Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/35

 ANDREW JOHNSON 15 interference with the rights of the states. This bill was passed over the veto. On June 16 the 14th amendment to the constitu tion, which contained the principle of the civil rights bill, was proposed, disapproved by the presi dent, but ratified and declared in force, July 28, 1868. Both houses of congress passed a joint reso lution that the delegation from a state lately in re bellion should not be received by either the senate or the house until both united in declaring said state a member of the Union. In July the second f reed- man s bureau bill was passed, vetoed, and passed over the veto. In June, 1866, the Republicans in congress brought forward their plan of reconstruc tion, which was called the &quot;congressional plan,&quot; in contradistinction to the president s plan, of which he spoke as &quot;my policy.&quot; The chief features of the congressional plan were to give the negroes the right to vote, to protect them in this right, and to prevent the Confederate leaders from voting. Congress met on December 3, 1866. The bill giv ing negroes the right of suffrage in the District of Columbia was passed over a veto. An attempt was made to impeach the president, but it failed. In January, 1867, a bill was passed to deprive the president of the power to proclaim general amnesty, which he disregarded. Measures were adopted looking to the meeting of the 40th and all subsequent congresses immediately upon the ad-