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LINCOLN, JOHNSON AND RECONSTRUCTION This resear

This research paper compares and contrasts the approaches of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson to Reconstruction in the defeated Southern states after the Civil War. Reconstruction was an enormously complex task because of the intense passions aroused by the war, the suffering and physical damage caused in the South during it and the many difficulties inherent in attempting to restore the Union while at the same time accomplishing the war aims of the North, which included giving real legal, political and economic substance to emancipation of the former black slaves.

Lincoln's views on slavery and its abolition as well as on the status of blacks in American society matured considerably before and especially during the war. At the time of his death, he had become committed in principle to improving the lot of the black freedmen in many spheres and was prepared to use federal power as required to carry out that commitment. He was, however, a political pragmatist who was interested in workable and lasting solutions to race relations and would not have supported Radical Republican efforts to effect a revolutionary transformation of Southern society. Johnson believed in white supremacy and states' rights. His approach to Reconstruction amounted to acquiescence in the resurrection of much of the antebellum white power structure and the abandonment of blacks to local control and violence. His policies were implemented in an inflexible and unyielding manner which drew him increasingly into direct conflict with the Republican majority in Congress. They eventually led to the installation by Congress of military Reconstruction in the South and to Johnson's own near ouster from the presidency. Had he not been assassinated on April 14, 1865, Lincoln would have ably led the Reconstruction effort; Johnson did not.

I. Lincoln's Approach to Reconstruction

Evolution of Lincoln's Thought on Slavery and Race

Lincoln's views o...

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LINCOLN, JOHNSON AND RECONSTRUCTION This resear. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 18:47, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1702296.html