Wednesday, November 28, 2012

What were the Reconstruction plans put forth by Congress and the President (both Lincoln and Johnson)?

There were basically 3 plans for Reconstruction, Lincoln’s
plan, Johnson’s plan, and the Radical Republican
plan.


Lincoln’s plan was known as the 10% Plan. It was
simple. With a few exceptions, Lincoln offered pardons to any Confederate who swore
allegiance to the Union and the Constitution.  When the number of people who took an
oath of allegiance equaled 10% of the number of voters who participated in the election
of 1860, the state would be readmitted to the Union after organizing a new state
government which abolished slavery.  Lincoln was assassinated before this plan could be
put into effect.


Johnson’s plan was also lenient towards
the southern states.  He would grant pardons to anyone taking a loyalty oath to the U.S.
except for high ranking Confederate political and military leaders, and people owning
property worth more than $20,000. States would be readmitted to the Union once they
created a new state government that abolished slavery, repealed the state’s ordinance of
secession, and repudiated Confederate debts.  This was put into effect when Congress was
in recess.  Johnson’s Plan did not really address the fortunes of newly freed slaves and
southern states began to pass “black codes”’ or laws which severely limited the civil
rights of freedmen. When Congress reconvened, it refused to recognize Johnson’s plan by
refusing to seat any person elected to Congress from any former Confederate state. It
then began to pass its own laws concerning the southern
states.


The Congressional Plan, or Radical Republican Plan,
was meant to aid newly freed slaves (known as freedmen) and to punish the South.  It
first passed several laws helping newly freed slaves, such as The Civil Rights Act
(whose provisions would later be found in the 14th Amendment).  It also extended the
life of the Freedmen’s Bureau.  It then passed a series of laws known as The
Reconstruction Acts.  These laws were vetoed by Johnson, but the vetoes were easily
overridden and these laws were put into effect.  The Reconstruction Acts basically
divided the South into 5 military districts with the military commander of the district
given complete authority.  No state would be allowed back into the Union until it
ratified the 14th Amendment and guaranteed the right to vote for African American men.
And later, for some states, the 15th Amendment had to be ratified, too.  The 14th
Amendment punished Confederate supporters and gave citizenship to former slaves.  It
also said that no state could deny to anyone, including
African Americans, the equal protection of the law and due process of law.  The 15th
amendment stated that the right to vote could not be denied on the basis of race. 
Eventually all states were readmitted under this plan.

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