The era of Reconstruction was characterized by the attempt to restore the Union after the Civil War. It was perceived differently by Southerners, Northerners, and African-American former slaves. After the Union won the Civil War in 1865, it was their job to begin the reconstruction of the Unites States. The Reconstruction Era started at the end of the Civil War in 1865 and ended in1877 (Reconstruction). It attempted to end the serious crisis of the US. The goal of the Reconstruction Era was to reunite the southern states and ensure freedom and civil rights of the southern blacks. .
The plan for rebuilding the South and reuniting it with the union was called the Reconstruction Plan (Thinkquest). Various political plans were proposed to deal with the South after the war. First there was Lincoln's 10 % plan for reuniting southern states with the union. His plan was to allow the seceded states back into the Union as fast and painlessly as possible. Under this plan, for a state to be allowed back in the union voters had to take an oath of loyalty. If 10% of voters took the oath, statehood would be re-established (Morison 331). The major goal of this plan was to strengthen the Republican Party in the South. The supporters of Lincoln's Plan were called moderates. They believed that southern states should not have to be harshly punished, and they should be quickly readmitted into the union (Reconstruction). Lincoln's plan omitted any condition for social or economic reconstruction. The Radical Republicans in Congress resented such a moderate political arrangement under executive power, and as a result, the stricter Wade Davis Bill was passed in 1864, but was pocket-vetoed by the president (Morison 332).
After Lincoln's assassination in April of 1865, President Andrew Johnson proposed his plan for reconstruction. This plan was more severe than that of Lincoln's. Under this plan, Confederates and wealthy Southerners would have to ask presidential permission to take the loyalty oath.
