As Commander in Chief, Abraham Lincoln made numerous decisions that impacted the outcome of the war. He used a broad interpretation of his Oath of Office to justify nearly any action he took. Many of these actions overstepped the bounds of the Constitution, but all were made with the greater good of the country in mind. Despite having the best intentions, Lincoln did make mistakes throughout his presidency, such as how he handled the military. However, these mistakes were not enough to tarnish Lincoln’s legacy. His actions as Commander in Chief were one of the leading reasons that the Union was victorious, and the Emancipation Proclamation earned him an everlasting spot in U.S. history. Many may point to the Emancipation Proclamation as Lincoln’s best decision, and with good reason - it was a controversial action that single-handedly shaped the course of America’s future. However, this did not take the type of genius that Lincoln showed off later in his career. In this sense, Lincoln’s best decision was starting a program of reconstruction early on in the war. It would have been easy to put off that problem until the war was finished, but Lincoln chose to start implementing a new government as quickly as possible. Of his plans for …show more content…
In a stroke of genius, it allowed for a small minority of Northern sympathizers to take over a Southern state and create a government. The Ten Percent plan also pardoned all Southern citizens and most officials, creating a feeling of leniency among those in the South. In this way, Lincoln managed to completely take over states with small amounts of supporters within them, while at the same time appearing amicable to the South. He successfully accomplished his goals and started the process of reconstruction while avoiding a public outcry. For this reason, the Ten Percent plan was the best decision of Lincoln’s
This week I was going to bring Abraham Lincoln 's plan for reconstruction to the table. It is said that Lincoln started to plan for reconstruction post war. The plan was to address three key areas for concern. First the proclamation allowed full pardon and restoration of any property to anyone who was considered a rebellion or a member of the confederate army with exception of the highest officials and leaders (which is interesting). It also allowed for a state government to be formed once ten percent of the population took an oath of allegiance to the United States, and it encouraged the southern states to deal with slaves in such a way that it would not compromise their freedom.
The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most well known speeches in US history, due to its influence on the views of African American slaves. However Lincoln, the president at the time, originally did not have a side to the argument of the equal treatment of the African American race. This view would soon start to slowly change with the start of the Civil War. With the coming of the civil war, the Union needed soldiers due to the fact that they were losing many battles, and the African American males were one of the only choices. The other reason would be that allowing slaves to be free in the North would cause a revolt from those that were enslaved in the south.
Lincoln thought that the beginning of reconstruction would help speed the war effort and bring it to a close sooner. Wade and Davis would have preferred to delay and wait for the war to end and for the South to be completely beaten with pre-secession institutions gone and needing to be rebuilt. There were a number of concepts that both Lincoln’s 10 percent plan and the Wade-Davis bill had in common. In 1863, with Union victory apparently on the horizon Lincoln “announces a policy for the reconstruction of recanting Confederates”, “Whereas it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their
Tensions were starting to get higher , many cities were from procrasination and were starting to get ruined , the Emancipation Proclamation had declarced force against the proclamation and abe lincoln said “forever free,” and the question of a national identity hung in the air. A plan for Reconstruction, the time period after the civil war that was marked by a sense of rebuilding, was desperately needed. Three different proposals for bringing the Southern states back into the Union were considered: President Lincoln’s, Vice president andrew johnsons ,and the Radical Republican Plan. President Lincoln began formulating a plan back in 1863 nearly 4 years before the war
After the Civil War ended 1865, The Reconstruction Period started from 1865-1877 to rebuild the damage done after the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln began development to reconstruct the South, due to the occupation of soldiers in areas of the South. His main goal was to rejoin the south and the north and to rebuild the Nation as fast as possible. During the Civil War in the year 1863 Lincoln offered the plan for Reconstruction, the states now required that all States of the United States applied in their new constitution that slavery was no longer
America had just finished fighting the Civil War and we were broken. Reconstruction began in 1865 and was the time of rebuilding America after the Civil War tore apart our country. People also referred to the this time as “putting back the pieces”. Abraham Lincoln was the president during this period of time. He had thought of a blueprint for the Reconstruction; which consisted of an idea known as the Ten-Percent Plan.
Soon after the war was over, President Abraham Lincoln introduced his reconstruction plan to reunite the nation, and have it function the way it used to. On December 1863, President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction; it offered “full pardon” and the restoration of property to white Southerners. However, the prerequisites to receive full pardon include swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States and its laws; the only people excluded from the offer were Prominent Confederate military and civil leaders. On December 8, 1865, President Lincoln announced the terms of another reconstructive plan, known as “Lincoln’s Ten-Percent
During the American Civil War in December 1863, Abraham Lincoln offered a model for reinstatement of Southern states called the 10 percent Reconstruction plan. It decreed that a state could be reintegrated into the Union when 10% of the 1860 vote count from that state had taken an oath of allegiance to the U.S. and pledged to abide by Emancipation. Voters could then elect delegates to draft revised state constitutions and establish new state governments.[1] All southerners except for high-ranking Confederate army officers and government officials would be granted a full pardon. Lincoln guaranteed southerners that he would protect their private property, though not their slaves.
Somebody once remarked, “No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent” (“Abraham Lincoln Quotes"). At the initial view, the Civil War was going to be won by the South. Nonetheless, all that changed when Abraham Lincoln constructed the Emancipation Proclamation because it did not solely free slaves, it further altered antiquity for the salutary and assisted the North in the war, which led to their triumph. The Emancipation Proclamation was Abraham Lincoln’s greatest achievement as president.
Taylor Garbagni History 157-A4 2/3/2023 The Emancipation Proclamation was a crucial turning point in the American Civil War and in the history of the United States. It declared that all slaves in Confederate-held territories were to be set free, fundamentally transforming the conflict from a war to restore the Union into a fight to end slavery. The proclamation marked the first time a head of state in modern times had publicly committed to ending slavery and paved the way for the eventual abolition of slavery in the United States. President Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan was a proposal put forward by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. The plan stated that as soon as 10% of the voting population of a Confederate state took an oath of allegiance to the Union and agreed to abide by the Emancipation Proclamation, the
James. M Pherson really knows his facts about president Abraham Lincoln. He focused more on Lincoln’s efforts to win the war instead of the other political things he accomplished during his presidency. Lincoln was a great commander-in-chief because he attempted to run the war and also maintain political stability at the same time. This was impressive because although he had no military experience, he was persistent in provoking his commanders to stay active and to always strive for victory.
President Abraham Lincoln’s plan of reconstruction was referred to as the Ten Percent Plan. It offered the rebels a full pardon and also restoration of their full rights as citizens if they pledged to accept the abolition of slavery and swore allegiance to the United States. When the number of loyal citizens equaled ten percent of the votes cast during the election of 1860, then they could form a new state government and constitution. Lincoln required new constitutions to band slavery, exclude high ranking Confederate officials to take part in the new state government, and held the right of congress to decide whether any members sent to congress would be allowed to serve. Congress felt the plan was not harsh enough, so congress passed the Wade-Davis
Abraham Lincoln’s vs Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Lincoln shared the uncommon belief that the confederate states could still be part of the union and that the cause of the rebellion was only a few within the states which lead him to begin the reconstruction in December of 1863. This resulted in plans with lenient guidelines and although they were challenged by Wade-Davis Bill, Lincoln still rejected his ideas and kept his policies in place. Lincoln also allowed land to be given the newly freed slave or homeless white by distributing the land that had been confiscated from former land owners however this fell through once Johnson took office. After Lincoln’s death when Johnson was elected many things started to turn away from giving blacks equal rights and resulted in many things such a black codes which kept newly freed slaves from having the same rights as whites. When Lincoln first acted after the civil war, he offered policies that would allow the confederate slaves to become part of the union again and would allow a pardon for those states.
Over hundreds of years America has had many presidents, some able to complete the tasks at hand, but many were not worthy of leading this nation. President Abraham Lincoln was one of the few who led the United States of America with great strength and courage. Abraham Lincoln was the best U.S. president because he had a great impact on ending slavery and he was one of the greatest natural strategists and leaders of all time. Abraham Lincoln is considered to be America 's wisest president. Abraham Lincoln, "proved to be a shrewd military strategist and a savvy leader during what became the costliest conflict ever fought on American soil."
This fact by itself emphasizes his worth as a president in being both a unifier and an overall leader. Mr. Lincoln’s vision of a more unified country encouraged him to make initiatives that helped to keep the union