Reconstruction After the Civil War

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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... ... middle of paper ... ... 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.

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