The Reconstruction of many Southern states from the year 1865 to 1877 is a failure, although reconstruction plans are set up, African Americans still face the same poor treatment they are given prior to the Civil War. The president at the time, Abraham Lincoln, puts in place a reconstruction plan to help rebuild the South in a way it has never been before, without slaves. Lincoln also puts the thirteenth amendment in place, which abolishes slavery. However, after Lincoln’s death, his Vice President, Andrew Johnson takes over and overrules his reconstruction plan, and puts in place his own, which favors the former Confederate states. Johnson fights with congress over the passing of the fourteenth amendemnet, but Congress overrules his vetoes,
Throughout the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proposed a new plan called Reconstruction. It required one tenth of the number of voters who voted in 1860 to take an oath of allegiance so the states could reorganize a state government. Also, to let the confederate states could come back into the Union. The state constitution had to be Republican in form, abolish slavery, and provide for Black education. On April 14th, 1865 Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth who was the leader of a conspiracy group that was committed to the southern cause.
American will always go through great political changes as a country. In the history of the United states reconstruction refers to a period of time in 1865, when efforts were made after the civil war, to restore the relations between North and the South. Also to improve status of the blacks and, to restore "normalcy" in the country. The streets were fulled with the bodies of Confederate soldiers and the buildings smoldered right down to their foundations. President Lincoln’s 10% Plan was an approach towards reconstruction.
Some people might have thought differently about the 10% plan. Like The Radical Republicans, “Many leading Republicans in Congress feared that Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction was not harsh enough, believing that the South needed to be punished for causing the war. These Radical Republicans hoped to control the Reconstruction process, transform southern society, disband the planter aristocracy, redistribute land, develop industry, and guarantee civil liberties for former slaves. Although the Radical Republicans were the minority party in Congress, they managed to sway many moderates in the postwar years and came to dominate Congress in later
Abraham Lincoln’s vs Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Lincoln shared the uncommon belief that the confederate states could still be part of the union and that the cause of the rebellion was only a few within the states which lead him to begin the reconstruction in December of 1863. This resulted in plans with lenient guidelines and although they were challenged by Wade-Davis Bill, Lincoln still rejected his ideas and kept his policies in place. Lincoln also allowed land to be given the newly freed slave or homeless white by distributing the land that had been confiscated from former land owners however this fell through once Johnson took office. After Lincoln’s death when Johnson was elected many things started to turn away from giving blacks equal rights and resulted in many things such a black codes which kept newly freed slaves from having the same rights as whites. When Lincoln first acted after the civil war, he offered policies that would allow the confederate slaves to become part of the union again and would allow a pardon for those states.
By 1877 the congressional reconstruction plan set in motion by radical republicans ended by the compromise of 1877 in the United States of America. The congressional reconstruction plan had aimed to better the lives of freedmen in the United States of America, and essentially equal to their white counterparts, I think it was unsuccessful attempt, because of how the lives of the slaves turned out to be and how it allowed for the creation of the Black codes. The reconstruction plan had aimed to abolish slavery, Freedman's bureau to raise living standards and lastly provide voting rights. Before the 13th amendment there was no law that stated that African Americans were free, they were called freedman, and the lives of the slaves weren't dogmatic.
With the assassination of president Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, a Southern democrat, came into office. Despite being staunchly pro-Union and anti-secession, Johnson's approach to reconstruction seemed far less attractive, perhaps due to the fact that he was a slave owner. Following Johnson's entrance, moderates and radicals formed an alliance for arguably two decisive reasons: both groups shared a parallel distrust and disliking for Johnson, and Johnson's measures seemed far too sparing in his efforts of reconciliation with Southern states. Moreover, during Johnson's presidency, Northerners recognized a South that had once again become unruly, which many believed was a result of the lenient tendencies that Johnson approached reconstruction with.
A few days after the civil War ended, President Lincoln was assassinated and never had the chance to implement his Reconstruction plan. The Reconstruction Era occurred in the period of 1865 to 1877 under the reign of President Andrew Johnson who was the predecessor of President Lincoln. Congress was not scheduled to convene until December 1865, which gave Johnson eight months to pursue his own Reconstruction policies. Under his Reconstruction policies, the former Confederate states were required to join back into the Union and heal the wounds of the nation.
In a stroke of genius, it allowed for a small minority of Northern sympathizers to take over a Southern state and create a government. The Ten Percent plan also pardoned all Southern citizens and most officials, creating a feeling of leniency among those in the South. In this way, Lincoln managed to completely take over states with small amounts of supporters within them, while at the same time appearing amicable to the South. He successfully accomplished his goals and started the process of reconstruction while avoiding a public outcry.
The Reconstruction era of 1865 was an attempted unify the states of the United States of America after the Civil War. This proved to be terribly difficult and contentious process. The three main issues the federal government had to deal with included how to deal with states as they re-joined the Union, how Southern whites should be treated, and how to deal with the freed slaves. Furthermore, President Lincoln’s reconstruction plan included that states never truly seceded from the Union as this was not legally possible, and therefore they should not necessarily be punished. The plan had two major provisions: Pardons of Southerners who participated in the war if the took an oath of allegiance to the United States and Readmission of a state if 10% of white voters in that state took
After the Union won the major battles that is when Lincoln had put the ten percent plan on the table, this plan was when ten percent of the state’s eligible voters pledge oath to US then they could join the Union. To begin with, there are a few reasons why one would say that reconstruction in the south was a failure. One of these reasons being that, even after the civil war in the South’s government passed laws to limit the rights of the free African Americans. In document C we can see this is evident where it states “No negro or freedmen shall be allowed to come within the limits of the town of Opelousas without special permission of his employers. Whoever breaks this law will go to jail and work for two days on the public streets, or pay a fine of five dollars.”
Sources Analysis Freedom During the Reconstruction era, the idea of freedom could have many different meanings. Everyday factors that we don't often think about today such as the color of our skin, where we were born, and whether or not we own land determined what limitations were placed on the ability to live our life to the fullest. To dig deeper into what freedom meant for different individuals during this time period, I analyzed three primary sources written by those who experienced this first hand. These included “Excerpts from The Black Codes of Mississippi” (1865), “Jourdan Anderson to his old master” (1865), and “Testimony on the Ku Klux Klan in Congressional Hearing” (1872).
Soon after the war was over, President Abraham Lincoln introduced his reconstruction plan to reunite the nation, and have it function the way it used to. On December 1863, President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction; it offered “full pardon” and the restoration of property to white Southerners. However, the prerequisites to receive full pardon include swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States and its laws; the only people excluded from the offer were Prominent Confederate military and civil leaders. On December 8, 1865, President Lincoln announced the terms of another reconstructive plan, known as “Lincoln’s Ten-Percent
According to www.history.com/topics/charles-sumner ”He saw Reconstruction as the opportunity to establish civil rights for blacks, first in the South where Congress had explicit authority and gradually in the North. In 1865 he insisted that suffrage be granted to all black males. At the time of his death, Sumner was still vainly agitating for federal legislation repealing all discriminatory laws.” Finally, there was President Andrew Johnson. After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, just as the South surrendered in April 1865, and then Andrew Johnson inherited the problem of Reconstruction.
Reconstruction was a period of time dedicated to rebuilding the nation after the Civil War. The war ended with the South being defeated and their economy being devastated. Many Southerners struggled after the war with rebuilding their land and lives. The President and Congress had to decide the terms for which the former Confederate states would be permitted to join the Union. President Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the country was found in the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
