A Brief Note On The Reconstruction Era Of The United Sate

The reconstruction era of the United Sates was from 1865 to 1877 following the civil war, during this period attempts were made to solve the political, social and economic problems arising from the readmission to the union of the confederate states. After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson further alienated congress by continuing Lincoln’s moderate policies but the radical republicans had different plans and ideas of how everything was to be executed. The Union, mainly congress felt that it was necessary to punish the former confederacy before those states were allowed to rejoin the nation and have all their rights reinstated. The confederacy attempted to appease many of the requirements set by congress to become

Johnson preferred a stronger state government and believed in the doctrine of laissez-faire, which stated that the federal government should stay out of the economic and social affairs of its people. President Johnson disliked the southern planter elite but his actions suggested otherwise because he pardoned more people than any president before him and most of those pardoned were wealthy southern landowners. Just like Lincoln, Johnson wanted to restore the union in as little time as possible, his plan offered general amnesty to all who would take an oath to future loyalty. The plan also called for high-ranking confederate officials or any wealthy white southerner to petition the president personally for individual pardons. In order to be readmitted, a state would have to ratify the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery, and repudiate confederate war debts. By the end of 1865 all the former confederate states had complied with Johnson’s plan and were ready to reenter the union on an equal status with all other states. He wanted to be lenient on the south and would have allowed any state to reenter the union if just 10% of the population swore alliance. President Johnson also allowed Democratic southern state governments to deny freed slaves

The two prominent leaders of the radical republicans were Thaddeus Stevens who was a congressman from Pennsylvania, and Charles summer, a senator from Massachusetts. They had a quite different plan for reconstruction, they wanted to punish the south and protect the civil rights of freed slaves. They also supported the Freedman’s bureau which trained freed slaves for the work force, Lincoln also supported it but President Johnson vetoed it. The radical republicans also organized the seceded states into military districts controlled by a general. Although President Lincoln was a republican and supported civil rights he was not considered a radical republican because he wanted to be more lenient with the south and he would have allowed any state to reenter the union if just 10% of the population swore alliance. The radical republicans felt like Lincoln’s 10% plan was