Warm-up:

• What does democracy mean?

Reconstruction & Evolving Democracy

Democracy “Ideas”•Worth of an individual• Equality of all persons•Majority rule, minority rights*• Necessity of compromise• Individual freedom

Democracy “Institutions”an organization, establishment, foundation, society, or 

the like, devoted to the promotion of a particular cause or program

• Constitution• Government• Freedom• Bill of Rights

Democracy-- “Political Processes”

• Citizen participation• Free and fair elections• Voting

Changing Role of Government During Reconstruction

• Separation of Powers:basic principle of American system

of government that the executive, legislative, and judicial powers are divided among three independent and coequal branches of governmentrecon sp

Changing Role of Government during Reconstruction

• Checks and balances:System of overlapping the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to permit each branch to check the actions of the others

recon cb

Changing Role of Government during Reconstruction

• Federalism:A system of government in which a written constitution divides power between a central, or national, government and several regional governments

recon fed

Evolution of Democracy During Reconstruction

• 13th Amendment• 14th Amendment• 15th Amendment• Majority rule—Minority rights• Constitution• Civil Rights

• Separation of Powers: struggle between Executive and Legislative branches– Radical Republicans thought Lincoln’s plan was a

threat to Congressional authority

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Checks and Balances• President Johnson vetoed bills passed by

Radical Republicans• Congress managed to override 15 of 29 vetoes• Congress tried to curb power of presidency with

the Tenure of Office Act/which President Johnson thought was unconstitutional/when he violated it he was impeached by the House of Representatives

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• Federalism:• there was no shared power between the

Federal gov’t and Southern State gov’ts---Federal gov’t told them what to do and instilled martial law until they acquiesced – Lincoln’s & Johnson’s plan insisted on Southern

approval of the 13th Amendment– States’ rights

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• All . . . will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect and to violate would be oppression.

Thomas Jefferson

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