After the Civil War the reconstruction of the Union became a top priority. The country divided after the war when African Americans fought to become equal citizens. There was nothing in the Constitution advising what should be done, and the White House and Congress had different ideas about how to handle the problems at hand. This conflict between Congress and the chief executive was said to be "the most serious clash between two branches of government in the nation's history".
Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and the Radical Republicans had different views on how the Union should be reconstructed. Lincoln and Johnson both had lenient plans for the Reconstruction. First Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which offered certain Southerners a full pardon as long as they took an oath of allegiance to the Union and acknowledged the legality of emancipation. Known as the 10 percent plan, when 10 percent or more of a state had taken the oath then it was allowed to set up a loyal government. The Radical Republicans, on the other hand, were not happy with this plan. The Radicals, who were strongly against slavery, believed that the protection for black rights should be a precondition for the readmission of the southern states. They were upset because Lincoln did not insist for the constitution makers to provide for black male suffrage. After Lincoln's death, the Radicals welcomed Johnson believing that he would punish the southern traitors. But Johnson did not view everything the way the Radicals did. Johnson placed some states under appointed provisional governors who were responsible to call constitutional conventions and make sure that only whites could vote for delegates. They had to take the oath of allegiance that Lincoln set, and Confederate leaders and former officeholders that played a part in the rebellion were excluded. The conventions had to do three things: declare the ordinances of secession illegal, repudiate the Confederate debt, and ratify the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery.
