Congress Rejects Johnsonian Reconstruction 407assumed, correctly enough, that with the war over most
southern voters would freely take the loyalty oath; thus
it contained no 10 percent clause. More classes of
Confederates, including those who owned taxable
property in excess of $20,000, were excluded from the
general pardon. By the time Congress convened in
December 1865, all the southern states had organized
governments, ratified the Thirteenth Amendment
abolishing slavery, and elected senators and representa-
tives. Johnson promptly recommended these new gov-
ernments to the attention of Congress.
Republican Radicals
Peace found the Republicans in Congress no more
united than they had been during the war. A small
group of “ultra” Radicals were demanding immedi-
ate and absolute civil and political equality for
blacks; they should be given, for example, the vote,
a plot of land, and access to a decent education.
Senator Sumner led this faction. A second group of
Radicals, headed by Thaddeus Stevens in the
House and Ben Wade in the Senate, agreed with
the ultras’ objectives but were prepared to accept
half a loaf if necessary to win the support of less
radical colleagues.
Nearly all Radicals distinguished between the
“natural” God-given rights described in the
Declaration of Independence, and social equality.
“Equality,” said Stevens, “does not mean that a
negro shall sit in the same seat or eat at the same
table with a white man. That is a matter of taste
which every man must decide for himself.” This did
not reflect personal prejudice in Stevens’s case.
When he died, he was buried in a black cemetery.
The moderate Republicans wanted to protect the
former slaves from exploitation and guarantee their
basic rights but were unprepared to push for full
political equality. A handful of Republicans sided
with the Democrats in support of Johnson’s
approach, but all the rest insisted at least on the min-
imal demands of the moderates. Thus Johnsonian
Reconstruction was doomed.
Johnson’s proposal had no chance in Congress
for reasons having little to do with black rights. The
Thirteenth Amendment had the effect of increasing
the representation of the southern states in Congress
because it made the Three-fifths Compromise mean-
ingless (see Chapter 5). Henceforth those who had
been slaves would be counted as whole persons in
apportioning seats in the House of Representatives. If
Congress seated the Southerners, the balance of
power might swing to the Democrats. To expect the
Republicans to surrender power in such a fashion was
unrealistic. Former Copperheads gushing with extrav-
agant praise for Johnson put them instantly on guard.
Southern voters had further provoked northern
resentment by their choice of congressmen. Georgia
elected Alexander H. Stephens, vice president of the
Confederacy, to the Senate, although he was still in a
federal prison awaiting trial for treason! Several dozen
men who had served in the Confederate Congress
had been elected to either the House or the Senate,
together with four generals and many other high offi-
cials. Voters in the South understandably selected
locally respected and experienced leaders, but it was
equally reasonable that these choices would sit poorly
with Northerners.
Finally, the so-calledBlack Codesenacted by
southern governments to control former slaves
alarmed the North. These varied in severity from
state to state, but all, as one planter admitted, set
out to keep the blacks “as near to a state of bondage
as possible.”
When seen in historical perspective, even the
strictest codes represented some improvement over
slavery. Most permitted blacks to sue and to testify in
court, at least in cases involving members of their
own race. Blacks were allowed to own certain kinds
of property. However, blacks could not bear arms, be
employed in occupations other than farming and
domestic service, or leave their jobs without forfeit-
ing back pay. The Mississippi code required them to
sign labor contracts for the year in January, and, in
addition, drunkards, vagrants, beggars, “common
night-walkers,” “mischief makers,” and persons who
“misspend what they earn” and who could not pay
the stiff fines assessed for such misbehavior were to
be “hired out...atpublic outcry” to the white per-
sons who would take them for the shortest period in
return for paying the fines. Such laws, apparently
designed to get around the Thirteenth Amendment,
outraged Northerners.The Mississippi Black Codeat
http://www.myhistorylab.comCongress Rejects Johnsonian Reconstruction
For all these reasons the Republicans in Congress
rejected Johnsonian Reconstruction. Quickly they
created a joint committee on Reconstruction, headed
by Senator William P. Fessenden of Maine, a moder-
ate, to study the question of readmitting the south-
ern states.ReadtheDocument