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The Civil War has been a horrible experience for all American citizens, so its end should have been conclusive about the central matters of the conflict. Namely, the issue of slavery and the fate of former Confederate states were to be addressed as quickly as possible, yet with sufficient reason. So, President Lincoln devised a plan that concerned the difficulties of the Southern states reunification with the US primarily (Corbett and Janssen). It can be stated that Lincolns plan would have been implemented if he had not been assassinated because of the disagreements in Congress and the troubling opposition in the South.
The reasons for the reliability of Lincolns plan need to be explained more thoroughly. First of all, it could be argued that the relationship Lincoln had with Congress was uneasy: Radical Republicans were unsatisfied with the decisions that included any acts of forgiveness towards the Southerners (Corbett and Janssen). One might assume that this disagreement would mean that Radical Republicans would never accept the Presidents decision. The plan would not be implemented; yet, an even more unpleasing policy was implemented to some degree after his death.
The Republicans would be more peaceful about Lincolns plan than about what follows. Andrew Johnson, succeeding Lincoln, decided to go even further and guarantee the Confederates an amnesty that exceeded the limits that the former President had proposed. This policy created a situation when, for example, Alexander Stephens, a political promoter of the Confederacy, became a part of Congress (Corbett and Janssen). Radical Republicans considered it unacceptable and acted against implementing the program and began reformative practices instead of providing Southerners with a more independent government (Corbett and Janssen). In turn, according to Lincolns plan, military and political leaders could not be given amnesty, so such a situation would be excluded. Moreover, this plan would not be overwhelming for the Southerners since they had not to sway the oath of allegiance in their entirety. Thus, Lincolns plan would have been a better alternative to provoke lesser opposition.
To conclude, the implementation of Lincolns plan was possible, yet his early death prevented the reasonable program. The proposal of the murdered President would have never provoked such an adverse reaction from the Southerners, as Johnsons policy did. Nor would it create an ambiguous situation when the Radical republicans had been too enraged about the program. Yet, these are only speculations, and the reality contains more factors to consider.
Work Cited
Corbett, P. Scott, and Volker Janssen. Openstax U.S. History. First, 12th Media Services, OpenStax, 2016.
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