In addition to presidential reconstruction, congressional reconstruction was also underway. The congressman disagreed with both Lincoln and Johnson's Reconstruction plans. Their two main goals were to integrate African Americans into society by granting them citizenship and the right to vote, and the second goal was to destroy the political power that former slave owners had in the South. They first implemented these ideas by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave citizenship to African Americans and prohibited states from passing discriminatory laws. Although the Black Codes were adopted and Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, Congress had the power to override his veto. This shows that even though the President is the leader of the nation, the Constitution ensures that Congress has some influence over the President and can choose to block his procedures, Checks and Balances. Congress successfully passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the country. All citizens were entitled to equal protection under the law and had their rights recognized. Congress agreed that if the Confederate States ratified the Fourteenth Amendment they could return to the Union. Having failed to follow Congress' request, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This forced the Confederate states to undergo Reconstruction as Congress wanted. To ensure that Southerners could not change their state constitution in the future, they passed the Fifteenth Amendment and Congress' final Reconstruction Act, another civil rights law.