Reconstruction Acts

The Reconstruction Acts were a series of legislation passed by Congress in 1867, after the American Civil War (1861–65). Together they outlined the Republican Party 's plan for reintegrating into the Union the Southern states that made up the Confederate States of America and for protecting basic rights for the newly freed slaves. The acts represented the wishes of a strong Republican Congress and were passed over the vetoes of President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; served 1865–69).

A political struggle

The time after the Civil War was difficult for the United States. Americans passionately debated how to reintegrate the rebelling Confederate states and people into the Union. Northern opinions were divided between the Radical Republicans , who wanted the Southerners to suffer for their actions, and those who wanted to welcome the states back into the Union quietly.

Racial issues complicated the discussions. Although the Thirteenth Amendment officially prohibited slavery in 1865, it did not define the rights of the freed slaves. Properly recognized, their rights would change Southern culture as it had existed for well over a century. If freed slaves were to be counted as full citizens, rather than using the three-fifths compromise for slaves in the original U.S. Constitution , the political balance in Congress could be altered considerably.

Political disagreement on these important questions characterized the relationship between President Johnson and the Republican Congress after the Civil War. Johnson, a Southern Democrat who was elected vice president under Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; served 1861–65) in 1860, became president after Lincoln's assassination in April 1865. Although Johnson supported the Union during the Civil War, he crafted a very moderate Reconstruction policy after it ended in 1865. Under his plan, rebellious states would be required to repeal their secession ordinances, have 10 percent of their population take a loyalty

oath, and not hold the federal government responsible for their war debts.

The plan was a continuation of one set forth by Lincoln, a Republican, before he died. The Republican Congress, however, generally rejected it. Many congressmen were concerned that it gave just mild discipline to the rebelling states and contained no plan to guide postwar recovery or to protect the rights of newly freed slaves. In an effort to take greater control of Reconstruction, Congress passed its own plan through radical legislation, including the Reconstruction Acts of 1867.

The acts' objectives

The Reconstruction Acts were introduced in 1867, after Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and proposed the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Both pieces of preceding legislation had attempted to define national and state citizenship and to guarantee equal protection under the law for black Americans. The legislation was difficult to enforce, however, and Southern states were ignoring it. As a result, the Radical Republican Congress turned to passing more legislation in an effort to carry out its policies.

The first Reconstruction Act was passed on March 2, 1867. It eliminated the Southern state governments created immediately after the war and divided the rebelling territory into five military districts. General officers were to oversee constitutional conventions in which new state constitutions could be written that included a guarantee of black suffrage, the right to vote. With congressional approval of the state's new constitution and the state's vote to support the Fourteenth Amendment, the state would be readmitted to the Union. As punishment for their participation in the rebellion, insurgents were denied the right to vote during this process.

Congress passed another Reconstruction Act to support the first on March 23, 1867. Southerners were refusing to call constitutional conventions. The second act transferred that power to the commanding generals of the military districts. Another supplementary act was passed on July 19 after broad interpretations of the previous acts were causing complications. The third act declared that state governments were strictly subordinate to the military commanders. Generals were given the right to remove state officers. These two measures passed over vetoes by President Johnson. The last Reconstruction Act, of March 11, 1868, became law with President Johnson's signature. It changed the process of ratifying the state constitutions.

The Reconstruction Acts greatly enhanced the power of the Republican Party. All Southern states were readmitted to the Union between 1868 and 1870 with newly established, Republican-dominated governments. These governments, however, were somewhat artificial. With white Southern voting rights limited by the acts, politicians did not necessarily earn their positions through popular support. For a time, Republicans easily controlled Southern politics with the legitimate votes of newly freed blacks and the influence of carpetbaggers (Northerners who came to the South to carry out Reconstruction programs) and scalawags (Southerners who supported Reconstruction but often for their own gain).

Although Republicans managed to exert their influence during the initial phases of Reconstruction, it proved to be only temporary. As Southern voting rights were restored fully for whites, they resumed control of their governments and elected representatives from the Democratic Party. Southern Democrats generally protected the interests of white Southerners over the interests of Northern Republicans and Southern black Americans.