What major question did the federal government face regarding Confederate leaders during Reconstruction? Should leaders of the Confederacy be enslaved?
Should leaders of the Confederacy be impeached?
Should leaders of the Confederacy be punished?
Should leaders of the Confederacy be reeducated?

Should leaders of the Confederacy be punished?

Explanation:

The reconstruction period happened after the civil war between the Union and the Confederacy.

The civil war resulted in a lot of deaths for both sides. So even after winning the battle,  there are a lot of people in the Union who felt  resentment toward the people in Confederate states.

This resentment led to many people in the union demanded the Central government to punish the Confederate leaders. They called for them to be stripped from their position, jailed, or even executed.

But in the end, the Union decided that that will not lead to a peace between Union and the Confederacy. So the reconstruction is carried out without a particularly harsh punishment for the confederate leaders.