Download Aim: What was the nation`s plan for rebuilding the Union

Aim: What was the nation’s plan for rebuilding the Union?
Reconstruction – the term given to the period of time after the Civil War in which the United States began the process of readmitting
the form Confederate States to the Union. It lasted from 1865-1877.
Lincoln’s Plan (Ten Percent Plan) – Lincoln wanted to reunite the nation as quickly and painless as possible. He offered amnesty,
official pardon, for all illegal acts supporting the rebellion. In order to receive amnesty, southerners had to do two things: 1) swear an
oath of loyalty to the United States and 2) agree that slavery was illegal. Once 10% of voters in a state made these pledges, they could
form a new state government. The state could then seek readmittance to the Union.
Johnson’s Plan – his plan was similar to Lincoln’s but decided wealthy southerners and former Confederate officials would need a
presidential pardon to receive amnesty.
Wade-Davis Bill – many in Congress believed they should control southern states’ return to the Union. Much stricter than Lincoln’s
plan, the Wade-Davis Bill required states to: 1) ban slavery, 2) have a majority of adult males in a state to take an oath of loyalty to the
United States, and 3) anyone that took arms against the Union was not longer able to vote or hold public office. Lincoln refused to sign
the bill into law.
Thirteenth Amendment – made slavery illegal throughout the United States.
Freedmen’s Bureau – established in 1865, an agency providing relief for freed people and certain poor people in the South. They
distributed food, provided education, legal help. It established two universities for African Americans: Howard and Fisk. Other services
provided by the Freedmen’s Bureau include: supervising contracts between freed people and employers, providing supplies and
medical services, taking care of lands abandoned or captured during war.
Andrew Johnson – Lincoln’s Vice President. He was sworn into office after Lincoln’s assassination. Johnson was a former slave
holder and Democrat who Republicans put on the ticket to appeal to border states.
New State Governments – Under Johnson’s plan, he appointed temporary governors for each of the former Confederate states. The
states were required to revise their constitutions and voters had to elect new state and federal representatives. The new state
governments had to declare that secession was illegal, ratify the 13th amendment and refuse to pay Confederate debts. By the end of
1865, all southern states except Texas had created new governments.
*Republicans in Congress complained that many new representatives had been Confederate leaders. Congress refused to readmit
them into the Union – the nation was still divided.