Compare And Contrast The Radical Republican Approach To Reconstruction

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After the Civil War, the Radical Republicans had a different view from that of President Andrew Johnson with respect to Reconstruction. Just like Abraham Lincoln, his predecessor who lived barely a year into the Reconstruction before he was assassinated, President Johnson was of the idea that a more lenient and conciliatory approach should be taken in the South which had faced a lot of damage due to the civil war. On the other hand, Radical Republicans were against both Lincoln’s and Johnson’s approaches and policies on reconstruction as they were too lenient. The Radical Republicans approach was more strict and firmer because it wanted the Federal government to exert more control of the South during Reconstruction by ensuring the protection …show more content…

Radical Republicans started to oppose President Lincoln through laws that were firm against the Southerners both the confederates and the populace. The first radical approach employed by the Radical Republicans was the Iron Clad Oath which was later opposed by Abraham Lincoln and declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court as it went against the ex post facto laws and bills of attainder (Finkelman, 2000). Iron Clad Oath required all voters to swear or affirm they have never held arms against the Union which means anyone who supported Confederacy would not be allowed to vote in the South. Lincoln preferred an oath were they would swear to support the Union in the future and not support Confederacy. The oath proposed by the Radical Republicans would have been successful if fully implemented because the oath was already successful in removing the ex-confederates from the political domain as they would have threatened Reconstruction progress and bring relapse. The oath was successful in irritating ex-confederates and keeping them out of the political arena, they referred to it as “The Damnesty Oath” (Blair,

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