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This Day in History--Georgia Rejoins the Union

Things didn't go well for Georgia during Reconstruction.

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On this day in 1870, Georgia was re-admitted to the Union after seceding during the Civil War. It was the last state in the Old Confederacy to do so.

The United States government never recognized the right of states to secede. So it didn’t believe the states had ever left the Union during the American Civil War. But before they could send representatives to Congress, the former Confederate states had to agree to the rules of Reconstruction.

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As early as December 1863, then-president Abraham Lincoln had proposed a plan of reconstruction. The many Radical Republicans in Congress objected to his plan because it was relatively lenient on the seceded states that surrendered during his term.

Lincoln's death made restoration to the Union more difficult for those states like Georgia that were determined to fight to the end. Georgia surrendered too late to qualify for Lincoln's terms for reunion, so it was subjected to President Andrew Johnson's more stringent policies.

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