The Civil War Of The South - 1531 Words

As the Civil War came to a conclusion, there were a lot of problems facing the nation, especially the South. Land in the South was in ruins. Homeless refugees, both African-American and white needed food, shelter, and work. Americans were forced to reach down deep and overcome a lot of adversity to bring the North and South together as one. President Lincoln wanted to make it easy for the southern states to rejoin the Union. His goal was to close up wounds of war as quickly as possible. In December 1863, President Lincoln introduced a model for reinstatement of the Southern states called the Ten Percent Plan. This proposed a plan that if ten percent of a state’s voters swore an oath of loyalty to the United States, the voters could†¦show more content†¦President Lincoln and the other Republicans hoped that they would see a strong Republican Party in the south. Lincoln thought that his more laid back, softer and more lenient policy would win the support of some influe ntial southern supporters. The Radical Republicans, who were supporters of strict policy in the south, disagreed with the President. They made the case that their strict plan would keep the people that led the South into secession from regaining power and weakening the control of the Radical Republicans. It was important to deal urgently with the needs of the freedmen, as well as the other war refugees. In March of 1865, Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau. Providing emergency relief to the people displaced by the war was their first priority. The Freedman’s Bureaus also set up schools to teach the freedmen to read and write. Due to the want and need for education, many African American communities then set up their own schools. They would come together and gather up any extra money to pay the teachers. According to some sources, the schools were strict like military schools, and were often so poor that most of the testing came in the oral form. (civilwar.org) Many of the teachers were northern white women, but for the most part, they were African American women. With public education now an option for African Americans, they were given the same rights toward education as the white children were. The Bureau helped extend the education