For Mrs. Stone's 3rd Period Class...

Once upon a time, there was a man named Lincoln. Lincoln was the President of the greatest country in the world, the USA, but it was divided by a long war between the Northern and Southern states.

After the war ended, Lincoln wanted to try and help the Southern states rejoin the United States of America. So he came up with a plan called the 10% Plan.

This plan would allow that only 10% of voters in each state had to pledge allegiance to the United States.

But when Lincoln took his plan to Congress, the Radical Republicans thought it was too lenient. Instead, they came up with the Wade-Davis Bill.

This bill meant that states would have to have 50% of voters to swear the pledge to return to the US.

The bill did not get passed but Congress succeeded in creating the Freedmen's Bureau to distribute food, supplies and land to newly freed slaves.

Shortly after the war, Lincoln died. His Vice President, Andrew Johnson, took over as the President. Andrew used the 10% Plan to allow Southern states back and gave full pardons.

Following that, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 as well as the 14th Amendment. The Civil Rights Act allowed blacks to sue and serve on juries, while the 14th Amendment made them US citizens.

Then a group of white southerners formed a group the Ku Klux Klan in retaliation to the 14th Amendment. They would terrorize free blacks and anyone who supported them.