After the Civil War ended in 1865, the new struggle was a plan that would perhaps unify the nation. This plan was known as “Reconstruction.” When the Civil War ended, most Southern cities were doing well, but as you progressed further into the countryside; the barns were all burned, the chimneys were without houses and the houses were without roofs, nor doors, nor windows. (Hakim). With an estimated 360,000 deaths in the Union and 260,00 deaths in the Confederacy, many Northerners believed that the South should pay for their actions by punishing them. President Lincoln decided he wanted to resolve the situation peacefully and asked Northerners to forget their anger. For this reason, Lincoln wanted the Confederacy to join the Union and establish new state governments as soon as possible. There were people in the convention known as Radical Republicans who wanted to defend the rights of African Americans and change the South. John Wilkes Booth, a southern man, against Lincoln's decision shot him to death on April 14, 1865 at Fords Theater. Once President Lincoln died, the new president was Andrew Johnson. Before he died, Lincoln had plans for reconstruction, however President Johnson put Lincoln's plan into action. This meant that the Southern states had to eradicate slavery. Southern whites passed the Black Codes to get rid of the rights of African Americans. This led to the birth of the Freedmen Bureau group, which provided support to poor African Americans and whites. During Reconstruction, Congress added three amendments to the Constitution. One advantage was that the national government had multiple powerful states. The first of the three amendments passed was the Thirteenth Amendment, which eliminated slavery, however the Black Codes still restricted Africa…half of the document…this event is not only important to history, but is very important to us.Works CitedBritannica.com, Reconstruction http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/493722/Reconstruction/295416/The-end-of-ReconstructionJune 2, 2014. Internet.Davidson, James West, and Michael B. Stoff . America: A History of Our Nation. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2011. Print.Hakim, Joy. A History of US Volume 7: Reconstructing America 1865- 1890. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Class ReadingHistory.com, Reconstruction http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction June 2, 2014. Internet.Mutone, Stephanie. US History Demystified; Difficult things become easy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.Sparknotes.com Title: Reconstruction Summary (1865-1877) http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/reconstruction/summary.html June 2, 2014. Internet.