II. Lincoln Plans for Reconstruction

A. Lincoln offered the Southern states fairly easy terms for reorganizing their governments and reentering the union, but his plan did not protect the civil rights of newly freed blacks.

B. Radicals Republicans wanted harsher terms for reentering the union and a stronger federal government role in protecting the rights of blacks.

C. Lincoln compromised with the Radicals by proposing the Thirteenth Amendment which outlawed slavery, and by requiring former Confederate states to ratify it.

III. Lincoln Assassinated

A. Lincoln was assassinated by a pro-Southern actor, John Wilkes Booth, just six days after Lee's surrender.

B. Andrew Johnson became President and proposed a new plan for Reconstruction that set easy terms for Southern states to reenter the Union.

C. The Southern states agreed to follow Johnson's plan to reenter to Union, and then created Black Codes, which took away freed people's rights.

IV. Freed People Struggle for Rights

A. Blacks rejoiced at their new freedom to earn a living, worship, and in some cases travel to find family members from whom they had been separated.

B. Black institutions like school and churches, and the Freedmen's Bureau, which was set up by Congress, helped freed people to find food, jobs, and homes after the war.

C. Since most freed blacks saw education as the way to improve their lives, many new schools and colleges for blacks were set up during Reconstruction.

D. In 1866, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed federal citizenship to blacks.

Back to Lesson at a Glance