Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction

Because we live in the modern era, few of us ever consider the complexities of governing a young, raucous United States. In the years following the end of the Civil War, the baton of power and responsibility was passed Constitutionally from President Lincoln to then Vice-President Johnson. When the 40th Congress did not agree with President Johnson's policies, they attempted to take that power from him.

As a southerner in a northern administration, Johnson was already an anomaly. In some sense, his political sensibilities were the perfect solution for a country trying to become whole again (Benedict, 1973, 366-367). In his efforts to restart Reconstruction, Johnson combined southern and northern political ideologies. However, the 40th Congress did not see things President Johnson's way. The Congress instead tried to take the power and responsibility for Reconstruction into their own hands.

Reconstruction, as a policy, did not begin with Andrew Johnson, but began early in President Lincoln's first administration. When the western counties of Virginia refused to go along with secession, the possibility for President Lincoln to initiate policies of reconstruction presented itself. In 1861 a loyal state government of Virginia was proclaimed at Wheeling and the United States government in turn consented to the formation of a new state called West Virginia, admitted to the Union in 1863. As Union forces adv

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vernments were in a condition of suspended animation. Under this interpretation it was possible for Congress to deny representation to the Southern states and to accept the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment by the legislatures of these same states (Morison, Commager, & Leuctenberg, 1977, 335). The differences between the Congress and the President boiled down to a struggle of will and ideology. While President Johnson often proclaimed himself a Unionist, he stubbornly refused to admit any legislation on Reconstruction unless he had brought it before Congress himself. His viscious attacks on members of his own party only served to distance him from any possible reconciliation. Members of Congress were concerned about more changes than just Reconstruction. In short, the radical program of the Republican Congress wanted to keep all ex-Confederate states out of the union until more 'republican' governments could be founded. The Congress would require, as prerequisite for readmission, repeal of black codes and guarantee of black civil rights. Most of all, Congress was planning a recodification of Congressional powers, and Johnson knew this. There was legislation drafted to give Congress the supreme power in the Ameri

Category: History - A