Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln's death.
Johnson's plan of included having the defeated
Southern states pledge their loyalty to the Union and abolish
slavery. By the fall of 1805, all Confederate states, except
Texas, rejoined the Union. Many southern state governments
passed laws called "," which limited the rights of
freed African Americans. In 1868, the
was added to the Constitution. It made freed blacks citizens of
the United States and guaranteed them the same legal rights as
whites.
Freedmen's Bureau
In 1865, Congress created the to provide
help for both blacks and whites in need. Unable to pay
freedmen to work the fields, many white landowners
began to rent their lands to blacks and poor whites in exchange
for as much as one half of the crops grown on that land.
Congress passed the , which allowed
African Americans to be elected to state offices and Congress.
President Johnson was charged with wrongdoing and almost
removed from office.
Violence in the South
Former Confederate officers formed the to
terrorize African Americans and their white supporters. The
was added to the Constitution in 1870.
stating that states could not deny male citizens the right to vote
"on account of race or color." became
president in 1877 and ended Reconstruction. laws
were passed in Southern states, which made the separation of
white and black people legal in schools, restaurants, trains,
hotels, and parks.
