January 16th, 2017

U.S. Reconstruction: Johnson vs. Congress

     I believe that the major difference between President Johnson's Reconstruction plans and those of Congress was the attitude with which they accepted the southern states back into the Union after the Civil War. Both the President and Congress had their own ideas of Reconstruction. Congress was much more accepting of the returning states while Johnson viewed their secession as illegal and requiring punishment. This would ensue in a battle between these two branches of government.

     Looking to help ease the south back into things, Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson as his Vice President. I don’t believe he fully considered the consequences of his choice, because after Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson went in the opposite direction of Reconstruction from what Lincoln had envisioned.

     Johnson was from Tennessee and was angry with many of his former southern peers who had looked down on him before the war. He was the only southern representative that remained in Congress after secession so he played the role of Military Governor of Tennessee during the war. After the war, Congress was full of northern moderates and gave no representation to southern states, who were still under the authority of the military.

     Eventually, Johnson’s hatred for his former southern peers and the eagerness of Congress to bring the south back into the fold became the most prominent issue that caused a division between Congress and the President. For the first time in history, a Presidential veto was overturned by Congress, resulting in our first Civil Rights bill.

     Johnson was certainly not the right man for the job. I believe progress would have been much swifter with Lincoln as President and an accepting Congress. In the end, Johnson’s obstinacy would only empower Congress and allow them to continue with plans for Reconstruction that former President Lincoln would have found favorable.