Reconstruction Plans

Reconstruction Plans How would you have established terms of peace and rebuilding following the Civil War?

Reconstruction • The reorganization and rebuilding of the former Confederate states after the Civil War.

South’s Devastation • The war saved the Union but left the South devastated. • When tired, ragged, and hungry Confederate soldiers went home at the end of the war, they often returned to a ruined land. • Cities and plantations were in ruin, and roads, bridges and railroads were destroyed.

Destruction in the South

Destruction in South Carolina

“We have turned… loose four million slaves without a hut to shelter them or a cent in their pockets.” Thaddeus Stevens in a speech to Congress, December 1865

Freed Slaves

Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan • President Lincoln offered the first plan for accepting the South back into the Union. • Ten Percent Plan stated that when 10 percent of the voters of a state took an oath of loyalty to the Union, the State could form a government and adopt a new constitution that banned slavery. • He wanted pro-Union Southerners to run the state governments.

Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan • Lincoln believed that punishing the South would only delay healing the torn nation. • Lincoln offered amnesty- a pardon- to all white Southerners, except Confederate leaders, who gave loyalty to the Union. • In 1864 three states under Union occupation- Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee- set up governments under Lincoln’s plan.

The Radical Republicans • In 1864 Congress was controlled by Radical Republicans. • Radical Republicans thought Lincoln’s 10 Percent Plan was too easy on the South. • They came up with a much harsher plan. • They voted to deny seats to representatives from any state reconstructed under Lincoln’s plan.

The Radical Republican’s Plan- Wade Davis Bill • In July 1864, Congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill. • For a state to rejoin the Union they had to: • 1) A majority of white males in a state had to swear loyalty to the Union • 2) Only white males who had not fought in the Civil War could vote for delegates. • 3) Former Confederates were barred from public office. • 4) Any new state constitution had to end slavery.

Lincoln refused to sign the bill into law. He realized he would have to be willing to compromise with Radical Republicans if Reconstruction were to occur. Lincoln thoughts

The Freedmen’s Bureau • In March 1865, Congress and the president set up a new government agency to help former enslaved persons, or freedmen called the Freedmen’s Bureau. • After the war, the Freedmen’s Bureau helped African Americans adjust to freedom.

Freedmen’s Bureau • The agency distributed food and clothing. • Provided medical services that lowered the death rate among freed former slaves. • Set up schools staffed by Northern teachers. • Gave aid to Black colleges such as Atlanta University, Howard University, and Fisk. • Helped freed people acquire land or work with fair wages.

Freedmen School

The U.S. ratified the 13th Amendment in December, 1865. The amendment abolished slavery in all of the United States. Before entering the Union, a state had to denounce secession and end slavery. The 13th Amendment

Reconstruction Plans