Describe four major differences between President Lincoln’s plan for southern reconstruction and Congress’ plan for radical reconstruction

Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction was far more
conciliatory than that of the Radical Republicans. Lincoln issued a Proclamation of
Amnesty and Reconstruction in late 1863, long before the war was over; but long after a
Union victory was virtually assured. His plan called for amnesty for all those who
fought against the Union except for Confederate Officers and government officials,
particularly those who had held Federal positions to aid in the rebellion. He also
provided for the Southern states to form new governments when ten percent of each
state's citizens who had voted in the 1860 election swore allegiance to the Constitution
of the United States and received a presidential pardon. Lincoln's position was that the
states had not left the Union, but were merely "in rebellion." He based his authority on
his constitutional authority to enforce the laws of the country and his pardon
power. 

The Radical Republicans in Congress were not so
generous. Most were determined to remake the South in the image of the North,
and destroy the old Planter aristocracy. They based their authority on the
Constitutional mandate that Congress guarantee to each state a republican form of
government which gave Congress the implied power to control
reconstruction. As far as the status of the former Confederacy, Thad Stevens said that
they were now "conquered provinces:' Charles Sumner said that they had committed
political suicide and reverted to the status of unorganized
territories.

Congress passed its own Reconstruction plan,
the Wade-Davis Bill, which provided that a majority of
white males must declare allegiance to the U.S. Constitution; only those who took an
iron-clad oath of past loyalty could vote or serve in State constitutional conventions.
New State constitutions must abolish slavery, repudiate any Confederate debt, and no
former Confederate officials could hold office. Lincoln pocket vetoed the bill when it
reached his desk.

Lincoln's last words on Reconstruction
were on April 11, 1865 when he said that the southern States were "out of their proper
relation with the Union," and the object was to get them into their "proper political
relation." He stated in a cabinet meeting that the Radical Republicans possessed an
attitude of hate and vindictiveness with which he could not sympathize. He died shortly
thereafter, so one can only speculate on the outcome of Reconstruction had he
survived.