What was the core condition of Lincoln's 10 Percent Plan for Southern states to rejoin the Union?

• A. A majority of white landowners pledged loyalty.
• B. Ten percent of voters took an oath of allegiance and accepted emancipation.
• C. The state ratified the Fifteenth Amendment.
• D. The state paid war debts.

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is what Lincoln required for a Southern state to be readmitted after the Civil War. Lincoln’s plan said that a state could rejoin the Union once a portion of its voters—specifically ten percent of those who had voted in 1860—took an oath of loyalty to the United States and accepted emancipation of enslaved people. This shows the plan was aimed at a quick, lenient restoration by ensuring loyalty to the Union and acceptance of emancipation before a new state government could be formed.

This wasn’t about a majority of white landowners pledging loyalty, nor about paying war debts, and it wasn’t tied to ratifying the Fifteenth Amendment (which came later). The emphasis was the pledged oath by at least ten percent of voters and acceptance of emancipation as the path back into the Union.