Shortly after Lee's surrender, when one of his generals asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates should be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy." In keeping with his word, Lincoln was a moderate when it came to reconstruction. He was opposed by the Radical Republicans, but Lincoln was determined to find a course that would reunite the nation and not alienate the South.
Lincoln urged that speedy elections with generous terms be held throughout the south. His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office, had not mistreated Union prisoners, and would sign an oath of allegiance.
As Southern states were conquered, decisions had to be made about their governance. Of special importance were Tennessee and Arkansas, where Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson and Frederick Steele as military governors, respectively. In Louisiana, Lincoln ordered General Nathaniel Banks to implement a plan that would restore statehood when 10% of the voters agreed to it. Lincoln's Democratic opponents accused him of using the military for Republican political purposes, while the Radicals criticized him for being too lenient. They passed their own plan for reconstruction called the Wade-Davis Bill in 1864. When Lincoln vetoed the bill, the Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat representatives elected from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
When Chief Justice Roger Taney died, Lincoln filled Taney's seat on the Supreme Court with a Radical, his Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, who Lincoln believed would uphold the Emancipation Proclamation. After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, which did not apply to every state, Lincoln pressured Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the entire nation with a constitutional amendment. In December 1863 he proposed a constitutional amendment that would outlaw slavery absolutely. It was brought to Congress for passage, but the amendment failed to pass on the first attempt. It fell short of the required two-thirds majority on June 15, 1864, in the House of Representatives. After a long debate in the House, a second attempt passed Congress on January 13, 1865, and was sent to the state legislatures for ratification. Once ratified, it became the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 6, 1865.
As the war drew to a close, Lincoln was concerned about the federal government's responsibility to the millions of freedmen. Senator Charles Sumner got legislation passed, known as the Freedman's Bureau bill, that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate material needs of former slaves. The law assigned land for a lease of three years with the ability to purchase title for the freedmen.
Shortly before his assassination Lincoln announced he had a new plan for southern Reconstruction. Lincoln planned short term military control over southern states, until readmission under the control of southern Unionists. Of course as we all know, Lincoln never had a chance to complete his plan. On April 11, 1865, Lincoln gave a speech in which he promoted voting rights for African-Americans. An incensed listener named John Wilkes Booth made plans to to assassinate the president. On April 14th Lincoln left to attend the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater. And the rest, as they say, is history.