Final answer:
Lincoln believed that the states never left the Union during Reconstruction and that secession was impossible. He saw Reconstruction as a process of restoration, not revolution, and designed the Ten Percent Plan to encourage loyalty to the Union while allowing states to determine the pace of ending slavery.The correct option is: 2) Secession was impossible, and that the states never left the Union, they had only been 'out of their proper alignment'.
Step-by-step explanation:
Lincoln's argument for Presidential authority to decide Reconstruction came from his belief that the states had never really left the Union. He viewed the process of reconstruction as one of restoration rather than revolution. Lincoln designed the Ten Percent Plan to encourage enough southerners to declare their fidelity to the Union, allowing loyal southern states to set the pace at which slavery would end.
In addition, Lincoln believed that state action on slavery, as opposed to federal action, would help avoid questions about the constitutionality of the Emancipation Proclamation. Therefore, the correct answer is option 2) Secession was impossible and that the states never left the Union, they had only been 'out of their proper alignment'.The correct option is: 2) Secession was impossible, and that the states never left the Union, they had only been 'out of their proper alignment'.