DECEMBER 8, 1863:
In his
third State of The Union Address, President Abraham Lincoln offers his
conciliatory plan for reunification of the United States with his “Proclamation
of Amnesty and Reconstruction." By this point in the Civil War, it was clear that Lincoln
needed to make some preliminary plans for postwar reconstruction. The Union
armies had captured large sections of the South, and some States were ready to
have their loyal governments reestablished. The Proclamation addressed three main areas of concern: First, it allowed for a full pardon for and restoration of property to all
engaged in the rebellion with the exception of the highest Confederate
officials and military leaders. Second, it allowed for a new State government
to be formed when 10 percent of the eligible voters had taken an oath of
allegiance to the United States. Third, the Southern States admitted in this
fashion were encouraged to enact plans to deal with the freed slaves so long as
their freedom was not compromised.
In short, the terms of the plan were easy for most
Southerners to accept. Though the emancipation of slaves was an impossible pill
for some Confederates to swallow, Lincoln's plan was charitable, considering
the costliness of the war. With the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction,
Lincoln was seizing the initiative for Reconstruction from Congress. Some
Radical Republicans thought the plan was far too easy on the South, but others
accepted it because of the president's prestige and leadership. After Lincoln’s
death, the terms of Reconstruction were to become far, far more onerous.
