US_Ch2_webquest-legislation

=**Opinions on Reconstruction Legislation**= Compare your votes with the actual votes on legislation. Determine if you would've been a Radical Republican, moderate Republican, or a Johnson Democrat. Take note of any information you need and pay particular attention to where it tells you to take note of important information.


 * __Wade-Davis Bill__: Congress passed the bill in 1864 rather than go along with President Lincoln's 10% plan, which would've required 10% of the vote count from 1860 to take an oath and abide by emancipation to be brought back into the Union. After passing the bill, Congress adjourned. Lincoln let the bill sit on his desk...he didn't sign or veto/reject it. Since Congress did not remain in session, after ten days the bill died by pocket veto.
 * __14th Amendment__: Gave blacks citizenship. Ratification was needed from Southern states in order to have the 3/4 necessary for it to going onto the Constitution. After first rejecting it, Southern states began to ratify. Southern states wouldn't be readmitted to the Union without ratifying the amendment.
 * __15th Amendment__: Gave blacks the right to vote. Again, Southern states were needed. Southern states would have to ratify it to get representation in the Congress (to have blacks count in population to determine number of representatives in the House).
 * __Freedmen's Bureau__: Set up to help freed slaves in the South. It was part of the War Department and was headed by General Oliver Howard. It was to help former slaves in their transition to freedom. It had some positive effects and certainly helped blacks where it could though it did increase the power of the government. Its most lasting contribution though was its committment to black self-sufficiency. However, it led to dependence on the government and like all government agencies, it was bound to be corrupted by the flow of money. It was unable to handle the **Black Codes, laws in the South that restricted blacks and allowed blacks to be segregated against** (__**NOTE**__). In addition, the bureau was unable to handle the KKK. The Freedmen's Bureau is an example of the limits of government power despite its good intentions.
 * __Tenure of Office Act__: It passed over Johnson's veto and would be the major law that the Radical Republicans used to impeach Johnson and attempt to remove him. It was repealed in 1887.
 * __Civil Rights Act of 1875__: One of the last bills passed by the Radicals in Congress since they were losing power in Congress due to public opinion turning against using taxpayer resources to keep control over the South. A group of Democrats called Redeemer Democrats were gradually gaining control in the South. Redeemer Democrats wanted to restore white supremacy in the South and pass **laws that segregated the blacks from whites and allowed discrimination...which would become known as the Jim Crow Laws** (__**NOTE**__). This law basically gave blacks equal rights with whites. However, it was rarely enforced. Also, it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883 on the grounds that states can't prohibit discrimination by private individuals. **__NOTE__:** **Interestingly, most of the parts of this act (Civil Rights Act of 1875) were also in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was the major piece of equal rights legislation pushed for in the 1960s by Martin Luther King Jr. although most people don't realize it was first passed in the 1870s.**
 * __Amnesty__: Lincoln and Johnson had given amnesties but ones that required an oath and excluded certain groups. Johnson granted amnesty without conditions on December 25, 1868 after the election of Grant but before Grant took office.
 * __Impeachment__: President Johnson was impeached by the House but was not removed by the Senate. Therefore, he remained in office until the end of his term. The Senate was one vote shy of removing President Johnson. Those who voted against removal said that the future of the presidency would be unsafe if a president was removed for disagreeing with the Congress.
 * __Legislating equality__: **Booker T. Washington believed education was the best way to help the blacks and to teach blacks skills. He would eventually set up Tuskegee Institute to teach blacks skills. He believed that education, getting property, and living in good character would best help blacks.** __**NOTE**__

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