Reconstruction After the Civil War

Presidential Reconstruction and Congressional Reconstruction have some

differences and some similarities. Reconstruction was a huge thing at this time in

America. Abraham Lincoln was a huge part of reconstruction and when he was

assassinated, Andrew Johnson took over his role of President and of reconstructing the

south.

Abraham Lincoln wanted to fix the intersectional hatred that was caused from the

civil war. On December 8, 1863 Lincoln set a general policy that by taking an oath

southerners could reinstate themselves as US citizens. Abraham Lincoln was working

hard to bring southern states back into the Union. One way he tried was with the Ten

Percent Plan. In this Ten Percent Plan, 10% of people voting in a state had to take a

loyalty oath. If this happened then that state could setup a new state government. Under

this Ten Percent Plan, governments had to realize that they had to Republican and realize

that slaves would be free and provide for black education.

Radical Republicans in Congress disliked the Ten Percent Plan. In July 1864,

they passed the Wade-Davis Bill, which was a bill stating that the majority of the voters

in the south had to take a loyalty oath, not just 10% of the state. Lincoln disagreed and

got rid of this bill with a pocket veto.

In April of 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated. His running mate, Andrew

Johnson took over presidency. Most people thought that he would punish the south, but

soon everyone realized that was not true. He became more focused on punishing the

southern elite and not the whole south. Radical Republicans hated him and they decided

to take matters into their own hands. Even though slavery had been abolished, the

southern states enact...

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... injunction to

stop the strike action because of mail not being able to be delivered. On the 4th of July

troops arrived and violence broke out, crowds fought with 14,000 Federal Troops, police

and militiamen. It spread to several states and 34 lives were lost. The combined forces

forced the strike to end on July 8.

With all of these strikes taking place, many companies were disturbed.

Americans wanted to be treated fairly. By forming unions and standing their ground

against their employers, employees were able to go on strike and prove a point. Some

strikes turned very bad with deaths and injuries. Having unions were good in some views

and bad in others. Overall the unions were there to benefit employees all over America.

Works Cited

Carnes, Mark C., and John A. Garraty. American Destiny: Narrative of a Nation. New

York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. Print.