Radical Republicans Of The Reconstruction Era

During the Civil War, which took so many American lives, a new type of republican had evolved. The Republican Party which formed in the 1850's was comprised of people of the old Whig party and most northerners. The Republican Party attracted many abolitionists. Led by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania the Radicals wanted to destroy the political owner of former slaveholders. they especially wanted to make African-Americans citizens and 

give them the right to vote. This was an extremely radical idea. no other country that had abolished slavery had ever given former slaves the right to vote. they believed in harsh punishments for the South and were angered by Lincoln's lenient attitude towards the South. Led by Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts and Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, the Radicals wanted to destroy the political power of former slaveholders. Most of all, they wanted African Americans to be given full citizenship and the right to vote. In 1865, the idea of African-American suffrage was truly radical; no other country that had abolished slavery had given former slaves the vote. When the 39th Congress convened in December 1865, the Radical Republican legislators, led by 

Thaddeus Stevens, disputed Johnson’s claim that Reconstruction was complete. Many of them believed that the Southern states were not much different from the way they had been before the war. As a result, Congress refused to admit the newly elected Southern legislators.Ways they tried to accomplish there goals- At the same time, moderate Republicans pushed for new laws to remedy weaknesses they saw in Johnson’s plan. In February 1866, Congress voted to continue and enlarge the Freedmen’s Bureau. The bureau, established by Congress in the last month of the war, assisted former slaves and poor whites in the South by distributing clothing and food. In addition, the Freedmen’s Bureau set up more than 40 hospitals, approximately 4,000 schools, 61 industrial institutes, and 74 teacher-training centers.

Main leaders of Radical Republicans- Led by Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts and Representative Thaddeus Stevens.

Positives of the Radical Republican's views- led to impeachment of Johnson, reconstruction act of 1867, and joining forces with the moderates

Negatives of the Radical Republican's views-  both the Freedmen’s Bureau Act and the Civil Rights Act were failed as president Johnson vetoed both. By rejecting the two acts, Johnson alienated the moderate Republicans who were trying to improve his Reconstruction plan. He also angered the Radicals by appearing to support Southerners who denied African Americans their full rights. Johnson had not been in office a year when presidential Reconstruction ground to a halt.

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