The Reconstruction Acts

Examples of The Reconstruction Acts in the following topics:

• The Triumph of Congressional Reconstruction

  • Radical Reconstruction was a period of the Reconstruction Era during which the Radical Republicans held control of Reconstruction policies.
  • With the Radicals in control, Congress passed four statutes known as Reconstruction Acts on March 2, 1867.
  • For the former Confederate States to be readmitted to the Union, they had to fulfill the requirements of these Acts.
  • The first Reconstruction Act placed ten Confederate states under military control, grouping them into five military districts which would serve as the acting government for the region:
  • The Reconstruction Acts denied the right to vote for men who had sworn to uphold the Constitution and then rebelled against the Federal Government.

• Johnson's Battle with Congress

  • The Radical Reconstruction era was a period when the Radical Republicans held control of Congress and directed Reconstruction efforts.
  • With the Radicals in control, Congress passed four statutes, known as "Reconstruction Acts," on March 2, 1867.
  • The first Reconstruction Act placed ten Confederate states under military control, grouping them into five military districts:
  • For example, the Reconstruction Acts denied the right to vote from men who had sworn to uphold the Constitution only to rebel against the Federal Government.
  • After Ex Parte McCardle came before the Supreme Court in 1867, Congress feared that the Court might strike the Reconstruction Acts down as unconstitutional.

• Lincoln's Plan and Congress's Response

  • Lincoln's plan successfully began the Reconstruction process of ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment in all states.
  • The Radical Republican vision for Reconstruction, also called Radical Reconstruction, was further bolstered in the 1866 election, when more Republicans took office in the congress.
  • Congress also passed the Reconstruction Acts.
  • The first Reconstruction Act placed ten Confederate states under military control, grouping them into five military districts which would serve as the acting government for the region.
  • The Reconstruction Acts denied the right to vote for men who had sworn to uphold the Constitution and then rebelled against the Federal Government.

• Legally Free, Socially Bound

  • Though the Reconstruction Amendments guaranteed them equal rights, African-Americans experienced widespread discrimination after the War.
  • Together these amendments were known as the Reconstruction Amendments.
  • After the end of Reconstruction in 1877, African-American Southerners fared less well.
  • While legally the Reconstruction Amendments had granted African Americans certain legal rights, in social practice they remained second-class citizens and were subject to discrimination and violence.
  • Hayes withdrew Union troops from the South in 1877, white Democratic southerners acted quickly to reverse the groundbreaking advances of Reconstruction.

• The Battle over Reconstruction

  • 'Reconstruction' was a set of federal policies that addressed the status of the former Confederate states after the Civil War.
  • Reconstruction policies were implemented when the Union Army controlled Confederate states.
  • The Republicans then united against Johnson to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which outlawed the black codes that had been prevalent throughout the South.
  • Over Johnson's vetoes, Congress passed three Reconstruction acts in 1867 which divided the southern states into five military districts under the control of the Union army.
  • Johnson believed that the Act was unconstitutional (the Supreme Court agreed in 1926) and intentionally violated it.

• The Impeachment and Trial of Johnson

  • The impeachment of Andrew Johnson during the Reconstruction era was the first impeachment of a sitting president in the history of the U.S.
  • Johnson, who believed that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional, ignored the act and suspended Stanton anyway, replacing him with General Ulysses Grant on August 5, 1867.
  • While the prosecution spoke out against Johnson's violations of the Tenure of Office Act, the defense argued that Stanton's position was not actually protected by the Act, since Stanton was a leftover appointment from the 1860 cabinet.
  • United States affirmed "that the Tenure of Office Act of 1867...was invalid".
  • Although the conflict with Congress continued, the impeachment process convinced President Johnson to limit his obstruction of the reconstruction plans of the Radical Republicans.

• The End of Reconstruction

  • Grant signed the Electoral Commission Act that set up a 15-member commission to settle the disputed 1876 election of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats.
  • With the removal of Northern troops, the President had no method to enforce Reconstruction, thus this "back room" deal signaled the end of American Reconstruction.
  • Hayes vetoed bills from the Democrats that outlawed the Republican Force Acts, however, with the military underfunded, Hayes could not adequately enforce these laws.
  • Grant as President of the United States, and ended Reconstruction.
  • Hayes’s administration that ended Reconstruction

• Reconstruction in the South

  • Reconstruction from 1865-1877 was characterized by the conflicting views of President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction policy.
  • The Radicals, upset at President Johnson's opposition to Congressional Reconstruction, filed impeachment charges but the action failed by one vote in the Senate.
  • Grant supported Radical Reconstruction, using both the U.S.
  • Johnson ordered that land forfeited under the Confiscation Acts passed by Congress in 1861 and 1862 and administered by the Freedman's Bureau would not be redistributed to the freedmen but instead returned to pardoned owners.
  • Three Constitutional amendments, known as the Reconstruction Amendments, were adopted.

• The Radical Record

  • The Radical Republicans were a faction of American politicians within the Republican Party of the United States from about 1854 until the end of Reconstruction in 1877.
  • By December 6, 1865, the amendment was ratified and Johnson considered Reconstruction over.
  • They rejected Johnson's moderate Reconstruction efforts, and organized the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, a 15-member panel to devise more stringent reconstruction requirements for the Southern states to be restored to the Union.
  • For instance, the Fourteenth Amendment, whose principal drafter was John Bingham, was designed to put the key provisions of the Civil Rights Act into the Constitution.
  • During Reconstruction, he fought to minimize the power of the ex-Confederates and guarantee equal rights to the freedmen.

• Johnson's Plan

  • Additionally, freedman were not granted voting rights or citizenship The Black Codes outraged Northerners, and were overthrown by the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which gave freedmen full legal equality (except the right to vote).
  • The amendment was ratified by December 6, 1865, leading Johnson to believe that Reconstruction was over.
  • The Radical-controlled Congress, however, rejected Johnson's moderate Presidential Reconstruction, and organized the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, a 15-member panel that devised reconstruction requirements for the Southern states to be restored to the Union.
  • The House's primary charge against Johnson was with violation of the Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress the previous year.
  • Stanton, the Secretary of War (whom the Tenure of Office Act was largely designed to protect), from office and attempted to replace him with Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas.