Similarities between Lincoln and Johnsons plan for Reconstruction
Investigate aspects of President Andrew Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction that outlined how to bring former Confederate citizens and states back into the Union. Last Updated: May 12, 2020
In May 1865, immediately following the assassination of President Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson and his administration created a plan for Reconstruction, which became known as Presidential Reconstruction. Here, several of the provisions of Johnson’s plan are laid out.
Facing History and Ourselves, "Presidential Reconstruction," last updated May 12, 2020. This reading contains text not authored by Facing History and Ourselves. See footnotes for source information. Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools. — Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY Lincoln's beliefs Wanted to end the war quickly He feared that a prolonged war would lose public support and that the North and South would never be reunited if the fighting did not stop quickly Did not want to punish southerners or reorganize southern society His actions indicate that he wanted Reconstruction to be a short process in which secessionist states could draft new constitutions as swiftly as possible so that the United States could exist as it had before Lincoln's Plan for Reconstruction Lincoln's blueprint for Reconstruction included the Ten-Percent Plan, which specified that a southern state could be readmitted into the Union once 10 percent of its voters (from the voter rolls for the election of 1860) swore an oath of allegiance to the Union Voters could then elect delegates to draft revised state constitutions and establish new state governments All southerners except for high-ranking Confederate army officers and government officials would be granted a full pardon Guaranteed southerners that he would protect their private property, though not their slaves. Johnson's beliefs preferred a stronger state government and that states' rights took precedence over federal believed in the doctrine of laissez- faire , that the federal government should stay out of the economic and social affairs of its people He rejected all Radical Republican attempts to dissolve the plantation system, reorganize the southern economy, and protect the civil rights of blacks Johnson's Plans for Reconstruction He returned confiscated property to white southerners He issued hundreds of pardons to former Confederate officers and government officials He undermined the Freedmen's Bureau by ordering it to return all confiscated lands to white landowners Johnson also appointed governors to supervise the drafting of new state constitutions and agreed to readmit each state provided it ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery. As the Civil War came to a close, it became obvious that there would be some difficulty in rejoining the South to the North. Tensions were still high, damage had been inflicted upon Southern lands, and the question of a national identity hung in the air. A plan for Reconstruction,the time period after the Civil War that was marked by a sense of rebuilding, was desperately needed. Three different proposals were considered: President Lincoln’s, Vice President Andrew Johnson’s, and then the Radical Republican Plan. President Lincoln began formulating a reconstructive plan back in 1863, nearly two years before the Civil War ended. He first proposed his 10% Plan that year, which stated that when it came to a Southern state that had seceded, if 10% of the people who voted in the 1860 election voted to re-enter the Union and accepted Emancipation, they could come back into the Union. He saw this as a loyalty oath, and was sure to promise that any Confederate would receive a pardon. High Confederate officials and military leaders, however, would be excluded from this process. Wade-Davis Bill of 1864, written by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio and Representative Henry Winter Davis from Maryland. As part of this proposal, at least 50% of the eligible voting population would have to take an oath of loyalty to the Union. Each state would also be required to abolish slavery to be considered for readmittance, and the new state government would not be able to feature any Confederate officials in any seats. Lincoln’s Vice President, Andrew Johnson, had a somewhat different plan in mind. Johnson became president immediately after Lincoln was assassinated, and therefore had to continue his predecessor’s plan of action. Although Johnson was in favor of pardoning anyone who took the loyalty oath to the Union, he was not in favor of pardoning any high officials or wealthy farmers owning property valued at $20,000. What’s more, he wanted every state to not only abolish slavery, but repeal secession before they could be readmitted into the Union. Some states did not follow these directives, such as Mississippi, but by December of 1865, President Johnson officially declared that the Union had been restored. |