From Slavery to Freedom free essay sample

Defeat aroused hatred within Southerners, whom were robbed of their slave propertyiii. Racism became one of the main forces in the South during Reconstruction Abraham Lincoln Politician wanted to respect private property (excluding slaves) and did not want to impose harsh punishments on the South for rebellion Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction Of DCE. 1863: Southerners (except Confederate military leaders) had to swear an oath of allegiance to the US and its laws (including the Emancipation Proclamation) in order to be pardoned and offered restoration of property 2.Ten Percent Plan: When 1 D percent of a states population took this oath, Lincoln would recognize the formation of a ewe state government in that state ii. Radical Republicans, such as Benjamin Wade and Henry Davis) favored the abolition of slavery at the beginning of the war, but later advocated harsh treatment of the defeated Lincoln vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill, which required 50 percent of a South. We will write a custom essay sample on From Slavery to Freedom or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Seceding states white male citizens to take the loyalty oath before the state could form its constitution, and it also guaranteed equality before the law for former slaves iii.Sherman Special Field Order 15 of 1 865 set aside 400,000 acres of abandoned Southern land for forty-acre grants to freedmen v. The Republican Party prevented the development of a land distribution system, but supported other methods to aid the freed slaves 1 . In 1865, Congress established the Freedmans Bureau to provide social, educational, and economic services to emancipated slaves or white Unionists, which lasted seven years v. Lincoln plans seemed to favor quo kick restoration of the South and limited federal intervention, but his policies were cut short after his assassination, when he was replaced with Andrew Johnson d.Andrew Johnson and Presidential Reconstruction I. Johnson was a Democrat and roomer slaveholder from a poor southern background who supported yeomen farmers and hated southern aristocrats ii. He remained loyal to the Union throughout the war and held planter elite responsible for southern rebellion and defeat. He was appointed as military governor of Tennessee in 1862 and nominated as vice president by the Republicans in the 1864 election iv.Immediately after taking office, he appeared to side with the Radical Republicans by talking of indicting Confederate officials for treason and confiscating their property v. Saw Reconstruction as power Of the executivenot legislative-?branch vi. However, since he blamed individual planters and elite for secession rather than entire states, he proposed mild terms for reentry to the Union 1. He followed Lincoln policy for pardoning Southerners (excluding some Confederate officials and wealthy landowners) 2.These men could apply for presidential pardons and Johnson pardoned 90% of those who applied 3. December 1 865: Johnson declared restoration of the Union complete by allowing ten of eleven Confederate states to reenter the Union vii. Johnson was committed to white supremacy; he opposed political rights for the freedmen and determined e Radical Republican Vision I. Radical Republicans (example: George Julian) promoted equal political rights and economic opportunity as well as a powerful national government ii. Wanted federal government to control the reformation of Southern society iii. Radicals wanted to grant freedmen civil rights and suffrage and give them land confiscated from wealthy Southerners iv. Radicals opposed the black codes passed in South Carolina to deny many rights of citizenship to free African Americans Southerners could not accept full freedom of African Americans 2. Moderate Republicans joined Radicals in the belief that old Confederates ere in power in the South and the black codes and racial violence required increase protection for African Americans v. Republicans estate shed the Joint Committee on Reconstruction vi. 866: Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment to define African Americans as citizens and the Civil Rights Act that bestowed full citizenship on African Americans, overturning the 1857 Dried Scott decision and black codes 1. African Americans acquired full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property as is enjoyed by white citizens vii. Congress also expanded he Freedmans Bureau to build sc hools and prosecute those depriving blacks of their civil rights viii. Johnson vetoed these two measures; Republicans in Congress overrode his veto ix.November 1866: Republicans gained control Of the House, Senate, and northern States x. Conflict between president and Congress: Johnnys restoration or Congressional Reconstruction? F. Congressional Reconstruction and the Impeachment Crisis I. Republicans took control of Reconstruction in 1867 by passing the First Reconstruction Act, which divided the South into five military districts subject to martial law Southern states were required to hold new constitutional conventions, guarantee universal manhood suffrage, and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment before they would be readmitted to the Union iii.