When a majority (not Lincoln's 10 percent) of the white males of the state pledged their allegiance to the convention, whose delegates were to be elected by those who would swear (through the so-called Ironclad oath) that they had never borne arms against the United States-another departure from Lincoln's plan. The new state constitutions would have to abolish slavery, disenfranchise Confederate civil and military leaders, and repudiate debts accumulated by the state governments during the war. After a state had met these conditions, Congress would readmit it to the Union. Like the President's proposal, the Wade-Davis Bill left up to the states the question of political rights for blacks. (Brinkley 2012,
When a majority (not Lincoln's 10 percent) of the white males of the state pledged their allegiance to the convention, whose delegates were to be elected by those who would swear (through the so-called Ironclad oath) that they had never borne arms against the United States-another departure from Lincoln's plan. The new state constitutions would have to abolish slavery, disenfranchise Confederate civil and military leaders, and repudiate debts accumulated by the state governments during the war. After a state had met these conditions, Congress would readmit it to the Union. Like the President's proposal, the Wade-Davis Bill left up to the states the question of political rights for blacks. (Brinkley 2012,