The affects of the Civil War, and the actions that led to the war were very detrimental to the United States. The nation was not in good shape, and was all divided up. President Abraham Lincoln saw this division, and wanted to reconstruct the nation, by restoring national unity. Reconstruction did not only restore national unity, but more importantly it helped the blacks gain the personal rights that they deserved. These two reasons show why Reconstruction was successful.
             President Lincoln wanted to heal the wounds of the nation. He wanted to look past the war, and ahead to peace. President Lincoln spoke of this in his second inaugural address. His main purpose of Reconstruction was restoring national unity. President Lincoln wanted to do this by getting the states to come together. To be able to do this, Lincoln proposed the 10% Plan. This plan stated that once 10% of the registered voters in a state had renounced succession, then they could rewrite a state constitution, and submit it for reentrance into the Union. Lincoln said, if they come back now, the Union would respect all property, except slaves.
             Soon after Lincoln had proposed these ideas, John Wilkes Booth assassinated him. When this occurred Andrew Johnson took over as president. Very soon after he was sworn in, Johnson announced his plan of reconstruction, which was very similar to Lincoln's. Andrew Johnson with the help of Congress drew up the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. These acts were very similar to Lincoln's plan in that they required the states to draw up new constitutions before they could be readmitted to the Union. Through these acts, education soared. Every state started a system of public education, and began building schools. Each state also trained teachers to fill the open spots in the schools. Through education, the nation gradually came to unity, and President Abraham Lincoln's dream came true. Rec
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