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Lincoln's Ten-Percent Plan
Lincoln, before his death, had made it clear that he favored a lenient Reconstruction party. Lincoln believed that secession was constitutional impossible and therefore that the Confederate state had never left the union. -
Radical Reaction
In July 1864, the Radicals responded to the Ten-Percent Plan by passing the Wade-Davis Bill, which proposed that congress, not the president, be responsible for Reconstruction. -
Reconstruction
The United States began to rebuild after the civil war, lasting from 1865 to 1877. -
Johnson's Plan
A staunch Unionist, Johnson had often expressed his intent to deal harshly with Confederate leaders. Most white southerners therefore considered Johnson a traitor to his region, while Radicals believed that he was one of them. Both were wrong. -
Moderates and Radicals join forces
The Civil rights act of 1866 became the first major legislation ever enacted over a presidential veto. In addition, Congress drafted the Fourteenth Amendment, which provided a constitutional basis for the Civil Rights Act. -
Civil Rights act of 1866
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws-black codes- that severely restricted African American's lives. -
1866 Congressional Elections
The question of who should control Reconstruction became one of the central issues in the bitter 1866 congressional elections. Johnson, accompanied by General Ulysses S. Grant, went on a speaking tour, urging voter to elect representatives who agreed with his Reconstruction policy. -
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Laid out the process for readmitting Southern states to the Union.The Fourteenth Amendment(1868) provided former slaves with national citizenship, and the Fifteenth Amendment(1870) granted the black men the right to vote.
