The Course of Reconstruction

Describe the course of Reconstruction. What were the various plans offered by President Lincoln, President Johnson, and Congress? What types of arguments arose surrounding the issue of Reconstruction? How did Reconstruction policies attempt to help the newly emancipated slaves, and were those policies successful? How did Southerners react to Reconstruction? How did Reconstruction finally come to an end?

The course of the Reconstruction Era was one that had many ups and downs. Many questions needed to be answered such as how to address the South's succession from the Union, how to help the newly freed slaves, and how to rebuild Southern infrastructure. Americans had different views of how the nation should come together. President Lincoln took a more egalitarian approach where as Radical Republicans wanted to treat those in the South as conquered prisoners. Some policies were successful, whereas others were not. In the end, the South retained its "Old South" ideologies and the North ignored the idea of advocating change.

Initially, President Lincoln proposed the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (also known as the 10 percent plan) which stated that if 10 percent of the voting population of Southern states pledged allegiance to the Constitution, they could be welcomed back into the Union. However, Radical Republicans felt that a more aggressive plan should be implemented and freed slaves should be granted full citizenship before the Southern states were admitted back into the Union. In opposition of Lincoln, Radical Republicans suggested the Wade-Davis Bill; a bill that suggested that 50 percent of white Southerners must take an "iron-clad" Oath of Allegiance to the constitution, southern states must abolish slavery in their state constitutions, and those who served in the Confederate Army could not be a part of the Constitutional Conventions. Radical Republicans felt that if a more aggressive approach was not used during Reconstruction, previous Southern beliefs would remain in the South (such as the enslavement of Blacks) and the Civil War would have been pointless. Unfortunately, President Lincoln could not come to an agreement with the Radical Republicans; he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford's Theatre. As a result, Andrew Johnson became the next President.

When President Johnson became President, he was placed in a peculiar situation. President Lincoln had just vetoed the Wade-Davis bill, and the lack of Constitutional provision regarding Reconstruction was not evident; therefore, disagreements about who should be in charge of Reconstruction would take place. In addition, Johnson was not properly prepared for the Presidency; he maintained Lincoln's proposal of the 10 percent plan and went on to allow former slave owners to regain control of the South resulting in a massive Congress upset. As a result, Congress constructed the Joint Committee on Reconstruction