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Reconstruction
Plans
How would you have established
terms of peace and rebuilding
following the Civil War?
Reconstruction
 The reorganization and rebuilding of the
former Confederate states after the Civil
War.
South’s Devastation
 The war saved the Union but left the
South devastated.
 When tired, ragged, and hungry
Confederate soldiers went home at the
end of the war, they often returned to a
ruined land.
 Cities and plantations were in ruin, and
roads, bridges and railroads were
destroyed.
Destruction in the South
Destruction in South
Carolina
 “We have
turned… loose
four million slaves
without a hut to
shelter them or a
cent in their
pockets.”
 Thaddeus Stevens
in a speech to
Congress,
December 1865
Freed Slaves
Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan
 President Lincoln offered the first plan for
accepting the South back into the Union.
 Ten Percent Plan stated that when 10
percent of the voters of a state took an
oath of loyalty to the Union, the State
could form a government and adopt a
new constitution that banned slavery.
 He wanted pro-Union Southerners to run
the state governments.
Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan
 Lincoln believed that punishing the South
would only delay healing the torn nation.
 Lincoln offered amnesty- a pardon- to all
white Southerners, except Confederate
leaders, who gave loyalty to the Union.
 In 1864 three states under Union
occupation- Louisiana, Arkansas, and
Tennessee- set up governments under
Lincoln’s plan.
The Radical Republicans
 In 1864 Congress was controlled by
Radical Republicans.
 Radical Republicans thought Lincoln’s 10
Percent Plan was too easy on the South.
 They came up with a much harsher plan.
 They voted to deny seats to
representatives from any state
reconstructed under Lincoln’s plan.
The Radical Republican’s
Plan- Wade Davis Bill
 In July 1864, Congress passed the WadeDavis Bill.
 For a state to rejoin the Union they had to:
 1) A majority of white males in a state had to swear
loyalty to the Union
 2) Only white males who had not fought in the Civil
War could vote for delegates.
 3) Former Confederates were barred from public
office.
 4) Any new state constitution had to end slavery.
Lincoln thoughts
 Lincoln refused to
sign the bill into law.
 He realized he would
have to be willing to
compromise with
Radical Republicans
if Reconstruction
were to occur.
The Freedmen’s Bureau
 In March 1865, Congress and the
president set up a new government
agency to help former enslaved persons,
or freedmen called the Freedmen’s
Bureau.
 After the war, the Freedmen’s Bureau
helped African Americans adjust to
freedom.
Freedmen’s Bureau
 The agency distributed food and clothing.
 Provided medical services that lowered the
death rate among freed former slaves.
 Set up schools staffed by Northern teachers.
 Gave aid to Black colleges such as Atlanta
University, Howard University, and Fisk.
 Helped freed people acquire land or work with
fair wages.
Freedmen School
The 13th Amendment
 The U.S. ratified the
13th Amendment in
December, 1865.
 The amendment
abolished slavery in
all of the United
States.
 Before entering the
Union, a state had to
denounce secession
and end slavery.