Editing Reconstruction era (section)

=== 1865 ===
Upon President [[Abraham Lincoln assassination|Lincoln's assassination]] in April 1865, Vice President [[Andrew Johnson]] became president. Radicals considered Johnson to be an ally, but upon becoming president, he rejected the Radical program of Reconstruction. He was on good terms with ex-Confederates in the South and ex-[[Copperheads (politics)|Copperheads]] in the North. He appointed his own governors and tried to close the Reconstruction process by the end of 1865. [[Thaddeus Stevens]] vehemently opposed Johnson's plans for an abrupt end to Reconstruction, insisting that Reconstruction must "revolutionize Southern institutions, habits, and manners&nbsp;.... The foundations of their institutions&nbsp;... must be broken up and relaid, or all our blood and treasure have been spent in vain."{{sfnp|McPherson|1992|p=6}} Johnson broke decisively with the Republicans in Congress when he vetoed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1866|Civil Rights Act]] on March 27, 1866. While Democrats celebrated, the Republicans rallied, passed the bill again, and overrode Johnson's repeat veto.<ref name="Alexander Rucker">{{cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Leslie M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uivtCqOlpTsC&pg=PA699 |title=Encyclopedia of African American History |last2=Rucker |first2=Walter C. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-85109-774-6 |location=Santa Barbara |page=699}}</ref> Full-scale political warfare now existed between Johnson (now allied with the Democrats) and the Radical Republicans.{{sfnp|Donald |Baker |Holt |2001|loc={{page needed|date=October 2021}}}}{{sfnp|Trefousse|1989|p={{page needed|date=October 2021}}}}

Since the war had ended, Congress rejected Johnson's argument that he had the war power to decide what to do. Congress decided it had the primary authority to decide how Reconstruction should proceed, because the Constitution stated the United States had to guarantee each state a [[Republicanism in the United States|republican form of government]]. The Radicals insisted that meant Congress decided how Reconstruction should be achieved. The issues were multiple: Who should decide, Congress or the president? How should republicanism operate in the South? What was the status of the former Confederate states? What was the citizenship status of the leaders of the Confederacy? What was the citizenship and suffrage status of freedmen?{{sfnp|Donald |Baker |Holt |2001|loc=ch. 26–27}}

After the war ended, President Andrew Johnson gave back most of the land to the former White slave owners.<ref>{{Cite web |title=President Johnson's Amnesty Proclamation |url=https://www.andrewjohnson.com/04AJFirstYear/ii-1.htm |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=www.andrewjohnson.com}}</ref>