In late 1863, Lincoln announced a formal plan for reconstruction:
A general amnesty would be granted to all who would take an oath of loyalty to the United States and pledge to obey all federal laws pertaining to slavery
High Confederate officials and military leaders were to be temporarily excluded from the process
When one tenth of the number of voters who had participated in the 1860 election had taken the oath within a particular state, then that state could launch a new government and elect representatives to Congress.
The states of Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee rapidly acted to comply with these terms. However, the Lincoln plan was not acceptable to Congress.
Johnson.
The looming showdown between Lincoln and the Congress over competing reconstruction plans never occurred. The president was assassinated on April 14, 1865. His successor, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, lacked his predecessor’s skills in handling people; those skills would be badly missed. Johnson’s plan envisioned the following:
Pardons would be granted to those taking a loyalty oath
No pardons would be available to high Confederate officials and persons owning property valued in excess of $20,000
A state needed to abolish slavery before being readmitted
A state was required to repeal its secession ordinance before being readm
