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The Reconstruction Plans of President Lincoln
Even before the end of Civil war President Lincoln began the task of
restoration. On January 1, 1863 President Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation
setting the scene for the abolition of slavery. On December 8, 1863
he issued a
Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction for those areas of
the Confederacy occupied by Union armies offering pardon to
Confederates who would swear to support the Constitution and the
Union. He then introduced the
Ten Percent Plan.
The
Reconstruction plans of President Lincoln were opposed by radical
Republicans and passed the
Wade-Davis Bill,
which the President vetoed. The next measure was the
13th
Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, which was
passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. And President Lincoln had
enlarged powers of the Freedmen's Bureau. There was opposition to
some of Lincoln's plans for Reconstruction by radicals in Congress
who believed the South should just revert back to the old ways. By
the time of Lincoln's assassination the President and Congress were
at a stalemate.
Reconstruction Era: Background
The Reconstruction Era
covered a period of 12 years in American History and started with
the
End of the
Civil War
and the
Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
President Lincoln was
pronounced dead on April 15, 1865 and Vice President Andrew Johnson
assumed the presidency on the same day. Just hours after celebrating
the end of the Civil War with the
Surrender of Appomattox
the nation was plunged into shock and mourning with the murder of
President Lincoln. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth and his
co-conspirators, had believed their action would help the
Confederacy. But the South was just as appalled as the Northern
states. People in the South feared that the people of the North
would want revenge and would wreak a terrible retribution on the
former Confederate States of America.
The
Reconstruction Era for kids: President Andrew Johnson
This was the
situation when President Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency. He
had only been inaugurated as Vice President six weeks before the
assassination of President Lincoln and had previously served as a
Senator. He lacked experience and had neither the intelligence,
patience nor the stature of Lincoln. He soon found himself at odds
with the radicals in Congress and did not have the ability to
compromise. Eventually Andrew Johnson would become the first
American President to be impeached although he was acquitted. He was followed by President
Ulysses S. Grant.
The
Reconstruction Era for kids: President Ulysses S. Grant
The Civil
War hero and General of the Union army, Ulysses S. Grant, became the
third President during the Reconstruction Era. The main focus of the
Grant administration was on Reconstruction, and he worked hard to
reconcile the differences between the North and South whilst
attempting to protect the civil rights of newly freed black slaves.
Although an honest man his presidency was marred by a series of
scandals involving corruption. After setting the scene for the
Reconstruction Era this article continues to chart the Important events
of this difficult period in American History with fast,
Reconstruction Era facts presented in a timeline format.
40 Facts about the
Reconstruction Era: Facts and Timeline for kids
Interesting Reconstruction Era Facts and Timeline for kids are
detailed below. The history of the Reconstruction Era is told in a
factual timeline sequence consisting of a series of interesting, short facts
providing a simple method of relating the
history of the Reconstruction Era history for kids, schools and homework projects.
40
Reconstruction Era Facts and Timeline for kids
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 1:
January 1, 1865
- The 13th Amendment
approved in January to abolish slavery. It is ratified
in December 1865
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 2:
January 16,1865
- General William T.
Sherman issues Special Field Order 15, setting aside
confiscated plantation land along the coast of South
Carolina and Georgia for black families to settle in
40-acre plots. 40,000 freedmen are living on the land by
June 1865.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 3:
March 3,1865
- The Freedmen's Bureau
Bill, (the
Freedmen's Bureau)
was a temporary government agency initiated by President
Lincoln to assist freedmen (freed ex-slaves) in the
South.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 4:
April 9, 1865
-
End of the
Civil War begins with the surrender of
General Robert E. Lee to Union forces at Appomattox
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 5:
April 14, 1865
-
Assassination of President Lincoln by James Wilkes
Booth
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 6:
April 15, 1865
- Death of President
Lincoln. Vice President Andrew Johnson assumes the
Presidency
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 7:
May 29, 1865
- President Johnson's
amnesty proclamation was more severe than President
Lincoln's. The proclamation deprived all former military
and civil officers of the Confederacy of any power. All
those who owned property worth $20,000 or more. Their
estates were made liable to confiscation.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 8:
1865 - The
Black Codes were laws
passed in Southern States restricting black people's
freedom and the right to own property, conduct business,
buy and lease land, and move freely through public
spaces
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 9:
1865 - President Johnson
adopted a lenient approach and granted pardons to
Confederates on a large scale
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 10:
November, 1865
- A "Colored People's
Convention" assembled at Zion Church in Charleston to
condemn the Black Codes.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 11:
December 1, 1865
- Johnson Declares End
to Reconstruction. Congress is outraged, and Radical
Republicans refuse to recognize new governments in
southern states.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 12:
December 4, 1865
- Congress convened and
refused to seat the Southern representatives. President
Johnson retaliated by attacking Republican leaders and
vetoing their Reconstruction measures
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 13:
December 24, 1865
- The
Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 14:
December, 1865
- By the end of of the
year every ex-Confederate state, except Texas, had
re-established civil government
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 15:
February 2, 1866
- A black delegation
led by Frederick Douglass meets with President Johnson
at the White House to advocate black suffrage. The
president expresses his opposition, and the meeting ends
in controversy.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 16:
February 4, 1866
- A follow-up
Freedmen’s Bureau Bill was vetoed by President Andrew
Johnson
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 17:
April 9, 1866
- Congress passed the
Civil Rights Act
of 1866 declared "all persons born in
the United States...hereby declared to be citizens of
the United States." It was designed to protect ex-slaves
from legislation such as the Black Codes
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 18:
Apr. 28, 1866
- Joint Committee on
Reconstruction reported that the ex-Confederate states
were in a state of civil disorder, and had therefore not
held valid elections. It also maintained that
Reconstruction was a congressional, not an executive,
function.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 19:
May, 1866
- The Memphis Riots
when mobs of whites rampage through black neighborhoods
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 20:
June 13, 1866
- The
Fourteenth Amendment was passed by Congress
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 21:
July 3, 1866
- A follow-up
Freedmen’s Bureau Bill was passed by Congress and the
Senate providing additional rights to ex-slaves
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 22:
July 24, 1866
- Tennessee is the
first former Confederate state readmitted to the Union
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 23:
July 30, 1866
- The New Orleans riots
in which whites attack blacks at the Mechanics Institute
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 24:
November 1866
- The radicals in
Congress solidified their position by winning the
elections of 1866. Every Southern state (except
Tennessee) refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment
and protect the rights of its black citizens
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 25:
March 2, 1867
- The First of 4
Reconstruction Acts were passed over President Johnson's
veto. "An act to provide for the more efficient
government of the Rebel States" Second Act March 23,
1867. Third Act July 19 1867. Fourth Act March 11, 1868
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 26:
March 2, 1867
- Congress passed the
Tenure of Office Act which prohibited the president from
removing officials appointed by the Senate without
senatorial approval
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 27:
December, 1867
- Johnson continued to
oppose congressional policy, and insisted on the removal
of the radical Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, in
defiance of the
Tenure of Office Act
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 28:
30th March, 1868
- The
Impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began -
the President was acquitted by one vote
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 29:
1868 - By 1868
most Southern states had
repealed the Black Code laws. New Southern state
laws saw the emergence of the
Carpetbaggers and the
Scalawags
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 30:
1868 - Former slave, Oscar
J. Dunn, was elected as first US Black Lieutenant
Governor, serving in Louisiana from 1868 to 1871
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 31:
August, 1868
- A total of six states
(Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana,
Alabama, and Florida) had been readmitted to the Union,
having ratified the Fourteenth Amendment as required by
the first Reconstruction Act.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 32:
September 28, 1868
- The Opelousas
Massacre in Louisiana in which 200 to 300 black
Americans are killed.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 33:
November 3, 1868
- Election of Ulysses
S. Grant as president
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 34:
July 1, 1869
- Freedmen's Bureau
ends (although educational help continues for another 3
years)
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 35:
February 3, 1870
-
Fifteenth Amendment ratified stating that a
citizen's right to vote cannot be taken away because of
race, the color of their skin, or because they were
previously slaves.
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 36:
1870 - Virginia,
Mississippi, Texas, and Georgia were readmitted in 1870
after ratifying the 14th and 15th Amendment
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 37:
February 23, 1870
- Hiram Revels elected
to U. S. Senate as the first black senator
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 38:
December 12, 1870
- Joseph H. Rainey, is
the first black member sworn in as member of the House
of Representatives
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 39:
May 22, 1872
- Grant signs the
Amnesty Act and only a few hundred former Confederates
are excluded from political privileges
Reconstruction Era
Timeline Fact 40:
1877 - Rutherford B. Hayes
removes troops from South Carolina and Louisiana,
signaling the end of Reconstruction.
Reconstruction Era Facts and Timeline for kids
Reconstruction Era for kids - President Andrew Johnson Video
The article on the Reconstruction Era provides an overview of one of the Important issues of his presidential term in office. The following
Andrew Johnson video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 17th American President whose presidency spanned from April 15, 1865 to March 4, 1869.
Reconstruction Era
●
Interesting Facts about Reconstruction Era history for kids and schools
●
Key events
Reconstruction Era for kids
●
The Reconstruction Era, a Important
event in US history
●
Andrew Johnson Presidency from April 15, 1865 to March 4, 1869
●
Fast, fun, Reconstruction Era
about events in his presidency
●
Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Andrew Johnson
● Andrew Johnson Presidency and
Reconstruction Era for schools,
homework, kids and children
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