Graphic of part of the Emancipation Proclamation
Rights and POwer: The POlitics of Reconstruction
Link to Part 1 of Section 4: Presidential Reconstruction Link to Part 2 of Section 4: Congress and Civil Rights Link to Part 3 of Section 4: The National Debate Over Reconstruction; IMpeachment; and the Election of Grant Link to Part 4 of Section 4: Reconstruction Government in the South Link to Biographies in Section 4

Desk and chair used in the U.S. House of Representatives during Reconstruction. (Chicago Historial Society)

Desk and chair used in the U.S. House of Representatives during Reconstruction. (Chicago Historial Society)

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Congress adjourned in March 1865, prior to Robert E. Lee’s surrender, and did not reconvene until December. During that interval, President Andrew Johnson permitted the creation of white-only governments in the South headed (in every state except Tennessee) by former supporters of the Confederacy.

When Congress reassembled, the South’s representatives included the Confederate vice president, six members of the Confederate Cabinet, and four Confederate generals.

In 1866, after the president had denounced Congressional efforts to extend citizenship rights to former slaves, claiming that they would “destroy our institutions and change the character of our government,” Republicans in Congress seized control of Reconstruction from the president.
Copyright 2003
he Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue: The Unfinished Revolution Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit Link to return to Digital History Home Link to return to Reconstruction Home Introduction