Andrew Johnson

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• Southern Democrat who remained loyal to the Union 
• 17th President of the United States
• Succeeded to the Presidency after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
• First President to be impeached

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

(Lincoln's 10% Plan)

• 1863
• Full presidential pardons granted to most southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and the Constitution and accepted the emancipation of slaves.
• State governments could be reestablished and accepted as legitimate by the President as soon as at least 10% of the voters who voted in the 1860 presidential election took the loyalty oath.

Oath of Allegiance

"I, --------, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified or held void by Congress, or by decision of the Supreme Court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God."

Tenure of Office Act

1867

• Congressional act that prohibited the president from removing a federal official or military commander without the approval of the Senate.

• Minority faction in Congress that emerges during the war
• Led by Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) and ThaddeusStevens (Pennsylvania)
• Positions:  Abolition of slavery, demanding reconstruction policy, black enfranchisement

• July 1864
• Each former Confederate state would be ruled by a military governor
• ½ of eligible voters take oath of allegiance
• Delegates elected to state convention that would repeal secession and abolish slavery
• Delegates would have to take a second, “ironclad” oath.  Swear they had never voluntarily supported the Confederacy.
• Did not support black suffrage
• Would have delayed the readmission process almost indefinitely
• Lincoln “pocket vetoes” the bill