Question

Personal reaction to Johnson's approach to Reconstruction

Answer 1

In 1865 President Andrew Johnson implemented the reconstruction plan which gave the white South a free hand in the regulation of the transition from slavery to freedom, but he failed to offer any roles to blacks in politics of the south.
This reflects racist discrimination against the black population that resulted in most of the North against the president's policies. He ordered all the land in government hands to be returned to its prewar owners which killed the blacks hope for economic autonomy.
Johnson's legislatures also passed the Black Codes that severely limited the former slaves' economic options and legal rights to force the blacks to return to plantations as labourers. Some states denied blacks from some occupations and no state allowed Blacks to vote or provide public funds for their education.