Question

For the initial post, a comparison of the three (3) Reconstruction Plans:

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (10% Plan) - Lincoln
Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction Plan
Congressional Reconstruction Plan (Congress)
Address one of the provided options:

Analyze if the South should have been treated as a defeated nation or as rebellious states.

Answer 1

The Reconstruction era featured three main plans for reintegrating the former Confederate states into the Union. Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan offered leniency and swift readmission, while Andrew Johnson continued this approach with some alterations. In contrast, Congressional Reconstruction imposed stricter terms and was more punitive, viewing the South as a defeated nation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Comparison of the Three Reconstruction Plans

The Reconstruction era was a complex period with different visions for reintegrating the former Confederate states back into the Union. President Abraham Lincoln aimed for a swift reunification with his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, commonly known as the Ten Percent Plan. This plan stipulated that once ten percent of a state's voters from the 1860 election swore allegiance to the Union and accepted the emancipation of slaves, that state could form a new government and be readmitted into the Union.

After Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency and carried forward the lenient approach. Johnson's Amnesty Proclamation offered pardons to most Southerners and allowed the rapid creation of new state governments. However, this rapid readmission allowed many of the pre-war elite to regain power and did not guarantee the civil rights of freed slaves.

Discontented with the leniency and rapid reinstatement of Southern states, the Radical Republicans in Congress constructed a series of Reconstruction Acts that marked the beginning of Congressional Reconstruction. These acts divided the South into military districts, required stricter loyalty oaths, and stipulated that Southern states must ratify the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments—ensuring citizenship and voting rights for African Americans—before rejoining the Union.

The approaches reflect a fundamental disagreement about whether the South should be treated as a defeated nation needing strict reformation, or as rebellious states quickly restored to their place in the Union. Lincoln's and Johnson's plans favoured the latter perspective, while the Congressional plan placed the former Confederate states under stricter conditions, akin to a nation defeated and occupied.