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Compares & contrasts approaches of Presidents Abraham Lincoln & Andrew Johnson to post-Civil War reconstruction. Lincoln's views & plans. Johnson's origins, views & style. Evaluation of the 2 Presidents' skills & policies.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Compares & contrasts approaches of Presidents Abraham Lincoln & Andrew Johnson to post-Civil War reconstruction. Lincoln's views & plans. Johnson's origins, views & style. Evaluation of the 2 Presidents' skills & policies.
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LINCOLN, JOHNSON AND RECONSTRUCTION
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,
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He embraced white supremacy" (147). Lincoln showed a remarkable capacity for presidential leadershipunder the most trying circumstances imaginable. Although he supported the Missouri Compromise of 185 ,he backed the Wilmot Proviso which would have excluded slavery entirelyfrom the West. Ed. Congress never gotaround to authorizing the confiscation of title to Southern land in favorof the freedmen. The evidence suggests that Lincoln was ahead of the moderateRepublican majority in the Congress which did not overcome its doubts aboutthe wisdom of imposing black suffrage on the South until it passed the 14thAmendment in 1866 and the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. Lincoln pocket-vetoedthe bill. He permitted stategovernments to raise all-white militias and police and ordered most blacktroops removed from the South. . Most Democrats in the North, where only six states grantedfree blacks the right to vote in 1865, opposed enfranchising blacks. 15 of January 16, 1865. Huggins said that Douglass believed that "Lincoln would not havebeen an advocate of suffrage for the freedmen" (1 3). Simpson said in Johnson'smind "most blacks were lazy and promiscuous" (76). Heath, 2d ed., 1967.Riddleberger, Patrick W. Lincoln's Approach to Reconstruction Evolution of Lincoln's Thought on Slavery and Race Lincoln's views on slavery and race were shaped by his experiences onthe prairie as a young man, a lawyer and a legislator in the Illinois StateAssembly and the House of Representatives (1846-1847) and as President. Most of the Southern legislatures passed the so-calledBlack Codes in 1865-1866 which were intended to intimidate blacks fromexercising their new found liberty and to keep them in their place. Michael Perman. Abraham Lincoln The Man Behind The Myths. During thewinter of 1864-1865, he used his influence in Congress to block legislationwhich would grant the franchise to blacks in the South other than veterans(McPherson Battle Cry 843). Causes and effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. McPhersonsaid it "announced a revolutionary new war aim-the overthrow of slavery byforce of arms when the Union armies conquered the South" (Abraham 34).Lincoln felt compelled to issue it to preserve the Union. Lincoln preferred "to make white southerners partners in shaping theterms of emancipation" (Simpson 4 -41). New York: St. He lacked finesse, tact,wisdom, a sense of timing, flexibility and even common sense when it cameto managing other men. I knowthat damned Douglass; he's just like any nigger; and he would sooner cut awhite man's throat than not" (113). Meanwhile, Johnson took other actions whichincurred the wrath of the Radical Republicans. Instead, however, of standing firm, Johnsonused his powers as president to adopt a laissez-faire stance towardrestoration. The Civil War and Reconstruction. According to Oates, Lincoln "clearly wanted to . . Lincoln's views on slavery and its abolition as well as on the statusof blacks in American society matured considerably before and especiallyduring the war. They included the requirement that 5 percent instead of 1 percent take the oath of allegiance, stipulated that a constitutionalconvention must take place before state officials were elected andrestricted the right to vote to men who could take an 'ironclad oath' thatthey had never voluntarily supported the Confederacy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. During the Lincoln-Douglas debates at Quincy, Illinois on October 13, 1858, he said: "we thinkit [slavery] is a moral, a social and a political wrong" (Basler 3: 254).According to black leader and former slave Frederick Douglass, "though Mr.Lincoln shared the prejudices of his fellow-countrymen against the negro, .. It is unrealistic to suppose that full civil and political rights forblacks in the South could have achieved, let alone sustained, in the 186 s,no matter who was president. He could have been reliedon to continue using those skills on behalf of sensible Reconstructionpolicies. By doing so, he emboldened Southern die hards to resist allbut the most minimal reforms. During the course of 1865 and 1866, Simpson said that "racistoutbursts in private conversations revealed his true sentiments" (76). Grant Soldier & President. In 1862 Congress passed the Confiscation Act whichauthorized federal seizure of abandoned rebel property. To forestall the outbreakof the impending conflict, Lincoln reassured the seceding Southern stateson a number of occasions that he did not intend to abolish slavery in theSouth. Abolitionist Wendell Philips said in 1865 that withoutit, "freedom, so-called, is a sham" (McPherson Abraham 139). At Ottawa, he said: "I have no purpose tointroduce political and social equality between the white and black races.There is a physical difference between the two which, in my judgment, willprobably forever forbid their living together upon a footing of perfectequality" and "I agree . By the time Congress reconvened in December, Foote said of theRadical Republicans, "vengeance-minded, the hard-war men were out forblood" (1 43). Ed. Lincoln justified his action on the grounds of military necessity,but once the decision was made, he never turned back. installa free-labor system [in the South] for blacks as well as whites, toestablish public schools for both races, to look after the welfare of thefreedmen, [and] to grant them access to the ballot and the courts" (146). the foundations of their institutions must be broken up andrelaid, or all of our blood and treasure have been spent in vain"(McPherson Abraham 16). . The 39th Congress refused to seat theCongressional delegations sent by the governments recognized by Johnson andappointed a Committee of Fifteen, nine from the House of Representativesand six from the Senate, to oversee Reconstruction and fashion newlegislation. Under it, (1) all former political officials and militaryofficers (above the rank of colonel in the army) of the former Confederacywould be barred from office; (2) others could be pardoned so long as theyswore allegiance to the Union; (3) when the number of those eligible toparticipate amounted to at least 1 percent of those who had voted in 186 ,they could form a government and be readmitted to the Union; provided that:(4) the new government must accept and obey the emancipation proclamationand all federal laws relating to slavery. According to Wills, Lincoln distrusted more doctrinaire approachesbecause he feared they "would lead to fighting the war over again inpeacetime" and that "the key theme in Lincoln's discussions ofReconstruction was flexibility" (64). Lincoln'sefforts to interest the border states in his plan for gradual, compensatedemancipation had been rejected by them. Both mattered profoundly to him, and he believedthat one could not be achieved without the other" (168). . Lincoln. "Emancipating the Republic: Lincoln and the Means and Ends of Antislavery." Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. He suggested toGovernor Michael Hahn of Louisiana in a private letter in February 1864that he favored letting "the very intelligent, and especially those whohave fought gallantly in the ranks" have the vote (Huggins 1 8). Lincoln and the Republicans in Congress clashed over whetherReconstruction was a Presidential or a Congressional prerogative.Nevertheless, Oates said "Lincoln sought Congress's approval andcooperation, for he acknowledged that Capitol Hill had a powerful voice inthe reconstruction process" (141). The Radical Republicans wishedto effect a radical transformation of Southern society. Under the new bill, "it now had anindefinite life, a strengthened system of quasi-military courts to enforceits decrees, and the authority to function anywhere . McPherson believesthat Lincoln would have eventually supported universal black suffragebecause "he had moved steadily leftward during the war, from noemancipation to limited emancipation with colonization and then touniversal emancipation with limited suffrage" (Battle Cry 844). Four million former slaves (and many whitedisplaced persons) were milling about, many aimlessly, amidst chaos anddevastation. Michael Perman. "Lincoln's Greatest Speech?" Atlantic Monthly 284 (September 1999): 6 -7 .----------------------- 25 My own view is thatLincoln would have agreed with the moral force and the political necessityof black suffrage and acceded to the wishes of the Republican majority inCongress. It took about six weeks for it to begin totake shape amidst the trauma surrounding Lincoln's murder, the ending ofthe war and perhaps indecision on the part of Johnson. Johnson's early efforts to reassure Radical Republicansthat he was for a harsh peace and his statements that he was a friend ofthe Negro, their Moses, would later come back to haunt Johnson. During the first two years of the war and in order to persuadeborder states such as Kentucky, Tennessee and Maryland not to join therebellion, he resisted efforts by the abolitionists and their Republicanallies in Congress to make emancipation of the slaves a major war aim ofthe North. As a Democrat from a borderstate, he was nominated for the vice presidency on the Republican (NationalUnion) ticket in 1864 to broaden its appeal. Michael Perman. McPherson said "prospects seemed good for compromisewith the president" (Battle 843). Berlinsaid Lincoln "repudiated his misgivings about the military abilities ofblack soldiers and became one of their great supporters" (295). I. Meanwhile, economicand social conditions in the South were appalling. His policies were implemented in aninflexible and unyielding manner which drew him increasingly into directconflict with the Republican majority in Congress. Inone, Johnson said "this is a country for white men . Battle Cry Of Freedom The Civil War Era. Pre-Civil War Views. In June a delegation led byWade, Stevens and Davis failed to persuade Johnson to call a specialsession of Congress to deal with Reconstruction policy. 157-158."Lincoln Explains What Is at Stake: December 186 ." Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. 288-297.Carter, Hodding. deprives ourrepublican example of its just influence in the world-enabling the enemiesof free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites"(McPherson Abraham 51). Banks had great difficulty forging aconsensus among warring political factions in Louisiana. As Oates put it, "by 1865 he was prepared to reformand reshape the South's shattered society with the help of military force"(137). Their right ofpossession to forty acres of that land was confirmed by General WilliamSherman's Field Orders, No. . Profiles in Courage. After assuming power, Johnsonat first mollified the Radical Republicans by his tough stance on thetreatment of Confederate leaders. but they could not deceive him . and crimemust be punished" (Foner 177). He told a group of Radical lawmakers afew days after Lincoln's death that "treason is a crime . According to Riddleberger, "as Andrew Johnson understood andinterpreted the Constitution the states should decide such matters asqualifications for voting and holding office" (11). Conventions inMississippi and other Southern states promptly followed his lead byexcluding blacks from suffrage. 281-282.Randall, J. He even considered having Leetried for treason, until he was finally dissuaded by General Grant's threatto resign. In a speech to the Republican StateConvention in Springfield, Illinois on June 16, 1858, he said: "a housedivided against itself cannot stand. However,"on the matter that would emerge as the central issue of postwarreconstruction, Negro suffrage, the convention balked" (7 7). "Who Freed The Slaves? He quickly recognizednewly formed governments which had been organized during Lincoln's term butwithout any of the conditions (other than repudiation of the secession andabolition of slavery) that had characterized the initial Louisianagovernment. Great Britain, where public opinionwas mostly anti-slavery, was leaning toward recognition of the rebellion.Lincoln's pet project, the relocation of freed blacks in Central Americahad foundered because of practical difficulties and the opposition ofNorthern black leaders. Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. . Cox said"unlike Lincoln, Johnson had never been tentative or guarded in his view ofblack men as not the equal of whites. As the sectionalcontroversy between North and South intensified during the 185 s, Lincoln'sdoubts as to whether slavery in the South and free government werecompatible over the long run grew. Along the coast of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, freedmen hadtaken possession of abandoned plantations after 1862. . Some earlier historians tended to portray Johnson as a beleagueredpresident, a centrist and moderate albeit bumbling politician, who wasforced into confrontation with Congress and eventually impeachmentproceedings by the Jacobins in Congress. "It mandated public schools forall children of all races, opened the state militia to blacks, and providedequal access to the courts for both races" (McPherson Battle 7 7). Afterwards, he toldhis private secretary Gideon Welles: "those damned sons of bitches thoughtthey had me in a trap . said "Johnson's failure to realize that the President of theUnited States cannot be a quarreler cost him dearly" (579). Had he not been assassinatedon April 14, 1865, Lincoln would have ably led the Reconstruction effort;Johnson did not. Once he became committed to his Reconstruction policy, Johnsonrefused to modify it, despite increasing evidence from the South that itwas not working. . Lincoln reluctantly recommended the new Louisiana government toCongress on the theory that half a loaf was better than none. C. Afterpressure was applied by Lincoln, the convention would only agree to inserta clause authorizing the state legislature to enfranchise blacks. Carbondale: Southern Illinois P, 1979.Sefton, James E. Nevertheless, thenew Louisiana constitution contained several liberal features. According to Simpson, Johnson"did not come to the presidency with any well-defined thoughts on post-warreconstruction policy" (71). New York: Oxford Up, 1988.Oates, Stephen B. New York: Random House, 1974.Huggins, Nathan Irvin. . By the summer of 1865, the Radical Republicans were thoroughlyalarmed by what they perceived to be a policy which amounted to appeasementof the white power establishment in the South. Lincolnappointed him military governor of Tennessee. The Union army and the Freedmen's Bureau struggled tomaintain order, to sustain the subsistence of black and white refugees andto prepare the freedmen to enter political life. Boston: D. What Country Have I? Nevertheless, several influential Republican moderates, suchas Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois and William Fessenden of Maine,attempted to fashion two laws which would satisfy both the RadicalRepublicans and Johnson. 65-66."Lincoln Proclaims the Memory of the Conflict: The Gettysburg Address, November 1863." Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Pre-Civil War Lincoln's concept of equality for blacks fell short offull equality. Johnson lacked the needed leadership capacity and skills and madeabout every mistake in the book. New York: Harper Collins, 198 .Kennedy, John F. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998, 159-16 .McPherson, James M. However, most observers agree with Foner's statement that"the door stood open for Johnson to embrace the emerging consensus withinthe Republican party that the freedmen were entitled to civil equalityshort of suffrage, and that wartime Unionists must play a prominent role inSouthern politics" (227). Congresscountered with the Wade-Davis Bill of July 2, 1864 which reasserted itsprerogatives to set Reconstruction policy and set more stringent standardswhich the Southern states would have to meet to be eligible for re-entryinto the Union. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Andrew Johnson and The Uses of Constitutional Power. In reality, Johnson, as he soon made clear, did not believe that hehad the power under the Constitution to impose conditions on the states asto who could vote, so Trefousse said, "he decided to leave the subjectalone" (226). Then Lincoln was assassinated. . Lincoln was a classic 19th century liberal, but he was fairlyconservative on social and economic matters. Lincoln's Reconstruction Plans Randall et al. Lincoln said during the Lincoln-Douglas debates that he believed thatthe founding fathers had intended to include black men within the meaningof the 'all men are created equal' proviso of the Declaration ofIndependence. . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Among other objections, Johnsonsaid the Civil Rights Act represented unconstitutional intrusions on thepowers of the states under the 1 th Amendment. When his May 29, 1865 Amnesty Proclamation was issued, RadicalRepublicans applauded his decision to exempt from eligibility forpresidential pardon former Confederates with property having a value ofmore than $2 , . (66). he [the black man] is not my equal in manyrespects, certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral or intellectualendowment" (Basler 3:16). ThaddeusStevens, a Radical Republican leader from Pennsylvania, said thatgovernment in the South without the consent of all the governed, "is atyranny" (139). Johnson's Approach to Reconstruction Johnson's Origins and Initial Approach. He did not help his image by making an incoherent speech atLincoln's second inaugural which was prompted by last minute imbibing.Sefton said that he was "rigid, intractable, sometimes crude, oftenwrongheaded, and often courageous" (ix). The Angry Scar. In 1865 theFreedmen's Bureau began operating to provide welfare to the hundreds ofthousands of former slaves who poured into Union lines. In theGettysburg Address, Lincoln said "our fathers brought forth on thiscontinent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to theproposition that all men are created equal" and said "this nation" afterthe war shall have "a new birth of freedom" (Lincoln Proclaims 159). Reconstruction policy remained in abeyance until after Lincolnwon re-election in the fall 1864 election. To serenaders at the White House on April 11,1865, he reiterated for the first time publicly that he favored grantingthe franchise to "very intelligent" blacks and to blacks "who serve ourcause as soldiers" and expressed the hope that would happen in states otherthan just Louisiana (Oates 143). Riddlebergersaid that by "placing his reliance almost solely on Southern conservatives,he [Johnson] took a path that would make his administration untenable"(16). . At the time of his death, he had become committed inprinciple to improving the lot of the black freedmen in many spheres andwas prepared to use federal power as required to carry out that commitment.He was, however, a political pragmatist who was interested in workable andlasting solutions to race relations and would not have supported RadicalRepublican efforts to effect a revolutionary transformation of Southernsociety. He was very much a man of his times and alesser one at that. In1854 Lincoln said the "monstrous injustice of slavery . These laws which passed in March 1866 were therelatively modest Freedmen's Bureau Act which extended and expanded thefunctions of the Freedmen's Bureau and the Civil Rights Act which grantedblacks citizenship and equal civil rights (but not the suffrage). His May 29Proclamation permitted all but the top Confederate brass to apply forpresidential pardons, which he dispensed liberally. they have shown a constant tendencyto relapse into barbarism" (Simpson 119). Johnsonnever really tried to rise above the occasion, but instead tragicallyattempted to turn the clock back. What Johnson really intended was "a lenient peace and a rapidrestoration of the rebellious states to the Union," all to be accomplishedby the executive branch with only minimal consultation with Congress whichwas scheduled to be in recess until December (Simpson 71). . All historians tend to agree that Johnson had a confrontational,reckless and often tactless style that often served to subvert his owninterests. New York: Random House, 1997."President Lincoln Defends Emancipation, August 1863." Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998, 166-175.Perman, Michael, ed. In February 1866, he accusedStevens, Wade and Davis of "being imposed to the fundamental principles ofthis government" and "laboring to destroy them" (129). On the afternoon of the day he wasassassinated, Lincoln told his cabinet: "we can't undertake to run stategovernments in all those southern states. The Reconstruction Presidents. . Ed. John Kennedy said Johnson was a"courageous if untactful Tennessean" who attempted to block those "whosought to administer the downtrodden Southern states as conquered stateswho had forfeited their rights under the Constitution" (126). 9 vols. . Political Writings of Black Americans. G., and David Donald. Lincoln, if he had survived, would have had tocontend with, the constitutional limitations on the power of the presidencywhich were very real in the 19th century and the reassertion ofCongressional power which would have occurred after the war ended. . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.Perret, Geoffrey. New York: Harper & Row, 1984.Paladan, Philip Shaw. In short, Johnson sawnothing inconsistent in usurping the powers of Congress while at the sametime adopting the strictest possible states' rights position vis-a-vis theSouth. Ed. Lincoln fullysupported the efforts of private charities and later the Freedmen's Bureauwhich was largely run by the Union Army to provide relief to the formerslaves and to assist them in making the transition as members of postwarcivil society. The Northeventually tired of Reconstruction in the 187 s. The fact remains that fourcritical years were lost in fractious and largely sterile deadlock inWashington for which Johnson must bear a large share of the responsibility.For a sensible Reconstruction policy, including the furtherance of thecivil rights, political equality and interests of the former slaves, tohave had a chance to succeed, the president had to have the capacity tolead the nation, North and South, through the flexible use of carrot andstick, the right sense of when and how to compromise together with awillingness to use the threat of force and, if need be, military coercion,to make compromises stick, through very rough and treacherous waters. Itmay well be, as Foner has suggested, that the civil rights revolution ofthe 186 s died aborning because there was little support in the North foreffecting a revolutionary transformation of Southern society. He summed up his position on the eve of the Civil Warin a letter to a Southerner, John Gilmore, on December 15, 186 : "you thinkslavery is right and ought to be extended; we think it is wrong and oughtto be restricted" (President Lincoln Explains What 66). Slave and Citizen The Life of Frederick Douglass. Works CitedBasler, Roy P., ed. Johnson believed in white supremacy and states' rights. Lincoln supported theannulment of the Fugitive Slave Law and authorized the enlistment of freedblacks in the Union Army, where most of them performed valiantly. In doing so, he shocked and outraged the considerable supporthe still had among the more moderate Republican members of Congress. Ulysses S. How far would Lincoln have been prepared to go to support fullpolitical equality and to promote the economic interests of the freedmen?The Radical Republicans were emphatic that universal male black suffragewas indispensable. . New York: Oxford UP, 1991.McPherson, James M. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 195 .Berlin, Ira. Lincoln And Black Freedom A Study of Presidential Leadership. Did he foresee the needs ofhis time in the light of the nation's past experience and future potentialand use his influence to accomplish the best possible result? Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. His prestige was at an all-time high, theNorth was close to victory and Lincoln had taken steps to propitiate theRadical Republicans, including the nomination of his Treasury SecretarySalmon Chase to the Supreme Court and close consultations between Lincolnand Senator Charles Sumner. New York: Norton, 1989.Wills, Gary. Lincoln had the necessary skills and undoubtedly would have pursuedhis goals of bringing the former Confederate states back into the Union ona basis which would have permitted a more measured improvement of therights and interests of freedmen than in fact was possible under Johnson'sapproach which effectively froze Reconstruction policy for four long yearsuntil Grant took office. Others, suchas John Fremont in September 1861 in Missouri and David Hunter, inconquered areas of theSouth Carolina, Georgia and Florida coast in the spring of 1862, cited thelaws of war which permitted the seizure of enemy property or contraband andissued proclamations freeing the slaves under their control. Emancipation and Its Meaning." Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. LINCOLN, JOHNSON AND RECONSTRUCTION This research paper compares and contrasts the approaches ofPresidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson to Reconstruction in thedefeated Southern states after the Civil War. Although theEmancipation Proclamation, first issuedpreliminarily on September 22, 1862 and effective on January 1, 1863, onlyfreed the former slaves within areas of the Confederacy liberated by theUnion Army, it sounded the death knell for slavery in the South. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.Foner, Eric. Michael Perman. freedmen neededits protection" (125). Abraham Lincoln And The Second American Revolution. Michael Perman. was never contemplated by the authors of the Constitution" and thatsuch requirements could not be imposed on the Southern states without theirconsent which was impossible since Congress had refused to seat theirelected representatives (Sefton 126-127). Thegreat majority of Southern whites were bitterly opposed. Lincoln pressed the Union commander, Nathaniel Banks, to formulatewith local leaders a plan to reconstitute its government along the linesoutlined in his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction which he issuedin November 1863. Its industry andinfrastructure were ruined, one fourth of its men had been killed, and muchof its agriculture lay fallow. . He, however, opposed the abolitionist crusade to eliminateslavery in the South because, as he said at Quincy, "we have no right[under the Constitution] to disturb it in the States where it exists"(Basler 3:254-255). Itrepudiated secession and abolished slavery. In that sense, it is fair to judge him a failure, notby today's standards of racial tolerance, but by the universal standardswhich must be applied to any political leader. In the winter-spring session of 1864-1865, Congress and the Presidentmoved closer to a compromise on Reconstruction policy which most observersbelieve would have taken the form of acceptance by Congress of the newlyformed governments in Louisiana, Arkansas and possibly Tennessee andVirginia in return for a presidential promise to cause the incorporation ofsome version of the Wade-Davis Bill in the constitution of future Southernstate governments. In his annual message to Congress inDecember 1866, Johnson said "negroes have shown less capacity forgovernment than any other people . would beworse than the military despotism under which they are now suffering" andthat he was opposed "to the Africanization of half of our country" (369).Simpson summed him up as "a prisoner of his prejudices" (76). New York: Harper & Row, 1955. . At this juncture, the fall of 1865, one white constitutionalconvention and state legislature after another fell under the domination"of arch-conservatives and secessionists" (Trefousse 23 ). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959.Cox, LaWanda. Johnsondid not cause the sectional passions, distress and disorder in the South,nor did Southern intransigence originate with him (although he helpedencourage it) nor did he cause the excesses of the Republican Radicals. Congress was also stirred toact in opposition to Johnson by two severe anti-black riots, in Memphis andNew Orleans in the spring and summer of 1866. Instead of urging state constitutional conventions to extendthe franchise to at least some blacks, as Lincoln had done, Johnson made afew highly public suggestions along those lines, but Southerners quicklyperceived that Johnson was only engaging in empty rhetoric to placate hisRepublican critics. According to Perret, Johnson toldGrant "the subjugation of the states to Negro domination . Lincolnreversed both edicts. said that "Lincoln approached the difficult problemsof reconstruction with an open mind and an absence of commitment" (551-552). Johnson took the position that the Freedmen's Billgave authority to the military which was reserved to civil authoritiesunder the Constitution, that "a system for the support of indigent persons. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. . They eventually led tothe installation by Congress of military Reconstruction in the South and toJohnson's own near ouster from the presidency. Stevens saidReconstruction must "revolutionize Southern institutions, habits, andmanners . Their own people must do that-though I reckon that at first some of them will do it badly" (Foote 976).Despite his calls for reconciliation and his note of "with malice towardnone, and charity toward all," in his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln hadshown that he took an expansive view of the powers of the presidency duringthe war and was ready to use the army to ensure that his Reconstructionpolicy was implemented. . Ed. Andrew Johnson A Biography. The Civil War A Narrative Red River to Appomattox. Paladan said"Lincoln was equally committed to the political constitutional system andto the ideal of equality. Lincoln personally led the effort to pass the 13th Amendment inCongress in the winter of 1864-1865 which abolished slavery and which waseventually ratified by the needed number of states after his death. The Confederacythen showed no signs of yielding and in fact General Robert Lee's forceshad trounced the Army of the Potomac on several occasions. Oates saidLincoln at his death was "moving toward full political rights for theNegro" (145). Hisapproach to Reconstruction amounted to acquiescence in the resurrection ofmuch of the antebellum white power structure and the abandonment of blacksto local control and violence. . According to David, "unlike the Radicals, he [Lincoln]gave no thought to dividing up the estates of the defeated Southernplanters and giving each black forty acres and a mule" (583). While he rejected on numerous occasions the notion that a 'one shoefits all' formula should be applied to all the former Southern statesbecause of their diverse histories and circumstances, Lincoln selectedLouisiana as the pilot project to develop his initial plan forreintegrating the Confederate states back into the Union because: (1) itslargest city, New Orleans, had been under federal control since the springof 1862; and (2) New Orleans' cosmopolitan population contained the largestfree black community in the South and a sizeable pro-Unionist loyalistelement. Evolution of Lincoln's Views as President. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.Foote, Shelby. Michael Perman. in his heart of hearts he loathed and hated slavery" (Stony 52-53). 2,3 & 4. The KuKlux Klan appeared to enforce the Black Codes. Johnson soon became perceived as a doubledealer. The achievement of such equality was, however, a goal whichmust be achieved gradually and through constitutional means. Lawrence: U of Kansas P, 1998.Stony, Herbert J., ed. No one knows how Lincoln would have dealt with this issue if he hadlived. At Ottawa, Illinois on August 21, 1858, he said: "there is noreason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rightsenumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, libertyand the pursuit of happiness" which Lincoln defined to include "the rightto eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hands earns"(Basler 3:16). In a letter to JohnConklin, dated August 26, 1863, he said: "the promise [of freedom] beingmade, must be kept" (President Lincoln Defends 282). Overall Assessment Johnson was not in the same league with Lincoln when it came topossessing that blend of political and leadership skills which were neededto manage the complex process of Reconstruction. . From the perspective of the whiteSouthern majority, Carter said "the fear of bloodshed and economic disastershould the Negroes not be brought under control in the summer of 1865 wasvery real" (51). 121- 155."Lincoln Explains His 'Paramount Objective' of Saving the Union." Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Johnson vetoed both these bills, only to see his vetoes eventuallyoverridden. Simpson saidLincoln "was not yet ready to embrace an economic revolution" (42). Wills emphasized Lincoln's emotional, almost quasi-religiousconversion, to the cause of equal rights for blacks. As thousands of blacks crowded into Union lines, some UnionGenerals such as Benjamin Butler put them to work as laborers. Vols. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 1981.Donald, David Herbert. . Trefousse said "instead ofexpressing sympathy for the victims, he [Johnson] blamed the radicalCongress for having instigated the melee" (259). In hissecond Inaugural Address of March 4, 1865, Lincoln said that "all knew thatthis interest [slavery], was, somehow, the cause of the war," and thatLincoln believed that its abolition, as Wills pointed out, was divinelyinspired. An orphan son of anilliterate tailor, Johnson had opted for the Union in 186 . Ed. Moreover, he was facing backwards toward a bygoneera. In thecourse of these battles and those in 1866 and 1867 over the passage andratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, which for the first time gave thefederal government power to enforce the civil rights of blacks andpenalized states by reducing their representation in Congress if theydiscriminated against blacks in voting and the Reconstruction Acts of 1867,Johnson revealed the rigidity of his position on states' rights, hisantipathy toward blacks and his opposition to any efforts to ease theirplight in the South and his own deficiencies as a political leader. Personal vindictiveness was absent fromLincoln's Reconstruction policy (and the generous spirit shown by UlyssesGrant to the defeated South at Appomattox), but Johnson loved to castigatethe leaders of the Confederacy as traitors. Lincoln was personally exposed to slavery andfound it morally repugnant and politically corrupting. Boston: Little, Brown, 198 .Simpson, Brooks. Lincoln consistently opposed the extension of slavery into thewestern territories. 1866 The Critical Year Revisited. Almost all the violence was, however, committed by whitesagainst blacks which Foner said "reached staggering proportions in theimmediate aftermath of the war" (118). Lincoln camevery close to meeting that standard in the early stages of Reconstructionand would probably have done well during the rest of his term. I believe this government cannotendure, permanently, half slave, half free" (Basler 2:461-2). He told Secretary of State William Seward on July12, 1862: "we must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued" (McPhersonAbraham 83). Reconstruction was anenormously complex task because of the intense passions aroused by the war,the suffering and physical damage caused in the South during it and themany difficulties inherent in attempting to restore the Union while at thesame time accomplishing the war aims of the North, which included givingreal legal, political and economic substance to emancipation of the formerblack slaves. In August, he caused ordersto be issued which resulted in the restoration to all pardoned whiteSoutherners of their property which had been temporarily seized by thefederal government and he ended the practice whereby the Freedmen's Bureauused tax proceeds from Southern economic activities and rents fromabandoned land to fund its work in support of freedmen. The North was then in an unassailably strong military position toenforce its will on the South. II. On February 7, 1966,Johnson met at the White House with Douglass and other black leaders wherehe told them that "he would consider extending the franchise to blacks onlywhere a majority of whites consented" (Huggins 113). America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877. Martin's P, 197 .Trefousse, Hans L. As Lincoln told newspaper editor Horace Greeley in aletter, dated August 22, 1862: "my paramount object in this struggle is tosave the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery" (LincolnExplains His 157). and by God, aslong as I am President, it shall be [so]" (76). Johnson's 'Restoration' Policy Unfolds More careful scrutiny of the May 29 Proclamation and moreimportantly, Johnson's actions to implement it revealed that hisReconstruction or 'Restoration' program was turning out to be verydifferent from what either Lincoln or the Republicans in Congress hadenvisaged. According to Sefton, the Freedmen's Bureau had assisted freedmen inareas such as "education, marriage, labor contracts, and disputes betweenblacks and white employers" (125). Lincoln'srelations with Congress had not always been harmonious, but his integritywas unimpeachable. Lincolncriticized the 1857 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision which held thatslaves were mere chattel and had no rights under the Constitution and cameout in favor of amending the Fugitive Slave Act of 185 . In the Lincoln-Douglas debates, he reassured his whiteconstituents that he did not propose that blacks be given the right tovote, to hold political office or to serve on juries, none of which waspermitted under Illinois law. He frequentlyengaged in tactless histrionics and exchanged invective with hecklers.Randall et al. .
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