- The American Civil War divided the United States.

North versus South.

But as the fighting ended in 1865, the nation would need to decide how to move forward together.

The years immediately following the war are known as Reconstruction, and it was a time for the nation to explore ways to rebuild.

This period would unfold in two major phases.

Presidential Reconstruction and Congressional Reconstruction.

So, what issues did each Reconstruction plan try to solve, and how did each plan handle them differently?

The Presidential Reconstruction plan initially began with Abraham Lincoln.

Under Lincoln's lenient policy, Reconstruction would rebuild the nation by quickly bringing the South back into the Union and ending slavery.

Lincoln's plan, sometimes called the Ten Percent Plan, was forgiving to those who had rebelled against the United States.

It included a few key features.

White Southerners who took an oath of loyalty to the US could receive pardons.

This meant they would not be punished for fighting against the Union.

Once only 10% of a former Confederate state's 1860 voting population took the oath, that state could rejoin the US.

After that, the state could choose delegates to write a new state constitution.

Lincoln's vision for Reconstruction also included other strategies and programs.

One of those was the Freedmen's Bureau, which helped manage abandoned lands and support displaced and formerly enslaved people.

But after Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, the Presidential Reconstruction plan would have to be carried out by his successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee native and former slave holder who had stayed loyal to the Union.

Lincoln had added Johnson to his National Union Reelection Ticket in 1864 to show unity and gain Southern support.

But this didn't mean the two leaders always saw eye to eye.

When Johnson became president, his plan was even more lenient than Lincoln's.

Building on Lincoln's plan, Johnson allowed Southern states to rejoin the Union once just 10% of their voting population swore loyalty to the US.

States also had to end slavery by ratifying the 13th Amendment, reject secession, and refuse to pay Confederate debts.

If they met these requirements, the new state governments, elected only by white voters, would mostly be allowed to govern themselves.

Under Johnson's plan, Presidential Reconstruction would give very little protection to freedmen or formerly enslaved people.

Land that the Union Army or the Freedmen's Bureau had given to the freedmen was returned to its original pre-Civil War owners.

Johnson also granted amnesty, or forgiveness, to more than 13,000 former Confederates, including high-ranking leaders like Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.

As a result, many former Confederate leaders were able to quickly regain political power.

Because Johnson's plan was so forgiving, many Southern states, including Georgia, accepted its terms, including the ratification of the 13th Amendment.

But even though the 13th Amendment ended slavery, many Southerners still held racist beliefs.

As former Confederates returned to power, Southern states passed Black Codes, or laws that limited free people's rights, controlled their labor, and upheld white supremacy.

Although all Black people were legally free, these laws tightly controlled their lives and often made freedom resemble slavery.

On top of that, groups like the Ku Klux Klan used violence and fear to keep Black people from exercising their rights.

Northern Congressmen known as Radical Republicans were angered by the South's resistance to change.

They were also frustrated by President Johnson's failure to protect newly freedmen.

As Radical Republicans gained control of Congress and rejected Johnson's policies, Reconstruction entered a new phase known as Congressional Reconstruction.

This plan called for stronger reforms and stricter requirements for former Confederate states to rejoin the Union.

Many Northern Republicans wanted to break down the South's pre-Civil War systems so ex-Confederates could not regain power, while also expanding protections for Black people across the country.

They proposed requiring a majority of Southern voters, not just 10%, to swear loyalty to the United States.

But President Johnson vetoed, or rejected, the plan.

Frustrated by Johnson's continued resistance and the spread of Black Codes in the South, Congress took action by passing the 14th Amendment.

This would grant citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the US regardless of race, provide everyone equal protection under the law, and ensure due process.

This means the government must treat everyone fairly and follow legal rules.

When most Southern states, including Georgia, refused to ratify the 14th Amendment, Congress passed laws that placed them under military control.

Congress then outlined new terms for readmission to the Union.

States would now be required to craft new constitutions that would include the 14th amendment and voting rights for all male citizens.

Each constitution would also need to be approved by a majority of the state's voters, including Black men.

Though Johnson argued that these rules were unconstitutional, Congress moved forward with its Reconstruction plan anyway.

Then, in 1868, the House of Representatives impeached President Johnson.

Although he remained in office, Johnson's influence was greatly weakened.

Now, Reconstruction was firmly under Congress's control.

In July of that year, the 14th Amendment was finally ratified by the states, including Georgia, and became part of the US Constitution.

When Georgia met the remaining requirements of Congressional Reconstruction, it was readmitted to the Union in 1868.

Black voters were able to participate in that year's election, leading to the election of 33 Black legislators to the General Assembly, Georgia's legislative body.

But these lawmakers were soon expelled.

Many ex-Confederates worried about losing political power and used various arguments to remove them from office.

At the same time, the Ku Klux Klan increased its campaign of intimidation and violence to suppress Black political participation.

Frustrated by Georgia's actions, Congress placed the state back under military rule and set new conditions for readmission.

One key requirement was ratifying the 15th Amendment, which gave all male citizens the right to vote regardless of race.

Georgia met this condition in February 1870.

Finally, after years of pushing against Reconstruction efforts, Georgia became the last former Confederate state to rejoin the Union in July 1870.

Rebuilding the nation after the Civil War was not easy.

Presidential and Congressional Reconstruction plans tried to bring the country back together, but each one approached this effort very differently.

Presidential Reconstruction focused on forgiveness and quickly restoring Southern states to the Union.

In contrast, Congressional Reconstruction set stricter rules, giving more protections to Black people and requiring more reforms from Southern states before rejoining the Union.

Even with these efforts, many Southern leaders resisted, and violence and discrimination made true freedom for Black Americans difficult.

In the end, Reconstruction changed the Constitution, ending slavery and giving African Americans citizenship and voting rights.

But the fight for equality wasn't over.

Many of the conflicts and challenges from this era would continue to shape the United States for generations to come.

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