Andrew Johnson's approach to Reconstruction was characterized by:

Question

Accepted Answer

Leniency toward former Confederates and opposition to Black civil rights. Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policy was characterized by leniency toward former Confederates and active opposition to Black civil rights. Although Johnson initially seemed willing to punish the planter class he blamed for the war, he quickly pardoned thousands of former Confederates, restored their property, and vetoed civil rights legislation designed to protect freed people. Johnson was a War Democrat from Tennessee who opposed secession but also opposed racial equality.

Despite early rhetoric suggesting he would punish Southern elites, Johnson did the opposite - he generously pardoned former Confederate leaders and allowed them to regain political power. Johnson clashed bitterly with Radical Republicans rather than cooperating with them, vetoing the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Freedmen's Bureau extension before Congress overrode his vetoes. The "forty acres and a mule" concept originated with General Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15, but Johnson reversed this policy, returning confiscated land to pardoned former Confederates rather than distributing it to freed people.

Presidential Reconstruction under Johnson is a critical DSST exam topic because it reveals how the absence of Lincoln's leadership created a policy vacuum. Johnson's lenient approach allowed former Confederate states to enact Black Codes that effectively re-enslaved freed people, provoking a Congressional backlash that led to Radical Reconstruction. Johnson's obstructionism ultimately resulted in his impeachment, though he was acquitted by a single vote in the Senate.

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