How Did Lincoln's Plan For Reconstruction

Towards the end of the Civil War the south deeply was in need of reconstruction. Before the war even ended, President Lincoln has already started to plan for reconstruction. His plan offered general amnesty to white southerners that would accept the abolition of slavery and pledge an oath of loyalty to the government. Suffrage was also granted to African Americans who were educated, owned property, or had served in the Union Army. For the southern states to readmit to the Union, they had to have 10 percent of the state’s total voters to take the oath of loyalty. Lincoln knew that his plan would be difficult to follow through with because of the Radical Republicans. The Radicals did not like the mildness of his plan. They wanted a stricter plan call the Wade-Davis Bill. In this Bill a governor was appointed to each
In April 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment was proposed by the Joint Committee. It stated that everyone born in the United States or if you were naturalized, you were an American citizen and you had all the “privileges and immunities” granted by the Constitution. There were penalties on the states if they denied suffrage to any adult male inhabitants. It also forbid former member of the Confederate to hold office unless two-thirds of Congress to pardon them. To readmit to the Union, the states had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. In the South, reconstruction had profound effects. Blacks in the south had important roles in politics. They served as delegates in constitutional conventions and held offices. By 1901, twenty blacks held positions in the House of Representative and two held positions in the Senate. Education was a significant accomplishment for the South’s Reconstruction. By 1870, there were 4,000 schools, staffed by 9,000 teachers, teaching 200,000 students. Also, they began to build a public school system. Blacks and whites were racially