5.10 Reconstruction

Presidential Plans for Reunion

Lincoln's 10% Plan offered lenient reunion terms, requiring only 10% of a state's voters to pledge loyalty. Radical Republicans countered with the stricter Wade-Davis Bill, which Lincoln vetoed. After Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson continued lenient policies, pardoning many ex-Confederates and allowing Southern states to pass restrictive Black Codes, angering Congress.

Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction

Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th Amendment (citizenship, equal protection), then the Reconstruction Acts (1867), dividing the South into military districts and requiring states to ratify the 15th Amendment (Black male suffrage) for readmission. The Freedmen's Bureau aided former slaves with education, land, and labor contracts. Johnson's clashes with Congress led to his impeachment (acquitted by one vote).

The End of Reconstruction

Southern resistance grew through violence from groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Black Codes/sharecropping that limited freedmen's economic independence. The disputed election of 1876 produced the Compromise of 1877: Republicans got the presidency (Hayes) while federal troops withdrew from the South, ending Reconstruction and enabling Jim Crow segregation and disenfranchisement.

Key terms

Lincoln's 10% Plan

Lenient Reconstruction plan requiring only 10% of a state's voters to pledge loyalty for readmission.

Black Codes

Southern laws restricting freedmen's rights, limiting labor and movement after the Civil War.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born in the U.S.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

Divided the South into military districts and required states to ratify the 15th Amendment for readmission.

Compromise of 1877

Resolved the disputed 1876 election by giving Hayes the presidency in exchange for ending Reconstruction.

Try an AP-style question

Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan allowed a state to rejoin once…

1. 10% of voters swore loyalty
2. 10% of land was given away
3. all slaves were freed
4. Congress approved each state