Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction and Restoration Program
Andrew Johnson became the 17th President of the United States upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in April 1865. From his prior statements, it was widely believed that Johnson agreed with the Congressional Radical Republicans regarding Reconstruction policies, most notably toward ex-Confederates. But Johnson’s policy of “Restoration” was deemed far too lenient, resulting in a break with Congressional leaders and verbal charges of “treason” by men like Thaddeus Stevens. His final significant act as President was a general amnesty for all ex-Confederates not covered by prior published exceptions as found in his May 29, 1865 Amnesty Proclamation.
Andrew Johnson’s Restoration Policy
Johnson was a Southern, born in Raleigh, North Carolina and associated with Tennessee which he represented in the National Congress and later ruled as military governor. Johnson resented the wealthy Southern planter class and identified with the average yeoman farmer. These attitudes can be seen in his Amnesty Proclamation.
Under Johnson, amnesty would be extended to all Southerners that took an oath to “faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution…” Johnson, however, made exceptions, listing 14 specific classes of people. Several of these exceptions had also appeared in Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
Exceptions to Johnson’s Amnesty Proclamation
Exceptions included Confederate political leaders, officers that had resigned their commissions in 1861 to take up arms against the United States, Congressional representatives that had resigned their seats in 1860 (South Carolina) and 1861, and a host of others that had left the United States to support the rebellion. The 13th exception included any persons “…who have voluntarily participated in said rebellion, and the estimated value of whose taxable property is over twenty thousand dollars.”
A final clause in the document, however, provided “That special application may be made to the President for pardon by any person belonging to the excepted classes…” Many pardon-seekers, as evidenced from letters sent to Johnson, represented exceptions to the 13th class. The petition of Mrs. A. C. Bower, of Ashe County, N.C., for example, declares her taxable property to be “more than twenty thousand dollars…” but that her only offense was linked to the purchase of Confederate war bonds, purchased indirectly through an agent and without her express approval.
Several of these letters stress that the writers had been strong supporters of the Union. In the case of R. L. Abernathy, the petitioner claims that he “used all his efforts in public and private to preserve the Union of the States…” Such letters may validate Abraham Lincoln’s initial conclusions in early 1861 that pro-Union sentiment was still strong in certain areas of the South, notably those districts that had supported John Bell in the 1860 election.
Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republican Congress
Confronted by Johnson’s Proclamation as well as his policy of returning confiscated Southern lands to pre-war owners (see the article on Forty Acres and a Mule), Congressional Radicals turned against him. Johnson’s refusal to grant freedmen equal rights resulted in passage of the 14th Amendment. Despite surviving Impeachment, Johnson managed to pardon 654 persons (United States Department of Justice). This included Jefferson Davis and Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated John Wilkes Booth after Lincoln was assassinated.
Johnson’s Restoration Program Hindered Reconstruction
Both Johnson and the Republican backlash hindered efforts to “bind the nation’s wounds,” as Lincoln had stated in his Second Inaugural Speech. Radicals enacted their own policies which were focused on revenge. In response, white Southerners enacted “Black Laws” and organizations like the Ku Klux Klan terrorized black communities, assassinated whites viewed as Northern collaborators, and disrupted elections. Neither Johnson’s program nor the Republican policies fairly and objectively addressed the post-war South.
References:
- Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 (History Book Club: Francis Parkman Prize Edition, in association with HarperCollins, 2005)
- Andrew Johnson, Amnesty Proclamation (text document) and “Amnesty letters,” original source letters
- Library of Congress, letters and Documents
- Lloyd Robinson, The Stolen Election (NY: Tom Doherty Associates, Forge Books, 2001)
Copyright owned by Michael Streich
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