What were the conditions of the Wade-Davis Bill?

• A. A majority of Southerners had to sign loyalty oath and states had to end slavery.
• B. Ten percent loyalty oath only.
• C. All former Confederates were pardoned.
• D. Slavery had to be expanded in the South.

Answer: (A)

The test centers on Reconstruction policy and the extra restrictions the Wade-Davis Bill would have imposed to readmit Southern states. It was designed to be much tougher than Lincoln’s plan. The bill insisted that a large portion of the white male population in each former Confederate state swear an ironclad loyalty to the Union—meaning they had to declare they had never supported the Confederacy. It also required that new state constitutions be drafted under rules set by Congress and that slavery be abolished in the reconstructed states. In addition, former Confederates would be barred from holding office until these conditions were met. This combination—a majority of white male citizens taking a strict oath and slavery being ended—captures the essence of what Wade-Davis aimed to require. The other options either underestimate the oath threshold, suggest universal pardons for ex-Confederates, or propose something as inaccurate as expanding slavery.