<P> Over a quarter of Southern white men of military age--the backbone of the South's white workforce--died during the war, leaving countless families destitute . Per capita income for white southerners declined from $125 in 1857 to a low of $80 in 1879 . By the end of the 19th century and well into the 20th century, the South was locked into a system of poverty . How much of this failure was caused by the war and by previous reliance on agriculture remains the subject of debate among economists and historians . </P> <P> During the Civil War, the Radical Republican leaders argued that slavery and the Slave Power had to be permanently destroyed . Moderates said this could be easily accomplished as soon as Confederate armies surrendered and the Southern states repealed secession and accepted the 13th Amendment--most of which happened by December 1865 . </P> <P> President Lincoln was the leader of the moderate Republicans and wanted to speed up Reconstruction and reunite the nation painlessly and quickly . Lincoln formally began Reconstruction in late 1863 with his Ten percent plan, which went into operation in several states but which Radical Republicans opposed . Lincoln pocket vetoed the Radical plan, the Wade--Davis Bill of 1864, which was much more strict than the Ten - Percent Plan . </P> <P> By late 1866, the opposing faction of Radical Republicans was skeptical of Southern intentions . White reactions included outbreaks of mob violence against blacks, such as the Memphis riots of 1866 and the New Orleans riot . Radical Republicans demanded a prompt and strong federal response to protect freed - people and curb southern racism . Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts led the Radicals . Sumner argued that secession had destroyed statehood but the Constitution still extended its authority and its protection over individuals, as in existing U.S. territories . Stevens and his followers viewed secession as having left the states in a status like new territories . The Republicans sought to prevent Southern politicians from "restoring the historic subordination of Negroes". Since slavery was abolished, the three - fifths compromise no longer applied to counting the population of blacks . After the 1870 census, the South would gain numerous additional representatives in Congress, based on the population of freedmen . One Illinois Republican expressed a common fear that if the South were allowed to simply restore its previous established powers, that the "reward of treason will be an increased representation". </P>

Who established the first reconstruction plan after the civil war