Reconstruction plans refer to the different processes and programs the United States government implemented after the Civil War to reunify the country and rebuild the South. The Amnesty and Reconstruction Proclamation (10% Plan) was intended to bring the South back into the Union through leniency and reconciliation (Corbett et al., 2022). It required Confederate states to take an oath of allegiance to the Union. Once 10% of the voting population in 1860 had done so, and the state could form a new government recognized by the federal government.
Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan, issued after President Lincoln’s assassination, was more compassionate than the 10% Plan. It enabled the South to establish new state governments without taking an oath of allegiance to the Union (Corbett et al., 2022). It also made it possible for Confederate officials to hold elected positions in state legislatures. Congress shot the plan down because it did not demand that the South ensure that African Americans were granted civil rights under its provisions.
The most stringent of the three plans was the Congressional Reconstruction Plan. It required that Confederate states ratify the 14th Amendment, providing African Americans with civil rights. The passage of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which divided the South into five military districts, was also required (Corbett et al., 2022). It also demanded that African Americans be allowed to vote and run for office in the South. This strategy was successful during Reconstruction and laid the groundwork for the passage of civil rights legislation in the late nineteenth century.
During the Reconstruction period, the American culture and society in the North and South experienced significant changes. In the North, it saw an expansion of civil rights for African Americans and the rise of the Republican Party. The economy also shifted from agricultural to industrial (Wheelock, 2023)). In the South, there was a dramatic decrease in the power of the planter class, the expansion of civil rights for African Americans, and the rise of the Republican Party. The economy shifted from an agricultural to an industrial, with the development of a new type of labor market. Additionally, the Reconstruction period saw an increased emphasis on education in the South, the growth of new businesses, and the development of a new middle class.
Reference
Corbett, P. S., Precht, J., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T. J., Vickery, P. S., & Waskiewicz, S. (2022). The Civil War, 1860–1865. In U.S. history. OpenStax.
Wheelock, S. M. (2023). Reconstruction, democracy, and United States imperialism. Atlantic History, 15–20. Web.