After major Union victories at the battles of Gettysburgand Vicksburg in 1863,President Abraham Lincoln began preparing his plan for Reconstruction toreunify the North and South after the war’s end. Because Lincolnbelieved that the South had never legally seceded from the Union,his plan for Reconstruction was based on forgiveness. He thus issuedthe Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863toannounce his intention to reunite the once-united states. Lincolnhoped that the proclamation
