Congressional Reconstruction

Johnson's Reconstruction Plan: Johnson made his own reconstruction plan after Lincoln's. He fixed points such as:

1) The forgiveness of the Southerners who were loyal to the Union.

2) A state had the right to negate secession, to abolish slavery and renounce the Confederate debate.

3) States could join the Union.

Black Codes: Black codes are commands that cutdown freedmen's rights. Some Black Codes are:

1) Curfews: Predominately, black people could not gather after sunset.

2) Vagrancy laws: Freedmen with no employment could be beaten anytime.

3) Labor contracts: Freedmen had to sign covenants for employment. If they quit in the middle of their contract, they would lose all their money.

4) Land restriction: Freedmen would live in crops, unless that had enough money to rent homes and lands only in rural areas.

14th Amendment: Republicans were full of rage after the disobedience of the Southerners. Republicans blamed the President Johnson for return to power. The congress amended the Constitution to end Johnson's reconstruction plan. In 1868, the congress put in place a Civil Right Act that banned Black Codes which was later known as the 14th Amendment. Johnson objected to the idea and tried to convince the congress, but failed. The congress wouldn't listen to Johnson's answer since he had no more mandates to govern.

15th Amendment: The 15th Amendment is a Civil Right Act that assure all males that can vote. The Amendment was included for African Americans, too, which was a form of anti-racism. This showed that the U.S. was a little less racist.

Radical Reconstruction: Two groups were formed after the failure of Johnson's reconstruction plan, Radicals and Moderates. They both supported Republican spread through the South, the opposition to Black Codes and Johnson's reconstruction plan, but Moderates were less enthusiastic as the Radicals to in-store more civil rights for Black People.

CarpetBagger: A carpetbagger is a stereotype to categorize Northerners who moved to the Confederacy after the war. The name carpetbagger is taken from the Northerners habit of picking a few clothes and stuffing them in a carpetbag. They would then travel to the South for a new life.

Scalawag: A scalawag is an insult swearing a Republican after the Civil War. Originally comes from somewhere in the U.K., which means scrawny cattle.