1.The Presidential approach for Reconstruction started with Abraham Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan. The plan was when ten percent of a rebellious state's voters had taken an oath of loyalty, the state would be allowed back in the Union. Because the Confederates rejected the Plan, Congress proposed the Wade-Davis Bill and it was passed. Lincoln did not agree with the Bill, so he used a Pocket Veto to kill it. Shortly After that, Lincoln was assassinated.
Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln. His plan of Reconstruction was to offer amnesty to all southerners who swore allegiance to the United States except for the highest ranking confederates. The confederate states liked Johnsons' proposal and the south had functioning elected governments in a reasonably short amount of time. On the other hand, the majority of the Northerners did not like what Johnson was doing because they didn't like the fact that the south had been totally pardoned.
Needless to say, the Radical Republicans had a different approach to Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Act of 1887 divided the south into five military districts. To reenter the union, each former confederate state had to grant the vote to freedmen and deny it to ex- leading confederates. All eligible adult males would be registered, and ensure that new constitutions guaranteed black suffrage. Only then would a state be readmitted into the Union.
Both sides had their own ideas about Reconstruction. I like Lincoln's ten percent plan as well as the Radical Republicans ideals. Johnson's plan was weak and that is why it was so opposed. But, if I had to choose one, I would go with Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan.
Sincerely,
John Gacitua