Final answer:
After the Civil War, President Johnson's Proclamation offered amnesty to most Confederates, excluding high-ranking officials and wealthy Southerners. Lincoln's Proclamation on Amnesty and Reconstruction was lenient, focusing on reunification. The federal government could have supported freed slaves with legal equality, education, land, and legal protection to ease their transition.
Step-by-step explanation:
Punishment of Confederates
After the Civil War, various ideas were proposed for how to punish Confederates. The question regarding how Confederates should be punished has different perspectives, including not punishing them at all, punishing them harshly, treating them as equals, or granting them amnesty. In reality, President Johnson's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in May 1865 provided amnesty and pardon to most Southerners, reasserting their property rights, except for the formerly enslaved, and requiring their affirmation of support for the U.S. Constitution. However, certain groups, like high-ranking officials and wealthy Southerners, were excluded from this amnesty and had to seek individual pardons.
As for Abraham Lincoln's "Proclamation on Amnesty and Reconstruction,” the correct statement that describes this policy is that it was fairly lenient toward the southern states, since it aimed at quick reunification rather than harsh punishments for the Southern states that seceded.
Following the war, Lincoln's primary goal was the reintegration and reunification of the United States, encompassing both the return of the Southern states to the Union and the rights of newly freed slaves.
In terms of what the federal government should have done for newly freed slaves, measures could have included ensuring legal equality, providing access to education, granting land ownership opportunities, and offering protection under the law—all aimed at helping facilitate a transition to free and independent lives.