Lincoln's Plan For Abolishing Slavery

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.

This week I was going to bring Abraham Lincoln 's plan for reconstruction to the table. It is said that Lincoln started to plan for reconstruction post war. The plan was to address three key areas for concern. First the proclamation allowed full pardon and restoration of any property to anyone who was considered a rebellion or a member of the confederate army with exception of the highest officials and leaders (which is interesting). It also allowed for a state government to be formed once ten percent of the population took an oath of allegiance to the United States, and it encouraged the southern states to deal with slaves in such a way that it would not compromise their freedom.

Lincoln claimed he had the authority to determine the conditions for the South’s readmission to the union. He didn’t want to punish the South, he just wanted to end the war and restore the nation quickly and painlessly. Lincoln’s plan, the Ten-Percent Plan, required that ten percent of the voters who had in the 1860 election swear an oath to the union, and accept the emancipation of slaves through the thirteenth amendment. Those ten percent would then reorganize their state government, and apply for readmission to the union. Congress’ plan differed, as the Radical Republicans in Congress viewed the southern states as conquered territory.

1.10% Plan: the ten percent plan also known as Lincoln’s ten percent plan and the Proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction, was a plan that stated that the southern states that participated in secession can again become part of the Union if 10% of the people in that state (voter rolls for the election of 1860) swear an oath of allegiance to the Union. With this vow came Lincoln pardoning those southern states for their wrongs. Their wrongs were secession and slavery, and they could then be admitted into the Union. When a Confederate state got ten percent of its people to swear according the the oath, that state would get a new government, and the Union would not consider it separate, but recognize it. The states that were readmitted were

Reconstruction Era: Congressional Reconstruction During the Reconstruction Era President Abraham Lincoln introduced the “10 percent plan”. Abraham Lincoln’s plan included allowing Confederate states to rejoin the union once 10 percent of the people swore an oath of loyalty. His plan also included for states to formalize the 13th Amendment to eradicate slavery. Radical Republicans led by Thaddeus Stevens thought that the Reconstruction Plan that was put forth by Abraham Lincolns was too lenient on the Confederate States.

Lincoln desired a lenient reconstruction plan that would allow Southern states more freedom to govern themselves as they re-pledged loyalty to the United States and abolished slavery. The Wade-Davis Bill was proposed by radicals and it called for the president to appoint leaders and allow only citizens who had not "who had never borne arms against the United State"(Brinkley pg. 347) to vote for officials in office. Lincoln 's leniency seemed to be a more peaceful approach that may have helped unite the states rather than cause further conflict. John Wilkes Booth, a radical Southern leader, ensured that the radical reconstruction plan, indeed was passed as Lincoln was the only one standing in the way of radical reconstruction. Andrew Johnson

First of all, the problem with bringing the South and the North together is that they should’ve taken one issue at a time. They were juggling between the issue of slavery, economic problems, and state power. It was too much at the same time and was asking things to clash. They didn’t make sure that both of the issues weren’t addressed fairly either.

At first Lincoln sought his plan of reconstruction, which required only 10% of voters from Confederate states to swear allegiance to the Constitution and the Union before being re-admitted, to be the most effective way to re-admit the Confederate’s. But many

My Vision for Reconstruction After Lincoln’s assassination from John Wilkes Booth, all of his hard work and diligence put into his well thought-out reconstruction plan was destroyed. Lincoln’s main priority throughout his rein of presidency was to reunite the seceded states of the Confederates back into the Union. After the massive destruction the south received of the long battling days of the the Civil war, the south was left as a barren, destroyed wasteland. Lincoln sought after the plan to bring the south back up to it's urbanized and farming glory.

The Reconstruction did not happen all at one time. It went through phases, starting out in 1863 with President Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan,which kicked off the Presidential Reconstruction phase (Schultz, 2013). This plan stated that if just ten percent of a state’s population would take an oath to support the newly freed slaves, that state would be allowed back into the Union with no repercussions. The Presidential Reconstruction continues until 1867 and included events such as the appointment of Andrew Johnson as president, after the assassination of President Lincoln.

During the American Civil War in December 1863, Abraham Lincoln offered a model for reinstatement of Southern states called the 10 percent Reconstruction plan. It decreed that a state could be reintegrated into the Union when 10% of the 1860 vote count from that state had taken an oath of allegiance to the U.S. and pledged to abide by Emancipation. Voters could then elect delegates to draft revised state constitutions and establish new state governments.[1] All southerners except for high-ranking Confederate army officers and government officials would be granted a full pardon. Lincoln guaranteed southerners that he would protect their private property, though not their slaves.

Lincoln’s Stance on Slavery Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery changed as his political career advanced. Depending on what age Lincoln was when we are looking at him dictates where he could be placed on the spectrum. Looking at his early life he could be classified as a moderate and later on in his life he could be classified as a radical.

The key issue of the campaign of 1864 was how to bring back the south into the Union. After the Civil War, Lincoln did not want to punish the south. He believed it wouldn’t accomplish anything and would slow the nation’s healing. He proposed a plan called the Ten Percent Plan, which stated that if ten percent of voters in a state had taken an oath of loyalty to the Union, they were to be offered amnesty and were able to form a new state government. Then, the state would have to adopt a new constitution that banned slavery.

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.”

Pertaining to the rights of African Americans a new south did not appear after the reconstruction. While they were “free” they were often treated harshly and kept in a version of economic slavery by either their former masters or other white people in power. Sharecropping and the crop-lien system often had a negative impact on both the black and white tenants keeping them in debt with the owner. Jim Crow laws, vigilantes and various means of disfranchisement became the normal way of life in the South. It was believed that white people were superior to black people and when they moved up in politics or socially they were harassed and threatened.