Final answer:
The Reconstruction Act of 1867 was pivotal legislation initiating Radical Reconstruction after the Civil War. It divided southern states into military districts overseen by Union generals, aimed at protecting the rights of freed people and restructuring state governments, leading to the eventual readmission of these states to the Union after they ratified the Fourteenth Amendment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Reconstruction Act of 1867
The Reconstruction Act of 1867, also known as the First Reconstruction Act, was one of the most significant pieces of legislation during the post-Civil War era. It signalled the beginning of what is known as Radical Reconstruction. The act was intended to reorganize the governments of the southern states that had seceded during the Civil War, which lawmakers felt did not have legal state governments or offer adequate protection for life and property. These southern states, excluding Tennessee which had been readmitted after accepting the Fourteenth Amendment, were divided into five military districts under the command of Union generals, backed by federal troops, ensuring the protection of freed people. An element of this act included the registration of voters and oversight of elections by the military, greatly influencing the re-establishment of civil governance in those states.
Military rule continued in each district until new state constitutions were adopted and the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the Reconstruction Acts, but Congress ultimately overrode his vetoes. By 1870, all former Confederate states under military governance had complied with the Congressional reconstruction acts, including acceptance of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and were readmitted to the Union. These acts were a direct response to Presidential Reconstruction and the Black Codes, which had attempted to maintain pre-Civil War societal structures. Thaddeus Stevens and other Radical Republicans spearheaded the legislative push for what they saw as a more just and egalitarian system. The Reconstruction Acts marked a pivotal shift in the Federal approach to reconstruction, focusing on equal rights and involvement of the freed African Americans in governance.