may have sold his vote for federal job appointments and cash from a supporter-raised $\$150,000$ slush fund.
Legacy of the Trial: * The acquittal weakened public support for Congressional Reconstruction. * However, Johnson privately agreed to stop obstructing Radicals' policies, though he later refused to support federal suppression of the Ku Klux Klan.

Questions & Discussion

Interactions during Johnson's Speaking Tour (Cleveland, Ohio):

Heckler: Shouted that Johnson should hang Jefferson Davis as a war criminal.
Johnson: Retorted, "Why not hang Thad Stevens?"
Crowd Member: Yelled, "Is this dignified?"
Johnson: Responded, "I care not for dignity."