Outline For Abraham Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan

Abraham Lincoln’s Plan
Abraham Lincoln thought about the process of restoring the Union from the earliest days of the war. His principles were to accomplish the task as soon as possible and ignore calls for punishing the South.
In late 1863, Lincoln announced a formal plan for reconstruction:
1. A general amnesty would be granted to all who would take an oath of loyalty to the United States and pledge to obey all federal laws pertaining to slavery.
2. High Confederate officials and military leaders were to be temporarily excluded from the process
3. When one-tenth of the number of voters who had participated in the 1860 election had taken the oath within a particular state, then that state could launch a new government and elect representatives

Congress refused to accept the rehabilitation of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
In July 1864, Congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill, their own formula for restoring the Union:
1. A state must have a majority within its borders take the oath of loyalty
2. A state must formally abolish slavery
3. No Confederate officials could participate in the new governments.
Lincoln did not approve of this plan vetoed it. The Congress later passed the Wade-Davis Manifesto, which charged Lincoln with assuming the powers of Congress. This statement had little impact on the public, as the military news from the South improved; and Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign restored Lincoln’s popularity and helped assure his reelection.
Andrew Johnson’s Plan
Andrew Johnson of Tennessee lacked his predecessor’s skills in handling people. However, Johnson’s plan envisioned the following:
1. Pardons would be granted to those taking a loyalty oath
2. No pardons would be available to high Confederate officials and persons owning property valued in excess of $20,000
3. A state needed to abolish slavery before being