President Abraham Lincoln|the nation to heal as quickly as possible from the Civil War and planned to reunify the nation quickly|he was assassinated in 1865 only days after Robert E. Lee's surrender|plans for Reconstruction were taken over by Vice President Andrew Johnson, who became president after Lincoln's death|
President Andrew Johnson|the same as Lincoln, the sooner the country could reunite, the sooner it could heal, but he believed patience was called for|Congress were able to override the president's vetoes and passed the Reconstruction Act which would undo everything Johnson had completed at that point|Congress wanted to impeach Johnson, but without him guilty of the charges, he remained in office, but with little power over Reconstruction policy|
Radical Republicans|to control the South until they could be sure the South would not return to its pre-Civil War ways, including slavery|but the Wade-Davis bill was pocket vetoed by Lincoln and never took effect |many Republicans joined the Radicals and brought impeachment charges against Johnson to prevent him from dismissing further bills|
Southern Democrats|to drive out the Republican coalition of freedmen, carpetbaggers, and scalawags and passed the "Black Codes"|three Southern states had disputed election results, but later agreed to accept Hayes if he named a Southern Democrat to his Cabinet|the removal of the remaining federal troops marked the end of Reconstruction and Southern Democrats were back in control of the state legislatures|
What was the main issue relating to Reconstruction that divided Republicans at the end of the Civil War? If you had been a member of Congress at the time, what type of plan for Reconstruction would you have supported and why?
The main issue relating to Reconstruction that divided Republicans at the end of the Civil war was rebuilding the governments of the southern states using the northern governments as a model. If I was a member of Congress, I would have supported Lincoln's original idea, of wanting the nation to heal from the Civil War, but I would agree with Johnson that it would take time, and it wouldn't happen as quickly as Lincoln would have liked it to. I would have supported this idea because I feel as if everyone should be equal, including blacks, and I think it should have always been this way.
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