Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was the 17th president of the United States. He succeeded Abraham Lincoln and came to office as the <em>Civil War in the US</em> was concluded. He focused on the reconstruction and restoration of rebel states back into the Union.
In 1865, Johnson implemented a plan a plan of Reconstruction.
Key components of that plan were to:
1. Pardon all white southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the Union (except Confederate leaders and wealthy people)
2. Brought state conventions which established new governments
3. Refuse to pay for Confederate debts
4. Abolish slavery
5. Repudiate the secession
6. Appoint provisional governors
He offered no roles to blacks in the politics of the South. Nearly all the land which were in the governments' hands were returned to the pre-war owners. Old Southern elite was to return to power, including those who were active in the Confederate government and the army. Southern leaders wanted the blacks to return to the plantations, so they brought a number of limiting laws which forbade them to find any other job. None of them allowed blacks the voting rights.
