Abraham Lincoln

By the middle of 1863, after the Union army’s successful occupation of Tennessee, Louisiana, and North Carolina, President Abraham Lincoln had begun to develop plans for the reconstruction of the United States. On December 8, 1863, two years before the end of the war, Lincoln issued the following document, the Proclamation of Amnesty. The proclamation set forth the terms for a reconstruction that would be largely under the purview of the executive branch. In addition, America’s sixteenth president argued that the rebel southern states were guilty of treason but noted that he had the authority to grant pardons in particular cases. Lincoln’s proclamation outraged the Radical Republicans, who resented his use of the executive prerogative and desired a more severe restructuring of the South to ensure equal treatment of blacks and whites. Lincoln was...