what was andrew johnson's plan involvng the 13th amendment after lincoln's assassination?

Question

i know that after lincoln was assassinated, he did something with the 13th amendment, but what? i would really appreciate your help.

Answer 1

Lincoln had worked hard to gain passage for the thirteenth amendment in Congress, and finally achieved in January 1865. BUT he still needed 3/4 of the states to ratify it, and once you included the states of the Confederacy it became more daunting.

When Lincoln was assassinated JUST as the war was ending, Johnson recognized that the South would have some objections the 13th amendment and that this would make reuniting the nation much more difficult.

I should note that, contrary to some tellings, it is not so much that the South was refusing to end slavery (or showed plans of reviving it in the many places where the War --and Emancipation Proclamation-- had already freed the slaves). At this point a majority in the South was prepared to accept the end of slavery as necessary, as at the least the natural outcome of losing the war. But they feared what newly freed blacks might now DO (take revenge? take their lands? intermarry?), and detested any idea of full EQUALITY.

What Johnson did was to establish a few key requirements the Confederate states had to meet to be readmitted (allowing them representation in Congress). Along with repudiating secession and the Confederate war debt (and thus the legitimacy of the Confederacy) that had to ratify the 13th amendment. This was all, in fact, consistent with Lincoln's announced approach.

But there was a difference. Johnson made the last requirement more palatable by reading the amendment in a very NARROW way. The amendment would end slavery, but it would NOT be seen as requiring anything else to assure any "rights" to the freed slaves (in particular, no right to vote!)

In fact, the South took full advantage of this themselves, immediately passing "Black Codes" that severely restricted the freedoms of blacks, including requiring them to commit to an annual work contract (or risk arrest and imprisonment as vagrants... and of course prisoners could be used for labor). For many just freed this wouldn't be much different from slavery. And Johnson did not raise objections.

Now there's more to the story, because the North reacted with anger to the "Black Codes" --as "in your face" acts -- and ultimately forced MORE protections for the freedmen, over vetoes by Johnson.

http://www.drbilllong.com/LegalEssays/ThirteenthII.html
http://www.drbilllong.com/LegalEssays/CRA66.html