Reconstruction Act

Following the Civil War, the United States Congress passed four statutes known as Reconstruction Acts (March 2, 1867 (ch. 153, 14 Stat. 428), March 23, 1867 (ch. 6, 15 Stat. 2), July 19, 1867 (ch. 30, 15 Stat. 14), March 11, 1868 (ch. 25, 15 Stat. 25))

Reconstruction Act of 1867

On March 2, 1867, the first of several Reconstruction Acts were passed by Congress. All of the acts were passed over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The purpose of these acts was to pressure states that had not ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution into accepting it. The acts were particularly aimed at Southern states, as Tennessee was the only one of eleven former rebel states to ratify the Amendment. The series of four acts provided for the division of all former Confederate states into five military districts (except for Tennessee.) Each district would be headed by a military commander, who was charged with ensuring that the states would create new constitutions and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.

Contents of the Military Reconstruction Act

Divided the South into 5 parts, each controlled by a different Northern General.
Ordered southern states to elect new delegates and form new constitutions.
Required states to allow all males, African Americans included, to vote in the elections. A choice was given to Southern states; they could bar African Americans from voting, but they would lose representation in the House of Representatives proportionate to their discrimination.
Temporarily barred southerners who originally supported the Confederacy from voting.
Required all southern states to guarantee equal rights to all citizens.
Required the states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
Southern states can not sue the Federal government for war related damages.

Opposition and Effects

President Andrew Johnson, however, was severely opposed to this congressional movement and responded by vetoing almost every bill from the Radicals. His Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, previously appointed by President Lincoln acted as a spy for the Radicals. After months of inaction, Andrew Johnson finally fired M. Stanton. However, through the Tenure of Office Act, (passed the previous year) the House of Representatives found Johnson's act of removal unconstitutional and impeached him. When the Impeachment Articles moved to the Senate, the vote to remove Johnson from office failed by one vote (of the 2/3 required).

The Ku Klux Klan terrorized Negroes into not voting, so the federal laws were worthless laws that did nothing for landless and homeless negro peasants who had been slaves.

Sources

Cayton, Andrew, Elisabeth Israels Perry, Linda Reed, Allan M. Winkler. America: Pathways To The Present Prentice Hall: New Jersey. 2002

Milton, George Fort. "The Age of Hate: Andrew Johnson and the Radicals" Archon Books: Hamden, Connecticut. 1965

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