This is the presentation for 17-2.

2. Why It Matters
We had survived our worst war, but the end of
the Civil War left Americans to deal with a set
of pressing issues. The status of some 3.5
million former enslaved people had yet to be
decided. Nor had the terms by which the former
Confederate states would rejoin the Union been
decided. How Americans would handle these
issues would shape the future of our country.

3. The Impact Today
Debate over the rightful power of the federal
government and the states continues to this day.
Americans continue to wrestle with the problem
of providing civil rights and equal opportunity
to all citizens.

4. Chapter Objectives
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• Identify what some Southerners did to deprive
freed people of their rights, and explain how
Congress responded. 
• Cite the main features of Radical Reconstruction.
Section 2: Radicals in Control

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Guide to Reading
Radical Republicans were able to put their version of
Reconstruction into action. 
• black codes 
Main Idea
Key Terms
• override 
• impeach

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African Americans’ Rights
• The new Southern states passed a series of laws
in 1865 and early 1866 called black codes. 
(pages 504–506)
• These laws reestablished slavery in disguise. 
• They deprived freed people of their rights and
enabled plantation owners to exploit African
American workers. 
- Some laws allowed local officials to arrest and fine
unemployed African Americans and make them
work for white employers to pay off their fines.

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• Congress challenged the black codes. 
• It extended the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau
in 1866 and granted it the power to set up
special courts to prosecute people charged
with violating the rights of African
Americans.
African Americans’ Rights (cont.)
(pages 504–506)
- Other laws banned African Americans from owning
or renting farms. 
- One law allowed whites to take orphaned African
American children as unpaid apprentices. 

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• It also passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866,
giving full citizenship to African
Americans, and gave the federal
government the right to intervene in state
affairs to protect them. 
• It overturned black codes and contradicted the
1857 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision
saying that African Americans were not
citizens.
African Americans’ Rights (cont.)
(pages 504–506)

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• Johnson vetoed both bills. 
• However, Republicans were able to
override both vetoes and the bills became
law. 
• This split between the president and the
Radical Republicans led Congress to draft
a new Reconstruction plan.
African Americans’ Rights (cont.)
(pages 504–506)

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• In June 1866 Congress passed the Fourteenth
Amendment to the Constitution granting full
citizenship to all individuals born in the United
States. 
• The amendment also says that no state can
take away a citizen’s life, liberty, and property
“without due process of law.” Every citizen
was also entitled to “equal protection of the
laws.” 
African Americans’ Rights (cont.)
(pages 504–506)
- It did not include voting rights for African
Americans. 
- It also barred certain former Confederates from
holding national or state office unless pardoned by a
two-thirds vote of Congress.

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• Congress declared that Southern states must
ratify the amendment in order to be readmitted
to the Union. 
• Because Tennessee was the only state
to ratify early, adoption of the amendment
was delayed until 1868 when the other ten
states finally ratified it.
African Americans’ Rights (cont.)
(pages 504–506)

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• Republicans won victories in the congressional
elections of 1866. 
• They increased their majorities in both houses
and gained control of every Northern state
government.
African Americans’ Rights (cont.)
(pages 504–506)

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Radical Reconstruction
• Radical Reconstruction was the period
that began when Congress passed the
Reconstruction Acts. 
(pages 506–508)
• The First Reconstruction Act, passed on
March 2, 1867, called for the creation of new
governments in the ten Southern states that
had not ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. 
• Tennessee was quickly readmitted to the
Union because it had ratified the amendment.

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Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)
- The ten states were divided into five military
districts under the command of military officers. 
- African American males were guaranteed the right to
vote in state elections. 
- Former Confederate leaders could not hold political
office. 
- To be readmitted, each state had to ratify the
Fourteenth Amendment and submit its new state
constitution to Congress.

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• The Second Reconstruction Act was passed a
few weeks later. 
• It required military commanders to begin
registering voters and to prepare for new state
constitutional conventions.
Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)

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• By 1868 seven Southern states had
established new governments and met the
conditions for readmission. 
• They were Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,
Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South
Carolina. 
• By 1870 the final three states restored to the
Union were Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas.
Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)

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• The rift between Congress and President
Johnson grew wider. 
• Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in
March 1867 to limit the president’s power. 
• It prohibited him from removing
government officials without the Senate’s
approval.
Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)

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• When Congress was not in session in August
1867, Johnson suspended his secretary of war,
Edwin Stanton. 
• When the Senate met again and refused to
approve this act, Johnson fired Stanton. 
• Johnson also appointed as commanders of
Southern military districts some generals
whom the Radicals opposed.
Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)

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• Because of Johnson’s actions, the House voted
to impeach him. 
• The case went to the Senate for a trial that
lasted almost three months. 
Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)
- His defenders said he was exercising his right to
challenge laws he thought unconstitutional. 
- They said the impeachment was politically
motivated and that Congress was trying to
remove him from office without accusing
him of a crime.

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Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)
- His accusers argued that Congress should retain the
power to make laws. 
- A senator from Massachusetts said that Johnson had
turned “the veto power into a remedy for ill-
considered legislation . . . into a weapon of offense
against Congress.” 
- The Senate vote was one vote short of the two-thirds
majority needed to convict, so Johnson remained in
office until March 1869.

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• The 1868 presidential election was a vote on
Reconstruction. 
• Most states had rejoined the Union by the
election. 
• Americans chose Republican and former
Northern general Ulysses S. Grant as their
new president.
Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)

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• Another major piece of Reconstruction
legislation was the Fifteenth Amendment. 
• It prohibited the state and federal governments
from denying the right to vote to any male
citizen because of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude. 
• It became law in February 1870. 
• The Republicans thought that the power of the
vote would allow African Americans to
protect themselves.
Radical Reconstruction (cont.)
(pages 506–508)