something else. he finally said, well, this poison doesn't work on guinea pigs. maybe should which ride on -- so than monkeys. let's tried on a mic in -- on a monkey. the monkey croaked and died and they said we finally have something to kill castro. >> you can watch the entire program at 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. sunday. american history tv, only on c-span 3. on "the civil war," author and lincoln forum founder frank williams talks about the politics and culture after president lincoln's assassination and the rep -- reconstruction era that followed. this talk was part of the lincoln forum symposium and is about 45 minutes. >> good morning. welcome to the lincoln symposium. our next guest needs no introduction. he is the founding chairman of the lincoln forum.

he is also the president of the ulysses s. grant association, a former member of both the abraham lincoln bicentennial commission and the abraham lincoln bicentennial foundation and he did all of this while serving the people of rhode island as their chief justice of the supreme court from 2001 until 2009. frank is the author, co-author, or editor of several books including "judging lincoln," "lincoln as hero," and most recently "the lincoln assassination riddle," which was published in 2016. his favorite of his published works is the one that he co-authored with richard and me. [laughter] he has received the order of linking, the highest honor bestowed by the state of

illinois. frank also married well. [laughter] we are reminded -- [applause] we are reminded that great men usually have extraordinary women at their side who are doing their own thing. and frank certainly is in that category. johnson barely survived impeachment when grant's bargain was ended, a national cop out in personality and outlook, president andrew johnson was ill-suited for the responsibility he now shouldered following lincoln's assassination. >> you are absolutely right.

i married a great lady. we've been married 50 years. [applause] and set out -- and how somebody can put up with me for 50 years is deserving of great awards. this paper could also actually reconstruction: what went wrong. this is not a happy paper. and you are going to have to stay with me because of the panorama of people, white and , the kelly meies of our government, the lack of support for many americans north and south. battlefield may be relatively easy compared to winning the peace afterward. was a political genius and keeping together

conservatives, moderates, and radicals during the american civil war, especially after he found generals who could win battles. .ut things change the longer the time passes, the more likely it is that presidents lose their influence. most presidents find that the window for opportunity is limited to the first hundred days phenomenon, or the first thousand days. assassinations cut short lands and people tire of a policy that does not end quickly. lincoln understood how to win a major civil war as a political revolution. but implementing his new birth of freedom as a gigantic peacetime project involving a social revolution was difficult. him,bullet had not killed even his expectations might have been diminished in achieving

reconstruction. he had expected the civil war to be short. as others tried to implement reconstruction, they soon realized it would end up a very long-term project. this presentation focuses johnson'son andrew approach to reconstruction, which was nearly opposite to what lincoln had envisioned and wanted. and ulysses s. grant's approach, which was more like lincoln's approach, and produced some short-term, positive results. but the nation's focus changed during his second term. johnson barely survived impeachment when grant's bargain

was ended. president andrew johnson was ill-suited for the responsibility he now shouldered following lincoln's assassination. a lonely, stubborn man, he was intolerant of criticism and unable to compromise. he lacked lincoln's political skills and keen sense of northern public opinion. though johnson had supported him -- emancipation during the war, he held deeply racist views. a self-proclaimed spokesman for poor white farmers of the south, he condemned the old planter aristocracy, but believed african-americans had no role to play and reconstruction. thus johnson proved incapable of providing the nation with enlightened leadership. with congress out of session until december, johnson in may 1865, right after the assassination, outlined his land

for reigniting the nation. he issued a series of proclamations and more amnesties than any resident in american history. the rather then magnanimous acts, johnson offered a pardon to all southern whites except confederate leaders and wealthy plan fees and most of these subsequently received individual pardons who took an oath of allegiance. he also appointed provisional governors elected by whites alone. apart from the requirement that they abolish slavery, repudiate the confederacy, and abrogate the debt, the confederates were free in managing the run affairs. johnson had spoken of punishing traitors, and most white southerners believed his

proposals were surprisingly lenient. radicals criticized johnson's reconstruction for ignoring the rights of the former slaves, but at the outset, most northerners leaved the policy -- believed to be deserved it has to succeed. conduct of the new southern government under johnson's program, however, turned most of the republican north against the president. johnson assumed when elections were held for governors, unionist human -- unionist yeomen would replace the planters. in fact, by and large white southerners returned the old elite to power.

republicans and black leaders like frick would do a -- frederick douglass were outraged. but what aroused the most opposition were laws passed by the new southern governments, the black codes, which granted free people limited rights such as the right to own property and bring suit in court. african-americans could not testify against right, nor could they serve on militias, nor could they vote. the black codes required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts and may be unemployed vagrants subject to arrest, fines, and

being hired out to white landowners. some states limited occupations open to blacks and prevented them from acquiring land. the black codes, wrote one republican, were attempts to restore all of slavery but in name. reconstruction was over. this led it moderates to join radicals like thaddeus stevens in refusing to seat the southerners recently elected to congress. then they established a joint committee to infinity -- to investigate the progress of reconstruction. the president said it was over. no more. early in 1866, lyman trumbull, a senator from illinois, proposed to build, reflecting the moderates' belief that johnson's policy required modification. the first extended the life of the freedmen's bureau, which had been established for only one year. the second, the civil rights bill, was described by one congressman as one of the most

important bills ever presented to the house for its action. the bill left the new southern governments in place, but required them to accord blacks the same civil rights as whites. it made no mention of the right to vote. passed by overwhelming majorities, the civil rights bill represented the first attempt to define in legislative terms the essence of freedom and the rights of american citizenship. in empowering the federal government to require equality regardless of race, it embodied a profound change in federal-state relations. to the surprise of congress, johnson vetoed both bills. johnson offered no possibility of compromising with congress. he insisted instead his own

reconstruction program the left unchanged. it made a conflict between the president and the congress inevitable. in april 1866, the civil rights bill became the first major law in american history passed over presidential veto. i might want to add parenthetically this civil rights act of 1866 is still relevant today and still used by the department of justice to enforce civil liberties. for all people. congress approved the 14th amendment to protect the rights of all americans. it forbade states from abridging the immunities of american citizens or depriving any citizen from equal protection under the laws. in a compromise between radicals

and moderates, it did not give >> the right to vote, but threatened to reduce the -- it did not give blacks the right to -- it empowered congress to take further steps to enforce the amendments provisions. the most important change in the constitution since the adoption of the bill of rights, the 14th qualityt established a in the law. it established the fundamental right of american citizens. it shifted the balance of power within the nation i making the federal government, not the states, the ultimate protector

of citizens rights, a sharp departure from prewar traditions that saw centralized power, not local authority, as the threat to american liberties. in challenging future congresses to define the meaning of equal rights, it made equality before the law i dynamic, elastic rentable. -- elastic principle. the 14th amendment and the policy of guaranteeing civil rights for blacks became the central issues of the political campaign of 1866. congress now demanded that in order that they regain seat in the house and senate, the southern states ratified the amendment. johnson denounced a proposal and embarked on a speaking tour of the north to swing around the circle, as it was called. denouncing his critics, the president made wild accusations radicals were plotting to assassinate him.

his behavior further undermined public support for his policies, much as his drunken behavior had done at his inauguration as vice president. in elections that fall, republicans won a sweeping victory. nonetheless, egged on by johnson, every southern state but tennessee refused to ratify the 14th amendment. the intransigence of johnson and the bulk of the white south further pushed moderate republicans toward the radicals. in march 1867, over john central -- over johnson's veto, congress adopted the reconstruction act, which divided the south into five military districts.

only after the new governments ratified the 14th amendment could the southern states finally be readmitted to the union. thus began the period of congressional or radical reconstruction, which lasted until the fall of the last southern republican government in 1877. it was the nation's first real experiment in interracial democracy. in order to shield the policy against congressional congress adopted the tenure of office act, barring the president from her moving certain officeholders, including cabinet members, without the consent of the senate. in february 1868, johnson removed secretary of war, edwin m. stanton, an ally of the radicals. the house responded by approving

articles of impeachment against the president. to me, one of abraham lincoln's worst decisions was to allow the removal of hannibal hamlin as vice presidential candidate in 1864. virtually all republicans by this point consider johnson a failure as president and an obstacle to a lasting reconstruction. but some moderates disliked the prospect of elevating to the presidency benjamin wadee, a radical, who as president pro tem of the senate would succeed johnson if johnson were in fact impeached. wade in some ways was a mayor or -- a mirror image of johnson in terms of personality. the final tally to convict johnson was one vote short of

the two thirds necessary to remove him from office. seven republicans had joined the democrats in voting to acquit the president. johnson's acquittal weakened the radicals' position and made the nomination of ulysses s. grant inevitable. appomattox in short grant's -- appomattox, shown here, insured grant's victory as president and would allow grant to be really considered a genuine hero of the american republic, even eclipsing lincoln until after grant's death. the nation's greatest war hero initially had supported johnson's policies. grant came to side with congress, but radicals worried that he lacked strong ideological convictions. his democratic opponent, horatio

seymour, was the colorless former new york governor. reconstruction was a central issue of the 1868 campaign. the campaign was bitter. republicans identified your opponents with treason, a tactic known as waving the bloody shirt. democrats appealed openly to racism, charging reconstruction would lead to interracial marriage and black supremacy throughout the nation. grant won the election, although by a margin many republicans found uncomfortably close. he received overwhelming support from let voters in the south, but seymour may well have carried a majority of the nation's white vote. nonetheless, the result was a vindication of a republican reconstruction program that inspired congress to adopt the era's third amendment.

in february, 1869, congress approved the amendment that for bade federal and state governments from denying the right to vote based on race. bitterly opposed by the democratic party, it became part of the constitution in 1870. as late as 1868, even after congress had in franchise black men in the south, only eight northern states had allowed a black men to vote. in march 1870, the american anti-slavery society disbanded, its work, they thought, now complete. congressional reconstruction policy was now essentially complete. henceforth, reconstruction lay in the south. among the former slaves, the passage of the construction act of 1877 that brought black

-- of 1867 that brought black suffrage to the south cause political organization. determined to exercise their new rights as citizens, thousands join the union league, an organization closely linked to the republican party and a vast majority of african-americans registered to vote. in 1870, all of the confederate states met the requirements of congress and had been readmitted to the union and were nearly all under control of the republican party. the new constitution drafted in 1868 and 1869 by the first public bodies in american history with substantial black representation of about 1000 delegates in the south, over one quarter were black.

they made the structure of seven government more democratic, modernized to the tax system, and guaranteed the civil and political rights of black citizens. a few states initially had barred former confederates from voting, but this policy was quickly abandoned. throughout reconstruction, black voters provided the bulk of the republican party's support. though democrats charged that negro rule came to the south, nowhere did the blacks control the workings of state government and nowhere did they hold office equal to their proportion in the total population, which ranged from 60% in south carolina to 30% in arkansas, north carolina, tennessee, and texas. nonetheless, the fact that well over 1500 african-americans occupied positions of political power in the reconstruction south represented a stunning

departure. the new southern republican party also brought to power whites who enjoyed little authority before the civil war. given that many of the reconstruction governors and legislatures lactic government lacked government experience, their record is still remarkable. the new government establish the south's first state-supported public-school systems as well as numerous hospitals and asylums for orphans and the insane. their institutions were open to blacks and whites, although generally they were segregated. only in new orleans were public schools integrated during reconstruction and only in south carolina did the state university admit black students. elsewhere, separate colleges were established for blacks.

by the 1870's in a region whose prewar leaders had made it illegal for blacks to learn and read and did little to promote the education of among poorer whites, over half the children were attending public schools. in assuming responsibility for education, reconstruction governments followed a path blazed by the north. there guarantee to -- the guarantee lost these governments into an unknown area in american law. racial segregation or the complete exclusion of blacks from public facilities was widespread throughout the country. black demands for the outlawing of segregation provided deep

divisions within the republican party. but in the south where blacks made up the vast majority of the republican voting population, laws were enacted making it illegal for railroads, hotels, and other institutions to discriminate on the basis of race. enforcement of these laws are very considerably. but reconstruction established for the first time at the state level as standard of equal citizenship and a recognition of blacks' rights to public services. republican governments also took steps to promote both races and promote the south's economic recovery. the black codes were repealed, the property of small farmers protected against being seized for debt and they shifted the burden from propertyless blacks and who paid a disproportionate share during presidential reconstruction to planters and other landowners.

the former slaves, however, were disappointed that little was done to assist them in acquiring land. only south carolina took effective action establishing a commission to resell land for poor families. rather than land distribution, the reconstruction governments penned their hopes for southern economic growth and opportunity for african-americans on a program of regional development. railroad construction was its centerpiece, the key, they believed, to linking the south with northern markets and transforming into a society of booming factories, towns, and booming agriculture. they had mixed results. a few states -- georgia, alabama, arkansas, and texas -- witnessed significant railroad construction, but economic

development in general remained weak. with abundant opportunities existing in the west, few northern investors ventured to the reconstruction south. thus to their supporters, the governments of radical reconstruction represented a complex pattern of achievement and disappointment. the economic vision of a modernizing, revitalize southern economy failed to materialize and most african-americans remained locked in poverty. on the other hand, biracial democratic government, the thing unknown in american history, for the first time functioned effectively in many parts of the south. school systems were established and legal codes were purged of racism. the conservative oligarchy that dominated colonial government

found itself largely excluded from political power while those who had previously been outsiders, poor white southerners, men from the north, and former slaves, cast ballots, sat on juries, and enacted and administer laws. the effect on african-americans was strikingly visible. the traditional leaders opposed the new southern governments, denouncing them as corrupt, inefficient, embodying wartime to feet and -- to feet and black supremacy. the most basic reasons for opposition to reconstruction, however, was most white

southerners could not accept the idea of former slaves of voting, holding office, and enjoying equality before the law. they had always regarded blacks as an inferior race whose proper place was as dependent laborers. reconstruction, they believed, had to be overthrown to restore white supremacy and to ensure that planters had a disciplined, reliable labor force. the violence after 1867 was pervasive among organized, and explicitly motivated by politics. in wide areas of the south, reconstruction's opponents resorted to terror to secure their aim of securing democratic rule -- capital d -- and white supremacy.

secret societies sprang up, whose purposes were to prevent blacks from voting and to destroy the ever structure of the republican party by assassinating leaders. the most notorious organization was the ku klux klan, which in effect served as the military arm of the democratic party. founded as a tennessee social club, the klan was soon transformed into an organization of terrorist criminals that spread into nearly every southern states, led by planters, merchants, and democratic politicians, men who liked to sell themselves as the south's respectable citizens and natural rulers, the klan committed some of the most brutal acts of violence in american history. grant's election did not end the klan's activities.

indeed, in some parts of the south, klan activity accelerated. for assaultgled out reconstruction's local leadership. white republicans, local officeholders, teachers and party organizers were often victimized. in 1870, an irish born teacher and a black school was lynched in alabama along with four black men. female teachers were beaten as well as mail. although some northern republicans opposed further intervention in the south, most agreed with senator john sherman of ohio who affirmed that the must cross, nation as we once before have done, this organized civil war. in 1870 and 1871, congress adopted three enforcement acts

outlawing terrorist societies and allowing the president to use the army against them. these laws continue the expansion of national authority during reconstruction by defining certain crimes, those aimed at depriving citizens of their civil and political rights as federal offenses rather than merely violations of state law. in 1871, president grant authorized federal marshals, backed up by troops in some areas, to arrest hundreds of after a seriesn of well-publicized trials come in which many of the organization leaders were jailed . peace reigned in the form of confederacy. at least for a while. despite the grant administration's effective response, the north's commitment to reconstruction waned during the 1870's.

many radical leaders, including thaddeus stevens, who had died in 1868, had passed from the scene. within the republican party, their place was taken by politicians less committed to the ideal of equal rights for blacks. many northerners felt that the south should be up to solve its own problems without constant interference from washington. the federal government had freed the slaves, made them citizens, given them the right to vote and crushed the ku klux klan. now blacks should rely on their own resources, not demand further assistance from the -- north. other factors we can northern support for reconstruction. plunged the country into a severe economic depression. distracted by the nation's economic problems, republicans were in no mood to develop further attention to the south.

congress did enact one final piece of civil rights legislation, the civil rights act of 1875, which outlawed racial discrimination in places of public accommodation. a tribute to charles sumner, who had devoted his career to promoting the principle of equality before the law, but who died in 1874. nonetheless, it was clear that the northern public was retreating from reconstruction. one reason republicans adopted the civil rights act was the democrats, for the first time since before the civil war, swept to the elections of 1874 and would control the house of representatives beginning in december 1875. meanwhile, the supreme court, to my own personal chagrin, began whittling away at the guarantees a black rights that congress had adopted.

henceforth, southern republicans , white and black, could expect little further help from washington. by the mid-1870's chimeric instruction was on the defensive. in those states where reconstruction survived, .iolence again reared its head and this time, the grant administration showed no desire to intervene. in contrast of the klan's activities, conducted at night by disguised man, the violence of 1875 and 1876 took place in flauntaylight, as if to democrats' conviction that they had nothing to fear from washington. 1861, the winter of 1860- americans again faced a

constitutional crisis as a result of the presidential election of 1876. 1877, unable to resolve the crisis on its own, congress appointed a 15-member electoral senators, composed of representatives command supreme court justices. republicans enjoyed and 8-7 majority on the commission. and to no one's surprise, the members decided that rutherford b. hayes had carried the disputed southern states and was elected. 1877 recognized democratic control of the remaining southern states and democrats would not block the certification of hayes's election by congress. he became president, ended federal intervention in the south command ordered the united states troops who had been guarding the state houses in south carolina and louisiana to return to their barracks, not to

leave the region entirely, as is widely believed. the redeemer's as the southern democrats who overturned republican rule called themselves now ruled the entire south. reconstruction had come to an end. lincoln washam naive about his hope to reconstruct the south. he had thought the civil war would be a short one. and after that, turned into a false hope, most of his time was spent on how to an a long one. the transition from a slave to a free society would take and .equire a social revolution the johnson administration seems to confirm the founders' wisdom about character and the danger of demagogues. ulysses s. grant's

administration confirms lincoln's remark that americans are they almost chosen people. grant was running a race against time. in regard to white southerners who had been displaced from power, but also the flash flood of his cronies home he had trusted. did humans service to lincoln's dream in suggesting that justice in an open society would eventually become more likely in the long-term. thank you all very much. [applause] >> we have time for several questions.

>> thank you for that. you know how active or passive brother bears -- rutherford b. hayes took in the bargain? >> i think the question is what role, active or otherwise, rutherford b. hayes took in this corrupt bargain, i call it, the election of 1876 and its so-called resolution the following year. i don't think much. i think his political operatives all of theled machinations and shenanigans to get him the office. hand, likehad a deft lincoln zone to cannery in politics. you would have third parties do your bidding. i think that was the case here. >> thank you. the head of the history

department at youngstown state always made the statement that john wilkes booth did lincoln a -- byby telling him killing him because he could not have done much better with congress as johnson dead. >> another what-if question that is asked all the time. and it should be. lovers and lane again and respectful of his statesmanship, i have to think that lincoln had so much more political skill than his successor that he would have done a lot better in a mealy rating the conflict between the legislative branch. success, not a total because, remember, we are talking about a social revolution here. his had lincoln served second term in full, i think we would still, in some form or another, still be required to

pass the civil rights 1960's and of the also deal with our supreme court in a way that took -- it even though it may not have taken a hundred years, but certainly a number of years long after lincoln's life to get into the spirit of civil liberties and equality for all. yes, judge. >> implicit in the tone of your remarks is that washington dropped the ball and that they should have been >> -- what else is new -- should have been -- >> what else is new? [laughter] i'm sorry for that sarcastic remark. that washington, d.c. and the northern leadership should have been ruthless in their pursuit of justice in the south, and

girded themselves, if they had any vision for the 10 years of just recrimination and the gnashing of teeth. am i reading that correctly? we have whatwise, we had, which is a hundred years of injustice and a country that would never really heal for almost a century. >> it's an excellent question and, yes, i am disappointed in valleys ofpeaks and actions or inaction from washington. but i have to state this. washingtonwho are in in both the executive and legislative branches are elected by the people. and it's like the old pogo cartoon, remember? we have met the enemy and they are us.

and i have to think now, as well as then, we are the ones who must decide in the end what kind of leadership we want in washington. and also, the second point, which i tried to make here is that people -- and this is normal -- people tire. people tire of war. war ofon't mean the combat, but the war against injustice. to put it aside in a form of survival. i've always thought, since i was a young man, that we needed a part of us to be committed to the basic principles of the declaration of independence, which we all know was more revered by lincoln than the constitution, that all men are created equal. [applause]

>> as an attorney, i must address you as your honor. [laughter] >> chief will do. [laughter] i really appreciated your positive remarks about how things might have been different had lincoln not been assassinated. responsiblea fairly story -- historian suggests that, had lincoln not been assassinated, we would have no lincoln memorial. i would like your reflection? say?at can i we've had memorials for other presidents who have not achieved , i think, the greatness and -- i thinkt lincoln

in some point, if he continued to be the statesman that he was during his first term that there would be a memorial. maybe not the lincoln memorial that we know today, which is so symbolic, i think in part because of his death. but i think we would remember him with respect and fondness. yes. >> i was wondering if you are familiar with a recent book published by michelle alexander called "the new jim crow." it is her contention in this book that we in effect have jim crow still today. ,nd she writes and eloquent very sobering book that i highly recommend to look at the issues of the jim crow today. >> i agree with you in many

respects. my have not read the book, but i certainly heard about it. and i think the racism that confronted lincoln and the radical republicans and andrew johnson and during both presidential and congressional reconstruction, if you want to call it that, is still with us today. and i think i have to say this, as a mediator, we could not mediate the civil war because, when that first boatload of slaves went into jamestown in 1619, iirginia think it was, we were doomed. that was it. an enslavedted culture, the only way we could get out of it is exactly what happened between 1861 and 1865. ,nd let many great americans men and women, have tried to do

to defray us, to get us away from this injustice of enslaving another people. thank you all. you've been great. [applause] which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] >> interested in american history tv? go to www.c-span.org/history. american history tv at www.c-span.org/history. >> each week, american history tv's railamerica brings your archival films that provide context for today's public affairs issues. >> for centuries, foreign trade has been the subject of arguments, articles, books,