Radical Congressional Plan For Reconstruction Essay

To the Radical Republicans, Johnson's plan seemed no better than Lincoln's because it failed to address the needs of former slaves in three prominent areas: land, voting rights, and protection under the law. Confederates states, however, readily committed to the conditions put forth in the Presidential Reconstruction plan, and were readmitted to the Union. A few years later, the Reconstruction Act of 1867 was passed, which did not recognize the governments formed under Lincoln and Johnson's plans. Through the Reconstruction Act, Tennessee was the only former Confederate State recognized as having been readmitted to the Union because it had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. In order for the rest of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union through the Reconstruction Act, each state had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, also. The Republicans introduced the Fifteenth Amendment after the election of 1868 because they feared that Pro-Confederate Southern whites might try to place limits on black suffrage. In order to prevent this, the Fifteenth Amendment states that no one can be kept from voting because of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Through the different plans that were proposed by the three different Presidents in office during the Reconstruction period, the Thirteenth,

Reconstruction was a period of time after the Civil War (1865-1877) that was supposed to be the rebuilding of America. It was also the process used to readmit all the Confederate states back into the Union. There was controversy, however, on how to go about rebuilding the nation. Abraham Lincoln proposed a lenient plan. After he was assassinated, Andrew Johnson proposed a very similar plan. The Radical Republicans, a group of legislators that were in favor of freedmen’s rights, were opposed to both plans under “Presidential Reconstruction”. They initiated “Congressional Reconstruction”. Because of the conflicting views, there was little cooperation between the Executive and Legislative branches. This lead to many unsuccessful

Throughout the reconstruction period, Congress also made plans to benefit the country. From 1865-1877, Congress established three new amendments: The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth. The thirteenth amendment officially abolished slavery in 1865. In 1868, the fourteenth amendment was ratified, declaring every person a citizen if born in the U.S., limiting a state's power to enforce laws that harm the privileges of citizens, or deprive them of freedom, and attempted to force Southern states to allow voting to blacks. The fifteenth amendment was ratified in 1870, which “forbade all states to deny the vote to anyone on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Another plan that was advantageous towards the U.S. was the last Reconstruction Act created by Congress. Ultimately, this law, through some revisions, enabled black southerners to vote. The most important plan that Congress created was the Compromise of 1877, which ended reconstruction. After twelve long years of tension in the U.S., the Compromise of 1877 was ratified, signaling a better and brighter future for every state, every citizen, and the country as a whole. Even though Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Congress all made plans that had its advantages, some of those plans and others had a fair amount of disadvantages.

At this, the federal government took control of the southern states not yet readmitted to the Union. In order for the states to get readmitted to the Union, they needed to agree to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Amendment fourteen guaranteed all citizens the same rights without regard to color. Amendment fifteen made it illegal to discriminate against people based on race in voting rights. African Americans and northerners held a number of government positions during this time, and southern whites did not really accept these governments. Southern whites used legal and illegal means to fight the changes in the status of African Americans.(Royster 7,8)

Congress passes the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which divided the South into districts and required Southern states to approve the 14th Amendment to grant blacks citizenship, before rejoining the Union. Later, congress gives African Americans the right to vote by ratifying the 15th Amendment. The Reconstruction established the South’s first state-funded public school systems, created a just taxation legislation, and passed laws against discrimination and economic development programs. The approach of Congress was different than Johnson’s plan, because they worked to improve the lives of African Americans by passing laws in their favor, and expanding their rights. Congress did not care what the South wanted, and expected the South to abide by their rules. On the other hand, Johnson wanted to preserve the nation, and did not want to do anything to anger the South. Moreover, he was a strong believer in states rights, and the idea that the federal government had no right to enforce restrictive laws on the entire country.

Reconstruction (1867-1877) under Congress was a fast tightening of a noose in the South. Congress no longer trusted Andrew Johnson’s loose plan for Reconstruction, so they began closing in on their plans. Radical Republicans made many lasting impacts in this period. Under Congress, the 14th and 15th Amendment was created, guaranteeing rights to African Americans. A newly created Freedmen’s Bureau help create many schools and colleges, lasting up to modern times. African Americans held power in office, although they were quickly brought down by the Ku Klux Klan’s terrorism. The main path Reconstruction took was based on the government’s plans. There

Reconstruction was an era of time in which the United States desired to reunite the nation, as soon as possible this era was first led by President Abraham Lincoln who added the thirteenth amendment which would abolish slavery, Lincoln also tried to pass The Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which would help reunite with the confederate states in the south, but the radical republicans rejected that plan, Lincoln turned to negotiation with the radical’s, but after one week of passing the thirteenth amendment, President Lincoln, was assassinated, the reconstruction responsibility was given to the next president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, the second leader of reconstruction, president Johnson was an obstacle to the radical Republicans in congress that wanted to ratify the fourteenth amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 for southern states, Johnson Claimed that these laws would take away rights from white men and give it to African Americans and vetoed them, but they were overridden by congress.

In the pattern of passing amendments, the first, second and third Reconstruction Acts were passed in March and July of 1867. These acts provided a much more radical approach to dealing with the South and were the result of shock at Johnson’s obstructive attitude against blacks. Unlike the previous bills they only just made the two thirds majority, which shows that the more moderate of the Republican Party were beginning to feel uncomfortable at the degree of federal intervention in the

“In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it is perhaps not surprising that historians turned renewed attention to home-grown American terrorism. Recent books on Reconstruction…have infused their subjects with drama by focusing on violent confrontations,” Eric Foner notes in the introduction of the updated edition to his 1988 publication Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Up until now, Foner’s revisionist historiography of Reconstruction was the only alternative offered to the Dunning School’s account of the important historical era. In recent years a neo-revisionist interpretation of Reconstruction has emerged in works by a younger generation of historians such as Gregory Downs, Carole Emberton, Hannah Rosen, Megan Kate Nelson and Jim downs. This new scholarship pays close attention to violence, the body, language, and gender—how these important themes directly relate to power, struggle, and political status of freedpeople in the postbellum nation—and either rethink or are completely uninterested in Foner’s revisionist narrative of Reconstruction.

Radical Reconstruction, also known as Congressional Reconstruction, sought to legislatively reconstruct the South so black men were ensured the same rights as white men. Radical Republicans’ demand for societal and political change was a concept many white Southerners struggled with, considering that they lived in a system that greatly benefitted them while ostracizing and oppressing black people to maintain that system. Southern Democrats and anti-black racists provided a fair amount obstacles for the rise of Radical Republicanism, including Andrew Johnson’s lack of compromise and belief that black people had no role in Reconstruction , and the regular violence against—and soon, lynching of—black people in the South . Eventually, mutual repulsion of Andrew Johnson is what drove the moderate Republicans to side more with the Radical Republicans so they can sweep the Congressional elections to gain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which marks the beginning of Radical Reconstruction.

During the reconstruction period after the Civil War Radical Republicans fought for the freedpeople on a political level. They believed that the blacks deserved the same freedom and political rights as the whites. The Radicals resonated closest with President Lincoln and his views which were similar, but not limited to his words in his second inaugural address; “let us strive to finish the work...to bind up the nation’s wounds.”1 The radicals had some similar views to the moderate Republicans, however, they took it a step farther and wanted to completely uproot the current economic and social system; “but most considered the South a new frontier to be conquered culturally, politically, and economically.”2 Their main objectives were to advocate suffrage and voting rights along with the redistribution of land to the freed slaves.

The Reconstruction era was put into effect by Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. Reconstruction was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War. The reconstruction plan granted the means for readmitting the southern states into the Union, and tried to come up with the methods by which whites and blacks could live together in a non-slave society. America's position as a country was established on principles of freedom but those beliefs were weakened by slavery. At the end of the Civil War, many blacks felt that they were entitled to start collecting the benefits that had been denied for so many years. Being able to vote, own land and have a voice in political affairs were all goals that they believed were reachable.

Reconstruction was the period of rebuilding the nation after the Civil War and lasted from 1865 to 1877. The eradication of all vestiges of slavery was essential to the success of the initiative. The actions of the Radical Republicans set in motion the establishment of freedmen’s rights, the achievement of justice and the prevention of southern political power from returning to the antebellum status quo. A new system of commerce, politics, and race relations would have to replace the institution of slavery. The manifestation of the new ideals and principles of reconstruction attempted to do so and despite its failures, laid the foundation for the modern national identity of America.

The time directly after the civil war was a vital era for change in America. We could be the country that learned from their mistakes and create a society focused on justice and equality or we could continue down a broken path, where the country is divided. This time was sensitive and all of the importance placed on it led to disagreements between how the country should handle the matter of reconstruction. The mostly ex-Confederate’s plans: treat African Americans like they were still slaves. They did this through a set of harsh laws put in place to subjugate freed slaves called the Black Codes. Now one idea that could have worked but unfortunately

Those who felt threatened by the massive amount of African-Americans who would now be participating in the government criticized this Amendment, which allowed all male citizens the right to vote regardless of race. Ex-Confederates, many of which were not allowed to vote after bitterly losing to the north, argued that African-Americans were not ready to vote because they were ignorant to the political system of the U.S. The political power of the south would be in the hands of the formerly oppressed, as opposed to their oppressors, who would be practically powerless. The debate on this topic would cause more tension in southern society, which was already undergoing a difficult period of adaptation. Another problem which arose in the south were laws which would further the oppression of the African-American population. Commonly called Black Codes, these laws also punished white persons who supported emancipation during the Civil War. These Black Codes were often unreasonable or unneeded to keep order within society. They were simply created as bitter retaliation by the ex-Confederates who were not pleased by the integration, which had just taken place. Black Codes were created and enforced on a State level which became superior to the Fourteenth Amendment. The laws would be psychologically damaging to the African-American population, who would be forced to feel