Initial Process of Reconstruction

Definition

The initial process of reconstruction refers to the period immediately following the end of the Civil War when efforts were made to rebuild and reintegrate former Confederate states into the Union. It involved establishing new governments, addressing issues related to slavery and civil rights, and determining how southern states would be readmitted.

Related terms

Ten Percent Plan: Proposed by President Lincoln in 1863, it offered amnesty to most Confederates if ten percent of voters pledged loyalty to the Union and supported emancipation.

Wade-Davis Bill: A Congressional plan that required fifty percent of a state's voters to take an oath of loyalty and for states to grant civil rights to freed slaves before being readmitted.

Reconstruction Acts: Passed by Congress in 1867, these acts divided the South into five military districts and required new state constitutions that granted voting rights to all men (including African Americans) and ratified the Fourteenth Amendment.