Reconstruction Plans and 13th, 14th & 15th Amendments

        Right after the Civil War the South needed to recover. Before they would recover the South would need to pledge to an oath of allegiance. If 10% of the southerners agreed to this oath the South could rejoin the Union to become a whole country again. The oath pretty much said that the South had to obey the constitution and laws that would end slavery. Unfortunately, a week after the South surrendered Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Boothe at Ford's Theater. The new president would be Abraham's former vice president, Andrew Johnson. 

        The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were amendments that gave blacks freedom. The 13th amendment abolishes slavery completely within the United States. Although the slaves in the North were already free because of the Emancipation Proclamation, this amendment freed millions of slaves. The 14th amendment granted citizenship to freedmen and equal protection under the law. It also stated that Former Confederate officials were not allowed to hold office. The 15th amendment granted all men  the right to vote no matter what race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Although every man was allowed to vote, educated or not women still were not allowed to vote.