Military Rule and the Impeachment of Johnson

Frustrated by President Johnson's opposition, Radical Republicans took full control. They passed the Reconstruction Acts , which divided the South into five military districts. The U.S. Army would now enforce federal law and protect the rights of freedpeople, overriding the new state governments Johnson had approved.

This power struggle led to a constitutional crisis. After Johnson deliberately violated a law passed by Congress, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. He was formally charged with wrongdoing but was narrowly saved from removal by a single vote in the Senate.