Reconstruction Plans

The reconstruction era that directly followed the civil war was a time in which the entire south was in a deep economic depression due to war debts and low morale. Reconstruction in the south was caused because of the civil war and its economic impact, and it led to racism and eventually the betterment of the southern economy. There were three main plans for reconstruction, made by three different people or groups of people.

1. Lincoln's Plan-
Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States at the time, felt that it was crucial for the south to be quickly reunited with the northern states. In his plans, southerners were pardoned after taking an oath of allegiance to the north. and when 10% of voters in a state had taken the oath, they were allowed to have their state rejoin the Union.

2. Andrew Johnson-
Johnson, the vice president of the confederacy at the time, agreed fully with Lincoln's plan and also added a few touches of his own. Firstly, the 13th amendment was required to be passed, guaranteeing that slavery would be forbidden everywhere in the nation. Secondly, Johnson wanted to completely nullify the ordinances of secession, or make the states all rejoin immediately. While Johnson did want to have slavery anymore, he did not advocate black suffrage at all, as he thought that it would cause problems for the states.

These first two plans both had major downfalls to them, including...
-Black Codes were passed, which restricted black rights.
-No attempts were made to fix economic issues related to newly freed people.

3. Congressional-
Congress wanted to approach reconstruction by requiring the ratification of the 14th amendment, which stated that freedmen had equal rights as far as economics and also legal rights. It also placed the states under military rule, meaning that a Union general watched over a certain part of the south.




















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