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Johnson's Plan
President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction, which attepted to continue Lincoln's plan with little differences, was important to the Reconstruction. It was important because quick acceptance it gained from the ex-Confederate states and the Radical Republican's outright refusal to accept the plan showed that lenient Reconstruction policy might not be possible. -
Freedmen's Bureau Act and Civl Rights Act
Johnson vetoes to the Civil Rights Bill and Freedman's Bureau Act on the grounds that blacks did not deserve to become citizens, and that doing so would discriminate against the white race, but Congress overrode them. This was important to the Reconstruction because it added to Republican's anger at Johnson and caused them to shift the Reconstruction process from the executive brach to the legislative branch. -
Reconstruction Act
Radical Republicans gained control of Congress and passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which did not recognize state governments--except Tennessee--formed under the Lincoln and Johnson plans. This was important because it forced former Confederate states to grant African-American men the right to vote and citizenship in order to reenter the Union. -
Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified: it revokes the three-fifths compromise in the Constitution and creates a new federal category of citizenship.This was important to the Reconstruction because it overruled and nullified the Dred Scott decision and granted citizenship to former slaves. -
Public School System
The first public school systems were established b the Reconstruction governments. This was important to Reconstruction in the South because gave former slaves, the opportunity to gain an education. -
First African-American Senator
The first African-American senator—Hiram R. Revels (Republican) of Mississippi —takes office, though he serves only one year. This was important to the reconstruction because it was a step towards equality, which Revels quietly worked towards. -
Fifteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment, which states that no one can be kept from voting because of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" was important to the Reconstruction. It was important because universal male suffrage was made law of the land. -
Enforcement Acts
The first of the Enforcement Acts are passed in response to KKK violence. This was important to the Reconstruction because it gave the government power to protect people from klan violence and Democratic intimidation. -
Amnesty Act
Grant signs the Amnesty Act, and now only a few hundred former Confederates are excluded from political privileges. This was important to the Reconstruction because it allowed Southern Democrats to regain political power. -
Panic of 1873
Series of bank failures known as the panic of 1873 triggered a five-year depression. This was important to the Reconstruction because it divered attention in the North away from the South's problems, leading towards the end of Reconstruction.
