Lincoln believed that the Confederate states had never actually left the Union. Why was his view important in deciding how these states would be reintegrated into the Union after the Civil War

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

Although there are no options attached, we can say the following.

Lincoln believed that the Confederate states had never actually left the Union. His view was important in deciding how these states would be reintegrated into the Union after the Civil War because President Abraham Lincoln believed that it was his responsibility and power as the head of the Executive branch to issue a plan for Reconstruction after the American Civil War, as well as to reform the government of the former Confederate states.

That is why Lincoln gave leeway to the southern states to do reconstruction at their own pace. Lincoln just required to implement the Ten Percent Plan to reintegrate these states into the Union. However, Radical Republicans in Congress opposed Lincoln's decision because they considered that the former Confederated states deserved a harsh punishment for the damage caused during the war.