Reconstruction is the period of time after the Civil War to rebuild the United States. Abraham Lincoln started the idea of Reconstruction to add the Southern States back into the Union; which he greatly wanted to preserve. Sadly, Lincoln couldn't fully carry out his plan since he was assassinated on April 15th 1865 by John Wilkes Booth.

Lincolns 10% plan was a way to get the Southern States back into the Union. Specifically it was to pardon Confederates who swore allegiance to the Union. The state had to have 10% of voters swear allegiance, and then they could be added back . Lincoln was very lenient because he believed that secession was constitutionally impossible and that people rebelled, not the actual states. He wanted to smoothly return things to normal. The result of the plan was that Radical Republicans got angry because slaveholders weren't punished enough for what they did to slaves.

The Bureau of Freedman assisted former slaves and poor whites by giving them clothing, food, setting up hospitals, and schools. It was called Freedman, because it assisted freedmen, also known as free slaves in the South during Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson, the president after Lincoln said this was unconstitutional and vetoed it.

Andrew Johnson was the President after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 15th 1865. Johnson had his own Presidential Reconstruction Plan, which was much stricter than Lincolns. He said that each state would have to withdraw its secession, swear their allegiance to the Union, pay annual war debts, and ratify the 13th Amendment. He made his plan stricter than Lincolns because he believed that whites were superior to blacks and he didn't want them getting power. This plan made the Confederates happy and most of them agreed. This caused a problem with Congress because they didn't agree with Johnson's plan. When the Southern legislators arrived, Congress refused to seat them.

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. It was passed in Congress on April 8th 1864, and in the House on January 31st 1865. This amendment changed the lives of slaves and involuntary servants forever, it was the first step to them being seen as equals to white people.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave black people citizenship and forbade states from passing black codes. The reason for this was that Southern States were trying to restore restrictions of slavery, some white people even used violence to prevent blacks from improving their positions. The black codes were key to the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Johnson called this unconstitutional and he alienated himself from the Republican party.

The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, including now freed slaves. It also forbids states from denying anyone to the rights of life, "liberty or property, without due process of the law". All states had to allow citizens to vote, including black people. This amendment was passed on July 9th 1868. This amendment was in response to Johnson declaring the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional, he even encouraged Southern states to reject the amendment; and it wasn't ratified until 1868.

Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866, after the Civil War. The laws had the intent of restricting African Americans freedom, they also made them work for extremely low wages. Many states also required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts "if they refused, they risked being arrested as vagrants and fined or forced into unpaid labor. Northern outrage over the black codes helped undermine support for Johnson’s policies, and by late 1866 control over Reconstruction had shifted to the more radical wing of the Republican Party in Congress". (history.com)

The Wade-Davis Bill was proposed that Congress should be responsible for Reconstruction. It declared that a majority of a state's voters voters have to pledge allegiance before it could be admitted back. This bill was proposed because Radical Republicans wanted to destroy the power of former slaveholders. Lincoln ended up pocket vetoing the bill.

The Tenure of Office Act was a United States federal law which was intended to restrict the power of the President to remove office holders without approval of the Senate. The law was enacted on March 3, 1867, over the veto of President Andrew Johnson.