U. s history 4 fill in the blanks. plz ! the policy would have given freed blacks what they most desired after the civil war: land. instead, andrew johnson, who succeeded the presidency after lincoln’s murder, offered “ and pardon” as well as a restoration of property to most former confederates. the south carried out what it called on a state by state basis in the 1870s, as democratic governments took power, ending reconstruction and any hope of black equality. when president grant refused to protect blacks in 1875, that state and others followed the so-called initiating a reign of terror against blacks to gain and maintain political power. this terror was ignored after 1875 by all three branches of the national government.