Plans for reconstruction. essays

Plans for reconstruction. essays As early as 1863, Lincoln outlined a plan for Reconstruction. Under Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan, as it was called, a southern state could form a new government after 10 percent of its voters swore an oath of loyalty to the United States. Once it was formed, the new government had to abolish slavery. Voters could then elect members of Congress and take part in the national government once again. Many Republicans in Congress thought Lincoln's plan was too generous toward the South. In 1864, they passed a rival plan for Reconstruction. The Wade-Davis Bill required a majority of white men in each southern state to swear loyalty to the Union. It also denied the right to vote or hold office to anyone who had volunteered to fight for the Confederacy. Lincoln refused to sign the Wade-Davis Bill because he felt it was too harsh. Congress and the President did agree on one proposal, however. A month before Lee surrendered; Congress passed a bill creating the Freedmen's Bureau. Lincoln quickly signed it. The Freedmen's Bureau provided food and clothing to former slaves. It also tried to find jobs for freedmen. The bureau helped poor whites as well. It provided medical care for more than a million people. One of the bureau's most important tasks was to set up schools for freed slaves in the South. By 1869, about 300,000 African Americans attended bureau schools. Most of the teachers were volunteers often women from the North. The Freedmen's Bureau laid the foundation for the South's public school system. It set up more than 4,300 grade schools. It also created colleges and universities for African American students. President Lincoln hoped to convince Congress to accept his Reconstruction plan. On April 14, 1865, just five days after Lee's surrender, the President attended a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. As Lincoln watched the play, John Wilkes Booth crept into the President's box. Booth, a southerner, blamed Lincoln for t...