HOW MIGHT A POLICY OF LENIENCY AND FORGIVENESS TOWARD THE SOUTH BE THE BEST WAY TO BRING ABOUT EFFECTIVE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION?

The initial disagreements between the president and the Radical Republicans over how best to deal with the defeated South set the stage for further conflict. In fact, President Johnson’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in May 1865 provided sweeping “amnesty and pardon” to rebellious Southerners.Among the other achievements of Reconstruction were the South’s first state-funded public school systems, more equitable taxation legislation, laws against racial discrimination in public transport and accommodations and ambitious economic development programs (including aid to railroads and other enterprises).