Final answer:
President Lincoln favored a swift and lenient reconstruction approach known as the Ten Percent Plan at the end of the Civil War, aimed at quick reunification, with some Congressional opposition.
Step-by-step explanation:
At the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln favored a compassionate and swift reconstruction approach, known as the Ten Percent Plan. This plan was designed to quickly restore the Union by requiring only 10 percent of the 1860 voting population in the former Confederate states to take a loyalty oath to the United States and accept the emancipation of the enslaved, after which these states could reestablish their governments. Lincoln's plan received pushback from Radical Republicans in Congress, who viewed it as too lenient and insufficient in ensuring the civil rights of newly freed slaves. Despite disagreements, Lincoln's overarching goal was to reunify the nation as efficiently as possible, emphasizing restoration over revolution. His assassination, however, left questions about whether reconstruction efforts would be led by the president or Congress.