Reconstruction Refresh
Reconstruction & Veto Power Point
Resource 1 President Johnson's Veto Message
Resource 2 Trumbull's Response
Reconstruction and the Veto
Overview
This is a lesson plan about Reconstruction and the use of the veto during this period. It investigates how members of Congress and President Andrew Johnson utilized their Constitutional powers to shape the Reconstruction Era.
Title Image: ""The Veto," Andrew Johnson, April 1866, Thomas Nast cartoon," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/44999.
Learning Objectives
- Students will understand the mechanics of the veto process.
- Students will be able to write about the different political goals and motivations of lawmakers during Reconstruction.
- Students will be able to analyze primary source documents and place them in historical context.
Key Terms
- Veto
- Radical Republicans
- Radical Reconstruction
- Presidential Reconstruction
- Freedmen’s Bureau
Bell Ringer: In at least 3 and no more than 5 complete sentences answer the following: What does it mean to veto a law? How does the veto process work?
Lecture Script:
The veto
- Even though the United States Constitution never states the word “veto” its process is described in detail.
- In Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2, the Constitution lays out the exact process.
- Every Bill must pass by a simple majority (more than half) in the House and the Senate. However, before it becomes law, Congress must send the approved bill to the President.
- Once the proposed bill reaches the President’s desk, he or she has 10 days to decide on the bill. The President has several options. He or she may:
- Sign the bill into law.
- Veto the bill and send it back to the Congress with listed objections.
- Pocket veto the bill, where the President holds onto the bill for the allowed 10 days. If after 10 days they do nothing, and Congress is still in session, the bill becomes law. If after 10 days Congress has adjourned, then the bill is effectively pocket vetoed.
- If the president vetoes the bill, and Congress is still in session, the bill returns to Congress. There, the bill can be revised. Then, both houses must pass the bill with a 2/3 majority to override the veto and make the bill a law.
Discussion
- Why might the President veto a bill?
- Why would they choose to pocket veto a bill rather than veto?
Intro to the Era
Now we’re going to look at a couple examples of presidential vetoes and how the checks and balances provided by our Constitution were carried out during the Civil War and Reconstruction. So, now I’m going to give a little background about the period we are going to talk about. The period from about 1865 to 1877, immediately after the Civil War is called Reconstruction, because in many ways the country had to rebuild itself. The United States had to rebuild politically, physically, and socially.
The Civil War fighting ended in Spring 1865. Historians often see General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House as the official end to the war. But once the fighting ended there were still many problems that needed to be resolved:
Show images of Surrender at Appomattox Court House and the destruction in Savannah.
- Even though the fighting had ended, half the country had attempted to leave and form their own nation, The Confederate States of America. How would they legally and symbolically reunite with the United States?
- After so much loss, how would the country heal and move forward?
- Should the Southern states and their residents be punished before they were reunited?
- The Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, and 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, brought an end to slavery in the United States. But how would these newly freedpeople become integrated into American citizenship? How might the government support that?
- Finally, who would make these decisions and pass these laws? Was it the Congress’ job or the president’s job?
Congress During Reconstruction
With all these questions in mind, there was suddenly a competition for power in the Federal Government. The major question that remained was who should be in charge of or “do” Reconstruction? The president? Congress?
- After the Civil War, the majority of representatives and senators in Congress were Republicans.
- Because of the war and that the Southern states had not yet been readmitted to the Union, there were many vacant seats in the House and the Senate.
- The House had 193 seats in total.
- 136 Republicans
- 38 Democrats
- 19 other
- The Senate had 54 seats in total.
- 39 Republicans
- 11 Democrats
- 4 other
- The House had 193 seats in total.
- There was still a lot of debate in Congress. But, because Republicans held the majority, many Reconstruction bills were passed.
Radical Republicans
The Radical Republicans were a sub-group of Republicans in Congress united by their belief that the Civil War provided a moment for major societal and legal change. They advocated very vocally for “Radical Reconstruction” or the idea that reconstruction should create sweeping societal change and that it should be carried out by the Congress.
- They supported laws that enforced the equality of civil and political rights, regardless of race.
- They also advocated and benefitted from the wartime expansion of national authority.
- They were the first group to define a protect citizens’ rights.
Two key Radical Republicans were Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner
- Thaddeus Stevens was a member of the House of Representatives for Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was described by his peers as abrasive and impatient but devoted to his cause. Stevens gave many speeches supporting aid and civil rights for freedpeople.
- Charles Sumner was a Senator from Massachusetts and he was also quite stubborn and vocal for his causes. Both men are well known for their efforts during Reconstruction in securing civil rights.
- Radical Republicans led the idea that Reconstruction ought to be carried out by the Congress.
Lyman Trumbull
Other members of Congress were also at odds with President Johnson. Although he did not identify himself as a Radical Republican, Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois aligned with them on anti-slavery and civil rights legislation.
Trumbull, most famously, co-authored the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the United States.
Who is Andrew Johnson?
- Andrew Johnson was born in North Carolina. When he was 14 years old, he was apprenticed to and trained as a tailor.
- As a young man, Johnson held several public office positions including alderman, mayor, representative in the Tennessee state legislature, Representative from Tennessee to the US House of Representatives, and when the Civil War broke out, he was a freshman Senator from Tennessee.
- Johnson identified himself as a Jacksonian Democrat.
- Part of the core Jacksonian Democrat beliefs was that government and suffrage should be accessible to any white man, not only the wealthy and well-educated.
- However, Johnson was also an outspoken supporter of slavery. He remained with the Union during the Civil War because he did not agree with his state (Tennessee) that secession was a solution. Johnson was the only Senator from a seceded state to stay with the Union and keep his seat in the Senate during the Civil War.
- During the 1864 election, in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln was concerned the election would be very close, as he was running against a well-established Union General, General George B. McClellan.
- To garner more broad support, Lincoln selected Andrew Johnson, a democrat, as his vice president on the ticket.
- When President Lincoln was assassinated, only days after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, Johnson became president and now had to lead the country through Reconstruction.
- Johnson’s beliefs, as a Democrat, supporter of slavery, and ultimately clashed with the egalitarian beliefs of the Radical Republican Congress members.
- As president, Andrew Johnson believed that Reconstruction should be carried out by the president.
This conflict over who should determine how Reconstruction occurred led to the policies and decisions created during this period. Now we are going to talk about two acts in particular and how the Congress and President fought for control of Reconstruction.
The Freedmen’s Bureau Act 1865
- The Freedmen’s Bureau was created in 1865 and sought to aid refugees and freedpeople after the Civil War.
- The Freedmen’s Bureau provided several services.
- Relief: rations of corn meal, flour, and sugar
- Health care
- Education
- Proposed land redistribution – but it never came to fruition
- The Freedmen’s Bureau was criticized heavily by Southerners and Northern Democrats. These groups argued that the Bureau provided too many resources and overstepped the job of Congress because Congress had never passed a law giving this kind of aid to white people. Opponents were upset that it would provide resources to freedpeople.
- Politicians in support of the Bureau argued that it was a post-war necessity. The individuals they served needed help accessing food and healthcare since freedpeople and the impoverished were unable to access these resources otherwise.
The Freedmen’s Bureau 1866
- The 1866 Freedmen’s Bureau Act was written and pushed through Congress by Republican Senator Lyman Trumbull from Illinois.
- This act was well-supported by the Radical Republicans including Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner.
- By 1866, Republicans in the Congress believed that the Freedmen’s Bureau needed to be extended.
- First, the original act only established the Bureau for 1 year.
- Second, after the Civil War in response to emancipation southern states passed a series of laws throughout the South commonly called “black codes.” These laws sought to limit the social, economic, and political freedom of freedpeople and aimed to maintain the system of oppression that existed under slavery.
- In response, the Freedemen’s Bureau Bill 1866 gave bureau agents jurisdiction over cases involving the limitation of black peoples’ civil rights. It also permitted agents to punish state officials who denied civil rights.
President Andrew Johnson did not approve of the Freedmen’s Bureau Act of 1866. In February 1866, he vetoed the bill and delivered a message explaining why. Now we are going to split into two groups. Half of the class is going to read President Johnson’s veto message and the other half is going to read Senator Lyman Trumbull’s response to Johnson’s veto message. Then we will come back together and discuss. While reading think about these questions:
- Who are the author’s speaking to?
- What is their argument?
- Why do they object to or support the Freedmen’s Bureau?
- How do their decisions impact the people this bill is supposed to help?
Reading Activity Teacher instructions: - 25 minutes
Teacher will read President Johnson’s Veto Message (annotated) and Senator Trumbull’s Veto Message Response to the entire class.
Split students into 2 groups.
One group will re-read the annotated version of President Andrew Johnson’s Veto Message and the other group will re-read an excerpt from Senator Lyman Trumbull’s Veto Message Response.
After discussing the text with their group, each student in each group should compose a short response (for an exit ticket) that answers the following questions:
Who is the target audience of your speaker?
What is their stance on the 1866 iteration of the Freedmen’s Bureau bill?
Why do they object to or support the Freedmen’s Bureau?
*Each student response should be at least one complete paragraph and no more than two complete paragraphs in length.
Bring everyone back together and share the findings from the group discussion with the entire class. Each group will choose a representative to speak on the group’s behalf. Each student will turn in their exit ticket.
Andrew Johnson’s Veto Message
Resource 1: President Johnson's Veto Message
Senator Lyman Trumbull’s Veto Message Response – have students read the first 2 pages and the first paragraph on the third page ending with “as I shall presently show.”
Resource 2: Lyman's Response
Other ideas for activities include:
Ask students to create and/or analyze political cartoons.
Foster class discussions.
Think, Pair, Share.
Wrap up:
The Freedmen’s Bureau Act 1866 and the Civil Rights Act 1866 were only two of the 29 bills that President Andrew Johnson vetoed during his term in office. Of the 29 bills he vetoed, Congress overrode 15 of those vetoes (including the Freedmen’s Bureau Act 1866 and the Civil Rights Act 1866). The Civil Rights Act of 1866 sought to define freedom in legal terms. It established that all people born in the United States (except for Native Americans) were national citizens and with that due all the same rights under the law as other citizens regardless of their race.
The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed by the Senate in June 1866 and ratified on July 9, 1868. The 14th Amendment codified in the Constitution, away from presidential access, what was set forth in the Civil Rights Act 1866. It granted all people “born or naturalized in the United States” citizenship and provided equal protection under the law to all citizens, (US Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1).