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Reconstruction failed because of President Andrew Johnson. Assess the validity
of this view of the period 1865-1877 (25 marks)
In this essay I intend to argue that although President Andrew Johnson was the most significant
reason why reconstruction failed. There were very much other factors that also effected the failure
of reconstruction. For example, the KKK, the priorities of Grant and the Hayes compromise. These
are my reasons for reconstruction alongside the failures of Andrew Johnson during his presidency.
The views of President Andrew Johnson were arguably the most vital reason for the failure of
reconstruction in the south. For example, Johnson believed that southern states should reconstruct
themselves and not be reconstructed under federal power. The fact that Johnson allowed southern
states to reconstruct itself would result and white supremacy and transform back into the ways like
it was prior the civil war. The way that Johnson gave control of the south to the southern states also
followed by an Amnesty act to the south. This pardoned them for what they had done prior the civil
war such as slavery and succeeding the union. The pardon resulted in citizens of the south having all
land and ownership returned but under the circumstances of living under the of the 13 th
amendment. However, despite the south having to live up to the 13 th amendment, it was ignored by
75% of all the white male population of the south. However, in a result of the 13 th amendment being
ignored by the south, borderline slavery was back in order at the south and nearly began to be the
powerhouse of their economy again. Since Johnson made some terrible decisions and letting the
south terribly mistreat African Americans the south grew more racist and their hatred towards black
people grew stronger. In a result of this, different southern states found ways to betray their oath of
following the 13th amendment. There way they did this was by introducing a set of rules just for black
people, these were known as the black codes. This was pretty much a concrete message towards
black people saying that their lives were not going to improve in the south. An example of these laws
is that in Louisiana September 12th, 1865, a black code was passed that stated that all black people
must give free service to a white male; which in a word is slavery. As well as this, in Florida it was
made illegal for any African American to be elected to office and resulted in all political power being
given to the white community. Johnson was pleased by these laws as it allowed the white men to
have all the power and would result in reconstruction being “manged by the white man.” However,
this is one of the reasons why reconstruction failed as the white people including Johnson did not
want the lives of African Americans to improve.
Another reason for why Johnson was responsible for the failure of reconstruction was because of his
difference in beliefs between him and the congress. One key feature that deeply expresses the
differences in beliefs is that Johnson has 21 vetoes against the radical congress which is the highest
ever in any American Presidency. In a result of the congress and Johnson being unable to come to
terms on any agreements (Especially anything to do with improvements of African Americans lives or
punishing the south.) On 9th April 1866 Johnson vetoed the civil rights movement which was the first
federal law to define citizenship for African Americans. This unallowed African Americans to have
any responsibilities and denied them being citizens of the USA and denied them the right to
politically vote. AS well as this, he also vetoed against the freedman’s bureau which denied help to
black people to try and find them land. The relationship between congress and Johnson was a
concrete factor for the failure of reconstruction. As well as this, even though Johnson had a lot of
factors that affected the way reconstruction failed, there was another strong factor that caused the
failure of reconstruction, and this was the KKK and white supremacy groups. The KKK was founded
on the 24th of December 1865 in Tennessee by a group of ex confederates. The KKK was known as a
democratic paramilitary group that brought terror to the lived of African Americans. The main role of
the KKK was to supress the 15th amendment in the south which was stopping African Americans from
voting or forcing them to vote for the democrats. An example of where they denied voting rights
was the 1869 Abram Colby case. He was a black man who was going to vote for the republican party.
He was hunted down by the KKK during a night ride which was when they inflicted their terror. They
proceeded to whip Colby to an outrageous state until he would promise to vote democratic, but he
, Feedback Bottom of Page
proceeded to commit to voting the “Radical ticket.” Due to his brutal injuries, Colby could not seek
re-election. Violence was a key factor for why reconstruction had failed. This is because it disallowed
African Americas the right to vote, and it resulted in the democratic party to remain in power in the
south. It could be stated that African Americans lives did not improve at all and could of somewhat
have gotten worse due to the actions of the Klan. For example, the election of 1868, an average of 1
black person was killed by the KKK every day. As well as this, even when the Klan was abolished in
1872, other white supremacy groups such as the white league and the red shirts came along and
admitted just as much terror such as the Colfax massacre and in Florida 1868 “white wall” which was
where white people lined up across the voting polls.
The Hayes compromises was at the end of all reconstruction and basically ended all reconstruction.
This is because President Hayes winning by just 1 electoral college vote resulted in the democrats
demanding a recount. However, Hayes did a compromise with the democrats which resulted in the
south having freedom by having all the federal troops being removed from the south. This stopped
the process of reconstruction as the south had regained all power in the south again. Due to the
south taking over, the redeemer governments began their reign of terror and carried on ruining the
lives of African Americans. However, it was definite that reconstruction of the south would have
failed due to their narrow-minded views and the black codes being introduced to block out the 14 th
amendment.
Another reason for why reconstruction failed was because of the priorities of Grant, even though it
could be argued that Grant had a lot of things to handle during his presidency such as the westward
expansion, the KKK and the scandals that were occurring, people can argue that he had his priorities
wrong and had a fault for why reconstruction failed. Even though he did pass the 15 th amendment
which gave African Americans the right to vote, he could not do much more due to the scandals and
the depression. Grant didn’t really focus on reconstruction during his presidency, but you could
argue that this was the reason why it failed as grant left it for 8 years and the plan of reconstruction
began to weaken. An example of where his priorities were wrong and could have resulted in the
failure of reconstruction is where he removed the federal troops from the south and moved them to
the west. This allowed white supremacy groups to rebuild themselves and rebegin their terror in the
south. As a result of this, African Americans were again unable to vote as the KKK were denying
them access into the voting polls. The lack of federal troops caused the redeemer governments to
take power and abuse the lives of African Americans. As well as this Grant also created a new
amnesty act in 1872 that allowed confederate leaders back into their old status. This led to the
failure of reconstruction as there were more confederates’ leaders in congress which would make it
harder to pass any civil rights act.
In conclusion, it is very clear that people can see why Johnson was the most significant reason to the
failure of reconstruction. Even though there were other factors such as violence and the Hayes
compromise. The policies of Johnson were the root of these occurring as he gave amnesty and state
power to the south which led to thew KKK and black codes being enforced. This meant that African
Americans lives did not change from how they were prior the civil war. Reconstruction failed due to
Johnson as he could not compromise between the congress and vetoed 21 time which led to no
progress in going forward with reconstruction.
Reconstruction failed because of President Andrew Johnson. Assess the validity
of this view of the period 1865-1877 (25 marks)
In this essay I intend to argue that although President Andrew Johnson was the most significant
reason why reconstruction failed. There were very much other factors that also effected the failure
of reconstruction. For example, the KKK, the priorities of Grant and the Hayes compromise. These
are my reasons for reconstruction alongside the failures of Andrew Johnson during his presidency.
The views of President Andrew Johnson were arguably the most vital reason for the failure of
reconstruction in the south. For example, Johnson believed that southern states should reconstruct
themselves and not be reconstructed under federal power. The fact that Johnson allowed southern
states to reconstruct itself would result and white supremacy and transform back into the ways like
it was prior the civil war. The way that Johnson gave control of the south to the southern states also
followed by an Amnesty act to the south. This pardoned them for what they had done prior the civil
war such as slavery and succeeding the union. The pardon resulted in citizens of the south having all
land and ownership returned but under the circumstances of living under the of the 13 th
amendment. However, despite the south having to live up to the 13 th amendment, it was ignored by
75% of all the white male population of the south. However, in a result of the 13 th amendment being
ignored by the south, borderline slavery was back in order at the south and nearly began to be the
powerhouse of their economy again. Since Johnson made some terrible decisions and letting the
south terribly mistreat African Americans the south grew more racist and their hatred towards black
people grew stronger. In a result of this, different southern states found ways to betray their oath of
following the 13th amendment. There way they did this was by introducing a set of rules just for black
people, these were known as the black codes. This was pretty much a concrete message towards
black people saying that their lives were not going to improve in the south. An example of these laws
is that in Louisiana September 12th, 1865, a black code was passed that stated that all black people
must give free service to a white male; which in a word is slavery. As well as this, in Florida it was
made illegal for any African American to be elected to office and resulted in all political power being
given to the white community. Johnson was pleased by these laws as it allowed the white men to
have all the power and would result in reconstruction being “manged by the white man.” However,
this is one of the reasons why reconstruction failed as the white people including Johnson did not
want the lives of African Americans to improve.
Another reason for why Johnson was responsible for the failure of reconstruction was because of his
difference in beliefs between him and the congress. One key feature that deeply expresses the
differences in beliefs is that Johnson has 21 vetoes against the radical congress which is the highest
ever in any American Presidency. In a result of the congress and Johnson being unable to come to
terms on any agreements (Especially anything to do with improvements of African Americans lives or
punishing the south.) On 9th April 1866 Johnson vetoed the civil rights movement which was the first
federal law to define citizenship for African Americans. This unallowed African Americans to have
any responsibilities and denied them being citizens of the USA and denied them the right to
politically vote. AS well as this, he also vetoed against the freedman’s bureau which denied help to
black people to try and find them land. The relationship between congress and Johnson was a
concrete factor for the failure of reconstruction. As well as this, even though Johnson had a lot of
factors that affected the way reconstruction failed, there was another strong factor that caused the
failure of reconstruction, and this was the KKK and white supremacy groups. The KKK was founded
on the 24th of December 1865 in Tennessee by a group of ex confederates. The KKK was known as a
democratic paramilitary group that brought terror to the lived of African Americans. The main role of
the KKK was to supress the 15th amendment in the south which was stopping African Americans from
voting or forcing them to vote for the democrats. An example of where they denied voting rights
was the 1869 Abram Colby case. He was a black man who was going to vote for the republican party.
He was hunted down by the KKK during a night ride which was when they inflicted their terror. They
proceeded to whip Colby to an outrageous state until he would promise to vote democratic, but he
, Feedback Bottom of Page
proceeded to commit to voting the “Radical ticket.” Due to his brutal injuries, Colby could not seek
re-election. Violence was a key factor for why reconstruction had failed. This is because it disallowed
African Americas the right to vote, and it resulted in the democratic party to remain in power in the
south. It could be stated that African Americans lives did not improve at all and could of somewhat
have gotten worse due to the actions of the Klan. For example, the election of 1868, an average of 1
black person was killed by the KKK every day. As well as this, even when the Klan was abolished in
1872, other white supremacy groups such as the white league and the red shirts came along and
admitted just as much terror such as the Colfax massacre and in Florida 1868 “white wall” which was
where white people lined up across the voting polls.
The Hayes compromises was at the end of all reconstruction and basically ended all reconstruction.
This is because President Hayes winning by just 1 electoral college vote resulted in the democrats
demanding a recount. However, Hayes did a compromise with the democrats which resulted in the
south having freedom by having all the federal troops being removed from the south. This stopped
the process of reconstruction as the south had regained all power in the south again. Due to the
south taking over, the redeemer governments began their reign of terror and carried on ruining the
lives of African Americans. However, it was definite that reconstruction of the south would have
failed due to their narrow-minded views and the black codes being introduced to block out the 14 th
amendment.
Another reason for why reconstruction failed was because of the priorities of Grant, even though it
could be argued that Grant had a lot of things to handle during his presidency such as the westward
expansion, the KKK and the scandals that were occurring, people can argue that he had his priorities
wrong and had a fault for why reconstruction failed. Even though he did pass the 15 th amendment
which gave African Americans the right to vote, he could not do much more due to the scandals and
the depression. Grant didn’t really focus on reconstruction during his presidency, but you could
argue that this was the reason why it failed as grant left it for 8 years and the plan of reconstruction
began to weaken. An example of where his priorities were wrong and could have resulted in the
failure of reconstruction is where he removed the federal troops from the south and moved them to
the west. This allowed white supremacy groups to rebuild themselves and rebegin their terror in the
south. As a result of this, African Americans were again unable to vote as the KKK were denying
them access into the voting polls. The lack of federal troops caused the redeemer governments to
take power and abuse the lives of African Americans. As well as this Grant also created a new
amnesty act in 1872 that allowed confederate leaders back into their old status. This led to the
failure of reconstruction as there were more confederates’ leaders in congress which would make it
harder to pass any civil rights act.
In conclusion, it is very clear that people can see why Johnson was the most significant reason to the
failure of reconstruction. Even though there were other factors such as violence and the Hayes
compromise. The policies of Johnson were the root of these occurring as he gave amnesty and state
power to the south which led to thew KKK and black codes being enforced. This meant that African
Americans lives did not change from how they were prior the civil war. Reconstruction failed due to
Johnson as he could not compromise between the congress and vetoed 21 time which led to no
progress in going forward with reconstruction.
