Reconstruction Period

In 1865, the American Civil War came to an end and the period of Reconstruction began. The purpose of Reconstruction was to restore the Southern states to the Union and to insure the rights of the recently freed blacks. From the start, the President and the Congress clashed over which branch of the government should have control of the Reconstruction process. This became an important issue which went beyond the concerns of Reconstruction itself. Specifically, the struggle between Congress and the Presidency was concerned with determining the relative power of the legislative and executive branches. During the course of Reconstruction, Congressional power became dominant in the U.S. government. This dominance was to continue throughout the Reconstruction period, until 1877.

During the Civil War, President Lincoln declared a state of emergency and assumed many of the powers that had formerly been held by Congress. There were several occasions in which the President issued wartime orders "without waiting for authority from Congress" (Diamond, 1976, p. 198). Most of the members of Congress were opposed to this assumption of power by the Presidency. The strongest opponents were the so-called "Radical Republicans," who were led by Senator Charles Sumner and House Representative Thaddeus Stevens. Senator Sumner, for example, claimed that Congress had the exclusive power to "the exercise of the rights of war," and that the Presidency was "only the instrument of Congress"

Related Essays

Reconstruction Period .... Although the slaves were technically freed, the South insisted on strict segregation, and by the end of the Reconstruction period black people were relegated .... (256 1 )

Reconstruction Period Reconstruction, the post Civil War effort to re integrate the states of the defeated Confederacy into the United States, and to reform the economy and society .... (2425 10 )

Reconstruction Period The period of Reconstruction is the era following the Civil War when the country set out to rebuild and to revive the economy of the devastated South. .... (1711 7 )

The Reconstruction Period In 1865, the American Civil War came to .... in the US government. This dominance was to continue throughout the Reconstruction period, until 1877. During the Civil War, President .... (1769 7 )

Changing Interpretations of Reconstruction .... Although most historians discuss the Reconstruction period in the post-Confederate South as beginning with the end of the Civil War in 1865, Reconstruction did .... (2328 9 )

een President Johnson and the Congress over Reconstruction issues. In addition to wanting to control the Reconstruction processes and thus keep the South from regaining power, Congress claimed that it had a Constitutional right to the control of those processes. The Constitution indicates that Congress has authority over the admission of new state governments. Therefore, in the eyes of the Congressional leaders, "the decision rested with Congress when and under what conditions the vanquished were to be readmitted into the Union" (Fribourg, 1972, p. 261). Within two years of the Johnson Presidency, Congress had taken complete control over Reconstruction. This was accomplished by the passage of various legislative acts. Although Johnson usually tried to veto these new laws, he was continually outvoted by a majority in the Congress. In passing these laws, Congress hoped to achieve its basic goals of controlling Confederate power and protecting blacks in the South. In addition, these laws sought to centralize power in the national government rather than the states and "to locate that centralized authority in an omnipotent Congress to which executive and courts should be subordinate" (Beale, 1967, p. 211). In 1866, Congress es

Category: Government - R