9781422274200

Senator Benjamin F. Wade of Ohio and Congressman Henry W. Davis of Maryland introduced legislation that would punish rebellious states, but their bill failed to become law.

of those who had voted in 1860) swore an Oath of Allegiance to the United States. The state’s voters could then elect delegates to a convention, where they would draft a revised state constitution and create a new state government. All residents of the state would be granted a full pardon, except for high-ranking members of the Confederate government and military. The state’s residents would be allowed to keep their private property, but not their slaves, because the new state constitutions were required to outlaw slavery. Lincoln proposed this plan in December 1863, calling it the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. Once a state’s government was “reconstructed,” it would be allowed to send representatives to Congress and participate in national elections. In 1864, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas began the reconstruction process under Lincoln’s 10 percent plan. However, the Radical Republican faction in Congress thought the 10 percent plan was too easy on the southern rebels. The

16

RECONSTRUCTION AND ITS AFTERMATH