Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

Definition

This was President Andrew Johnson's plan for rebuilding the South after the Civil War. It offered amnesty to Southerners who pledged loyalty to the Union, except high-ranking Confederate officials and wealthy plantation owners. It also allowed Southern states to rejoin once they had rewritten their state constitutions abolishing slavery.

Analogy

Imagine you're playing a board game where one player breaks all rules causing chaos (Civil War). Afterward, Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan is like setting new rules (abolishing slavery), forgiving most rule-breakers if they promise not to do it again (offering amnesty), but excluding those who caused most trouble (high-ranking Confederates).

Related terms

Amnesty Act of 1872: A federal law that removed voting restrictions and office-holding disqualification against most of the secessionists who rebelled in the Civil War.

Black Codes: Laws passed by Southern states with an aim of restricting African Americans' freedom and compelling them to work under conditions similar to slavery.

Radical Republicans: A faction of American politicians within the Republican Party who wanted harsh punishments for Southern states after the Civil War.