Answer:
Lincoln strongly believed in a united country. He saw how the civil war divided the country and weakened the people; his hope was to stop this division. He also knew that he could not run the country with the south still against the north. So, he provided amnesty to southerners that fought for the confederacy. This allowed southerners to accept their defeat more easily. Additionally, not punishing the south helped reconstruction. While some southerners could not accept the loss of slavery, the majority were happy with the amnesty.
Not punishing the South united the country faster and appeased southerens.