10% Plan

Definition

This was a plan proposed by President Lincoln during the Civil War for reconstructing the Southern states after their surrender. It required only 10% of voters in each Southern state to take an oath of allegiance to the Union for it to be readmitted.

Related terms

Reconstruction Era: The period following the Civil War when efforts were made to reintegrate Southern states into the Union and rebuild society without slavery.

Radical Republicans: A faction within the Republican Party during the Civil War era that advocated for harsh punishments against former Confederate leaders and full civil rights for freed slaves.

Secessionist States: These are states that left or attempted to leave the Union to form the Confederacy during the Civil War.