Question

Feature: Presidential Reconstruction | Congressional Reconstruction
(Johnson) (Radicals)

Goal: Rapid re-entry of Southern states. | Punishment of the South and civil rights for freedmen.

Requirement: Ratify the 13th Amendment. | Ratify the 14th Amendment and grant Black suffrage.

Power: Executive pardons for former Confederates. | Military districts governed by the U.S. Army.
Using the chart and your knowledge of South Carolina history, which statement best explains how Congressional Reconstruction differed from Presidential Reconstruction?
A. Johnson refused to allow Southern states to rejoin the Union under any circumstances.
B. Congress believed Johnson’s plan was too lenient and failed to protect civil rights for freedmen.
C. Johnson wanted to keep the U.S. Army in the South indefinitely to enforce the 15th Amendment
D. Congress wanted to return to the pre-war "Old South" social and economic structures.

Answer 1

B. Congress believed Johnson’s plan was too lenient and failed to protect civil rights for freedmen.

Explanation: Presidential Reconstruction (Johnson) favored rapid reentry, pardons for ex-Confederates, and only required the 13th Amendment. Radicals in Congress pushed for punishment, military districts, the 14th Amendment, and Black suffrage to secure civil and political rights—a response to Johnson’s leniency (as seen in South Carolina being placed under military rule and remade politically).