Plans for reconstruction.
As early as 1863, Lincoln outlined a plan for Reconstruction. Under Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan, as it was called, a southern state could form a new government after 10 percent of its voters swore an oath of loyalty to the United States. Once it was formed, the new government had to abolish slavery. Voters could then elect members of Congress and take part in the national government once again. Many Republicans in Congress thought Lincoln's plan was too generous toward the South. In 1864, they passed a rival plan for Reconstruction. The Wade-Davis Bill required a majority of white men in each southern state to swear loyalty to the Union. It also denied the right to vote or hold office to anyone who had volunteered to fight for the Confederacy. Lincoln refused to sign the Wade-Davis Bill because he felt it was too harsh. Congress and the President did agree on one proposal, however. A month before Lee surrendered; Congress passed a bill creating the Freedmen's Bureau. Lincoln quickly signed it. The Freedmen's Bureau provided food and clothing to former slaves. It also tried to find jobs for freedmen. The bureau helped poor whites as well. It provided medical care for more than a million people. One of the bureau's most important
The election results were a disaster for Johnson. This was just one vote short of the two thirds majority needed to remove the President from office. He also demanded that each state ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which banned slavery throughout the nation. Congress passed the first Reconstruction Act over Johnson's veto in March 1867. In the end, the Senate vote was 35 to 19. By the 1870s, Radical Republicans were losing power in Congress. In 1872, Congress passed a law pardoning former Confederate officials. As Lincoln watched the play, John Wilkes Booth crept into the President's box. In February 1868, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Johnson. Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania led the Radicals in the House. First, they wanted to break the power of the rich planters who had ruled the South for years. Congress also required the new state governments to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment before rejoining the Union. Most of the teachers were volunteers -- often women -- from the North. Johnson called for a majority of voters in each southern state to pledge loyalty to the United States. Johnson served out the few months remaining in his term of office.
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Acceptance Essays
