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Presidents of the United States during the Reconstruction, 1865 - 1877. Lincoln Johnson Grant Hayes. President Abraham Lincoln. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 15, 1865 – just six days after Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
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Presidents of the United States during the Reconstruction, 1865 - 1877 Lincoln Johnson Grant Hayes
President Abraham Lincoln • He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 15, 1865 – just six days after Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. • Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan” was the most lenient of all Reconstruction Plans – he would have allowed Southerners to create their own state governments if 10% of the population swore loyalty and the state approved the 13th Amendment. • Lincoln’s death further embittered Northerners eager to punish the CSA.
President Andrew Johnson • Andrew Johnson was both a Southerner and a Democrat, and is considered the “poster boy” for accidental Presidents. • Johnson’s “Restoration” plan would have banned slavery, but not given African-Americans full citizenship or suffrage. • Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Freedman’s Bureau Extension Act – but both were passed into law by Congressional override. • Johnson was impeached by Congress because they hated him so. He came within one vote of being removed from office, but he was not removed!
President ulysses S. Grant • Grant is often remembered as a poor President for his inability to control corruption in his government – especially with regards to the railroad companies. • He was, however, a true believer in the cause of civil rights for African-Americans – and thought that the Civil War would have been in vain if voting rights were not upheld. • Grant passed laws controlling Ku Klux Klan activity and hate groups, maintaining the Freedman’s Bureau, and continuing efforts to end black codes. • Grant was President when the 15th Amendment was added to the Constitution.
President Rutherford B. Hayes • Samuel Tilden won more votes than he did in the Election of 1876. • He became President of the United States as a result of the Compromise of 1877. • He promised to end the Reconstruction of the American South by removing soldiers from southern states and ending the Freedman’s Bureau. • While he was President, southern states passed laws (literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses) which made it very difficult for African-Americans to vote.