What did presidential reconstruction accomplish?

In 1864, Republican Abraham Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson, a Democratic senator from Tennessee, as his Vice Presidential candidate. Lincoln was looking for Southern support. He hoped that by selecting Johnson he would appeal to Southerners who never wanted to leave the Union. read more

Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877. President Abraham Lincoln officially freed the slaves on January 1, 1863. The former slaves were desperately poor, uneducated, and powerless. Even before the Civil War ended in May 1865, Congress passed a law in March 1865 to create the Freedmen's Bureau. read more

Hoping that Reconstruction would be complete by the time Congress reconvened a few months later, he declared Reconstruction over at the end of 1865. The Joint Committee on Reconstruction Radical and moderate Republicans in Congress were furious that Johnson had organized his own Reconstructionefforts in the South without their consent. read more