The Radicals: Reconstruction After The Civil War

The Radical Republicans, known simply as the “Radicals”, were a faction within the Republican party who were fervent opponents of slavery. Arguably the most successful and influential among the Radical Republicans was Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Stevens despised the institution of slavery and fought for its dissolution in the decades prior to, during and after the Civil War. Stevens fought for emancipation, black suffrage, property rights, and racial justice.
Following the assassination of President Lincoln, the Radicals initially welcomed President Andrew Johnson. However, Johnson made it clear he had no intention of pushing for the rights of freed blacks, and would instead minimalize Reconstruction in the South. As a measure to diminish executive power over Reconstruction, the Radicals would form the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, allowing for protectionist measures of Southern blacks to pass over President Johnson’s veto. (Britannica, 2017)
Radical Republicans believed that the Union victory over the South created opportunity to solidify the principles of equal rights for all. As Congress convened in early 1866, the South would be unrepresented, leaving the Republicans in the overwhelming majority. The Republicans were not united in the effort to enforce extensive
The Freedmen’s Bureau was created in the Lincoln Administration as a temporary solution to poverty for freed black slaves and poor whites in the South, following the end of the Civil War. Senator Trumbull wanted legislation that extended the life of the Freemen’s Bureau. Trumbull also proposed the Civil Rights Bill, defining that all persons born in the United States would be citizens eligible for individual rights, regardless of race. The Civil Rights Bill was meant to define a lawful explanation of freedom, essentially expanding upon the 13th Amendment in concrete