Radical Reconstruction aimed to reshape the South after the Civil War. From 1867 to 1872, Republicans pushed for harsh policies to punish Confederate states and protect freed slaves' rights. This period saw major constitutional changes and fierce resistance from white Southerners.

The era brought sweeping reforms like black male suffrage and citizenship for former slaves. However, it also faced challenges from President Johnson's opposition and Southern states' efforts to maintain white supremacy through violence and discriminatory laws.

Radical Reconstruction, 1867-1872

Goals of Radical Reconstruction

• Punish the South for the Civil War through military occupation (Military Reconstruction Acts) and strict requirements for readmission to the Union
• Rebuild the South's economy and society by establishing new state governments and providing aid to freed slaves (Freedmen's Bureau)
• Protect the rights of freed slaves by granting citizenship, equal protection under the law, and voting rights (14th and 15th Amendments)
• Ensure loyalty to the Union by requiring Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment and grant black male suffrage

Causes of Johnson's impeachment

• Ideological differences with Radical Republicans
  • Johnson favored a lenient approach to Reconstruction allowing Southern states to rejoin the Union quickly with minimal requirements
  • Radicals sought harsher treatment of the South and greater protections for freed slaves including military occupation and strict readmission requirements
• Johnson's vetoes of key Reconstruction legislation
  • Freedmen's Bureau Bill (1866) which aimed to provide aid and protection to freed slaves
  • Civil Rights Act of 1866 which defined citizenship and affirmed equal rights under the law
• Violation of the Tenure of Office Act by removing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without Senate approval in an attempt to obstruct Radical Reconstruction policies

Impact of Fifteenth Amendment

• Granted voting rights to African American men leading to increased black political participation
  • Election of black representatives to state legislatures and Congress (Hiram Revels, Blanche K. Bruce)
• Symbolic victory for the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution
• Limitations of the Fifteenth Amendment
  • Did not address literacy tests, poll taxes, or other discriminatory voting practices allowing Southern states to suppress black voters
  • Enforcement was weak due to lack of federal oversight and resistance from white Southerners
  • Did not grant suffrage to women, regardless of race highlighting the limitations of Reconstruction-era civil rights gains
  • Resistance from white Southerners
    • Formation of terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan to intimidate black voters through violence and threats
  • Loopholes exploited by Southern states to disenfranchise African Americans
    • Grandfather clauses exempting whites from voting restrictions if their ancestors could vote before the Civil War
    • Literacy tests and poll taxes disproportionately affecting black voters who had been denied education and economic opportunities under slavery

Southern Resistance and Economic Changes

• Implementation of black codes to restrict freedmen's rights and maintain white supremacy
• Rise of sharecropping as a new labor system, often trapping former slaves in cycles of debt and poverty
• Political opposition from Southern whites, including "scalawags" (Southern whites who supported Reconstruction) and resistance to Northern "carpetbaggers" who moved to the South during this period