Chapter 17
	RECONSTRUCTION, 1863-1877
	index		b.2 Why Johnson pardoned x-Confederates g.1-2 Republican constituency--White & Black g.3 State Power
	[b.2]		WHY ANDREW JOHNSON PARDONED X-CONFEDERATES
	psychology		The intoxicating influence of power may best explain Johnson's quick pardon of thousands of Confederates between 1865-1867. As an east Tennessee unionist not linked to the political power of the planter elite, Johnson reveled in the opportunity to see x-confederates or their tearful women come to him begging to be pardoned for their part in the Civil War. To see the powerful southern elite come to him for a restoration of their privileges was sort of "sweet revenge."
	how many		By September 1865, 13,500 old confederates had been granted pardons. More were coming. The congressmen sent by the newly "reconstructed" states included 9 x-confederate states congressmen; 4 generals; 4 colonels; and the former Confederate States vice-president Alexander Stephens. Radical Republicans feared that they were about to lose in politics what had been gained by war. Johnson received praise for his pardons from northern Democrats and moderate Republicans.
	[d.1]		WHY ANDREW JOHNSON WASN'T IMPEACHED
			Great defense team of constitutional lawyers. Senators worried that impeachment would disturb separation of powers articulated in Constitution. There was doubt that Johnson had committed a crime. Johnson stopped trying to obstruct Congressional reconstruction. Seven Senators voted acquittal. Johnson appointed popular General Schofield as new War Secretary. Many senators disliked Benjamin Wade. He was leading the charge against Johnson.

After Radical Republicans seized control of the reconstruction process, Congress informed all formerly reconstructed states under the Johnson administration that their constitutions and stature as states were null and void. The First Reconstruction Act [e.1] became the blueprint for reconstruction for the next 10 years.

Ten southern states (Tennessee exempted) had to call new state conventions that included Black delegates. Seventy-five percent of the delegates were Republicans. The table below shows the constituency of that 75%:

ETHNICITY & REGION	PERCENTAGE
Northern Whites	25
Southern White	45
Southern Blacks	30

Did the southern states emerge with more power after the Civil War? Well not in the states' rights sense that John C. Calhoun would have meant, but they did emerge with new responsibilities, which in turn empowered them to do more. Below is a list of examples:

• New constitutions mandated public schooling. Most of it was segregated, but the fact that Blacks were educated at all was a huge leap forward.
• Most constitutions created state-run welfare systems beyond anything previously known in the South.

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