'What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing'. How far did Reconstruction realise Lincoln's vision?

Reconstruction had been a subject of discussion in the North ever since the Civil War started. By December of 1864, when it was clear that the outcome of the American Civil War had been decided and that it was only a matter of time before the Confederates would be crushed, the debate about reconstruction became an urgent consideration. Seeing the end of war draw nearer, more and more ideas about what should happen to the South …

…restored, the positive effects of this period resulted in little malice, as the majority of Southerners aligned themselves to the Union and the overall position of the blacks improved. In this way, the weight of the 'vast' responsibility that Lincoln and the nation faced allowed the sense of justice to prevail less under a cloud of malice and more with a social conscience to restore a country that had been split in two by war.