Editing Abraham Lincoln (section)

====Reconstruction====
{{Main|Reconstruction era}}
Reconstruction preceded the war's end, as Lincoln and his associates considered the reintegration of the nation, and the fates of Confederate leaders and freed slaves. When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates were to be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy."{{sfn|Thomas|2008|pp=509–512}} Lincoln's main goal was to keep the union together, so he proceeded by focusing not on whom to blame, but on how to rebuild the nation.{{sfn|Koehn|2017|p=191}} Lincoln led the moderates in Reconstruction policy and was opposed by the Radicals, under [[Thaddeus Stevens]], Charles Sumner and [[Benjamin Wade]], who otherwise remained Lincoln's allies. Determined to reunite the nation and not alienate the South, Lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held. His [[Ten percent plan|Amnesty Proclamation]] of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office and had not mistreated Union prisoners, if they signed an oath of allegiance.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=471–472}}

As Southern states fell, they needed leaders while their administrations were being restored. In Tennessee and Arkansas, Lincoln appointed Johnson and [[Frederick Steele]], respectively, as military governors.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=484}} In Louisiana, Lincoln ordered General [[Nathaniel P. Banks]] to promote a plan that would reestablish statehood when 10 percent of the voters agreed, but only if the reconstructed states abolished slavery. Democratic opponents accused Lincoln of using the plan to ensure his and the Republicans' political aspirations. The Radicals denounced his policy as too lenient and passed their own plan, the 1864 [[Wade–Davis Bill]], but Lincoln pocket-vetoed it. The Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.{{sfnm|Donald|1996|1pp=509&ndash;511|Burlingame|2008|2loc=v. 2 pp. 594&ndash;600, 659&ndash;664}}

[[File:Lincoln and Johnsond.jpg|upright=1.4|alt=Cartoon of Lincoln and Johnson attempting to stitch up the broken Union|thumb|An 1865 political cartoon, ''The 'Rail Splitter' At Work Repairing the Union'', depicting Vice President [[Andrew Johnson]], a former tailor, and Lincoln.]]
After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery nationwide with a constitutional amendment. By December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=554}} The Senate passed it on April 8, 1864, but the first vote in the House of Representatives fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Passage became part of Lincoln's re-election platform, and after his re-election, the second attempt in the House passed on January 31, 1865.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=562–563}} After ratification by three-fourths of the states in December 1865, it became the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]].{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 2 p. 751}}

Lincoln believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen. He signed Senator Charles Sumner's [[Freedmen's Bureau]] bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. The law opened land for a lease of three years with the ability to purchase title for the freedmen. Lincoln announced a Reconstruction plan that involved short-term military control, pending readmission under the control of southern Unionists.{{sfn|Carwardine|2003|pp=242–243}} [[Eric Foner]] argues:{{sfn|Foner|2010|p=335}}
{{Blockquote|Unlike Sumner and other Radicals, Lincoln did not see Reconstruction as an opportunity for a sweeping political and social revolution beyond emancipation. He had long made clear his opposition to the confiscation and redistribution of land. He believed, as most Republicans did in April 1865, that voting requirements should be determined by the states. He assumed that political control in the South would pass to white Unionists, reluctant secessionists, and forward-looking former Confederates. But time and again during the war, Lincoln, after initial opposition, had come to embrace positions first advanced by abolitionists and Radical Republicans.&nbsp;... Lincoln undoubtedly would have listened carefully to the outcry for further protection for the former slaves.&nbsp;... It is entirely plausible to imagine Lincoln and Congress agreeing on a Reconstruction policy that encompassed federal protection for basic civil rights plus limited black suffrage, along the lines Lincoln proposed just before his death.}}

Lincoln vetoed only four bills during his presidency, including the Wade-Davis Bill with its harsh Reconstruction program.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=137}} The [[1862 Homestead Act]] made millions of acres of Western government-held land available for purchase at low cost. The 1862 [[Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act]] provided government grants for [[List of agricultural universities and colleges|agricultural colleges]] in each state. The [[Pacific Railway Acts]] of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' [[first transcontinental railroad]], which was completed in 1869.{{sfn|Paludan|1994|p=116}} The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was enabled by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s.{{sfn|McPherson|2009|pp=450–452}}