Reconstruction Punishment or Pardon? 1865-1877

Post-war South The south was extremely weak after the Civil War The way of life in the south was DESTROYED Southern industry had been ruined Farm property had dropped over 70% in value A generation of men had been lost (260,000 deaths) That is 1/5 of white southern men 1 in 3 southern men were wounded or killed The south was extremely weak after the Civil War

Black Southerners There were about 4 million newly freed slaves As slaves, they had been provided food and shelter Many black were now jobless, homeless, and hungry

Plantation Owners Owners had lost over 3 BILLION dollars in slave labor There property was either destroyed, taken from them, or nearly worthless Many former plantation owners were in severe debt following the Civil War

Poor Whites They struggled to find work They now had to compete with ex-slaves for work Many migrated to frontier lands in search of better luck

Punishment or Pardon??? The question became what to do with southern states and all these newly freed black This led to discussions in congress about recovery, rebuilding, and equality This was a new issue never seen in the nations history The constitution did not have the answers ✭ Should the south be forgiven or punished as a result of the Civil War??? ✭How and when could southern states become active in the Union Government again???

✭ Should the south be forgiven or punished as a result of the Civil War??? ✭How and when could southern states become active in the Union Government again???

Lincoln’s Plan In December of 1865 Lincoln proposed the Ten Percent Plan The plan outlined the process for southern states to regain their place in the government

Lincoln’s Plan Continued A pardon was offered to any confederate who took an oath of allegiance to the union, and accepted emancipation Pardons were denied to any southerners who had killed African American war prisoners Each state could hold a convention to create a new state constitution ONLY AFTER 10% of the voters of the state had pledged allegiance to the Union Only they could states resume full participation in the government

Opposition Many did not support this forgiving and lenient plan One group, the Radical Republicans did not like this plan at all They believed the war was fought solely over the moral issue of slavery GOAL: total reconstruction of society to ensure blacks true equality

Wade-Davis Act Passed by congress in 1864 A much more aggressive plan than Lincoln’s Confederates had to pledge an oath of past and present loyalty to the union They also had to declare that they had not willingly taken up arms against the Union Lincoln Pocket Vetoed the act A pocket veto occurs when a bill fails to become law because the president does not sign the bill and cannot return the bill to Congress within a 10-day period because Congress is not in session. Benjamin Wade

Lincoln’s Assassination April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth A famous actor and Confederate sympathizer It was an attempt to save the Confederacy 5 days after General Lee had surrendered at the Appomattox Court House in VA (ending the war) Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.