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Honors U.S. History 2010/11
Week 13
Mr. Irwin
Name:
Period:
Lecture #14 – RECONSTRUCTION
1865 - 1877
The Purpose of Reconstruction:
Between 1865 – 1877, the federal government of the United States embarked on
Reconstruction, which was an effort to accomplish the two goals below:

Repair and rebuild the infrastructure of the South, which had been destroyed
during the Civil War.

Reunite the (former) Confederate States with the rest of the Union.
The issue of Reconstruction was hugely controversial at the time, as students should
have learned as the result of this week’s reading and note-taking assignment.
Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan:
As early as 1863, President Lincoln had begun working on a plan to reconstruct &
reunify the Confederate states with the rest of the Union. During that year, Lincoln
proposed a “Ten Percent Plan” for Reconstruction. Key elements of his plan were:

The overall approach to Reconstruction would be geared towards forgiveness
and healing.

A pardon would be issued to any Confederate who would take an oath of loyalty
to the United States, and accept the federal policy on slavery (which was that
slavery would be abolished).

Pardons would be denied to all Confederate military & government officials who
had killed African American war prisoners.

Once ten percent of voters in a state had sworn allegiance the Union, that state
would then hold a convention, for the purpose of creating a new state constitution
(which would have to conform to the Constitution of the United States).

Upon achieving 10% allegiance to the U.S., states would then hold elections and
resume full participation in the Union.
* It should be noted that the Ten Percent Plan would not “readmit” southern states into
the Union, since it was Lincoln’s view that the Southern secession had not been a
constitutional act (and therefore, the Confederate states had not actually left the Union,
as they believed they had).
Division within the Republican Party:
Lincoln was a Republican, and during the time of his administration, the Republicans
had a majority in Congress.
Many Republicans in Congress became unhappy that Lincoln seemed to be taking
control of Reconstruction (even though they were members of the same political party),
because according to the U.S. Constitution, it is the legislative branch of government
(Congress) that makes the laws (and as you should be aware by now, the President is
of the executive branch of government (the branch that oversees carrying out laws, not
making them).
Another reason why some Republicans were unhappy with Lincoln and his Ten Percent
Plan was that they thought it was too lenient towards the (former) Confederacy.
Congress Has Its Own Plan For Reconstruction
Being the lawmakers, Congress passed it’s own plan for Reconstruction, the Wade –
Davis Act.
A Third Plan For Reconstruction:
Upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Vice President, Andrew Johnson moved up
to take over as president (per the U.S. Constitution).
With all the controversy over opposing plans for Reconstruction, and the philosophical
debates regarding executive branch authority vs. legislative authority, President
Johnson came up with his own plan for Reconstruction (which was largely based on
Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan), titled “Presidential Reconstruction.”