With the republicans in control and Johnson with very little power, what is now known as Radical Reconstruction began. The first thing they did was pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equal rights to everyone born or naturalized in the U.S. Then the radical republicans split the south into five military districts after all the states were back into the union. This was to insure that the civil rights that the blacks now had were being inforced by military power.
I think that the radical reconstruction plan was the best when it comes to their intentions. They had a lot of good ideas. Now whether or not they executed those ideas in a good manner is a different story. I think that they brought the Union back together in the best way possible. It might have been better to do it in a more timely matter but they did it to the best of their knowledge. I believe that what they were going for was the most morally strong ideas. And they did a good job when rebuilding schools and foundations.
I think that if they were to keep the Freedmans Bureau going that it would of helped a lot more people out, considering that it was the largest federal aid to citizens on such a scale. It modernized the south for a long time until Johnson took it out of place. I like how they forgave and pardoned almost all of the confederates. However i disagree how the states in the south were not represented fully and that the military was voting more than one time each. They were basically stuffing the ballot box which seems like it is unconstitutional but I guess they did their best.
One of the best things that came with radical reconstruction was the founding of public schools for blacks, which were previously illegal. This way the African Americans could be educated and then run for public office which they did. The only problem with most of the schools that were created in smaller towns were poor, and teachers didn’t get paid much at all. However in 1890 the black state colleges started receiving federal funds as land grant schools. They received state funds after Reconstruction ended because, as Lynch explains, "there are very many liberal, fair-minded and influential Democrats in the State who are strongly in favor of having the State provide for the liberal education of both races."
Another great thing that radical reconstruction put into place was the rebuilding and adding on to of the railroad system. This created a mechanically skilled group of craftsmen and indeed broke the isolation of much of the region. However millions of dollars were fraudulently pocketed. They should have been more carefully watching the money they gave away to insure that it was going into the reconstruction of the south. Taxing was another big issue. The plan they had wasn’t good enough. They should of come up with something that was equally fair for all and that way, much of the south wouldn’t have been in poverty for such a long time.
Overall my favorite plan was that of congress with radical reconstruction. I believe they did a lot to help out the south as well make civil rights possible for African Americans. I believe they should of done it in a more timely matter but I understand they had to right all of Johnson’s wrongs. Overall they made the biggest step for African Amercan’s civil rights while still respecting the rights of the white and poor man in all of the south.
