Civil War Reconstruction

Civil War Reconstruction

Reconstruction Civil War:


Lincoln’s position on the Course of Reconstruction:
Thoughts of Reconstruction by Abraham Lincoln were conveyed as early as November of 1863 in his Gettysburg Address. He believed that the war battled South had already been punished, and favored a less aggressive approach of Reconstruction. Lincoln firmly believed that the sooner the nation healed its wounds and moved forward, the better off everyone would be. He respected Southerner's private property (excluding slaves), and opposed punishing the South too uncivil.
In December 1863 Lincoln offered the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction this was also called the Ten Percent Plan; Whenever Union armies gained control in a war area, he encouraged the local people to form a government loyal to the Union. The plan required 10% of voters in each of these Southern states to swear an oath of loyalty and to abolish slavery forever, once achieved he promised to readmit the state to the Union. He wanted to lay the groundwork for a smooth transition. This proclamation also offered a full pardon and restoration of property (excluding slaves) to white Southerners, provided that they swore a loyalty oath to the Union and its laws, including the Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln also established the Freedmen's Bureau shortly before the war ended in 1865. The bureau was created to provide temporary relief of food, clothing, medicine and shelter to blacks and war refugees. Lincoln, authorized wartime generals to resettle these former slaves and poor whites on confiscated lands set aside on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia for roughly 40,000 former slaves and war refugees.
Congressional Republicans position on the Course of Reconstruction:

The Congressional Republicans added an extension to the Freedmen’s Bureau and expanded the authority of the temporary federal agency which was designed to help slaves transition to freedom.   This agency now provided help to build homes,...