The radical republican’s main aim was to punish the southerners for their involvement in initiating a war that caused havoc in the country. Contrary to the goal, the punishment was not as radical as the founders of the radical republican movements state. Lincoln plan for the reconstruction was different from that of the radical led by Steven Thaddeus. Lincoln made a declaration that that as soon as any seceded state formed accepted presidential decisions on the subject of slavery and took oaths of allegiance to the constitution; they would receive readmission to the Union. However, this idea was rubbished by the radical republicans on the ground that it was not granting equity and the freedom to the slaves.
The radical republicans such as Steven wanted equity for the slaves. They wanted changes that would ensure that the slaves were free and could be granted rights just like any other white person. It was because of such an idea that republican radicals such as Stevens led the congressional movement to impeach Johnson. They twisted their agenda from punishing the southerners to pushing for freedom of the slaves, a situation that resulted in wars and led the slaves into more dreadful life than they were before. It was the same group of radicals that pushed for the uncompensated abolition of slavery, while Lincoln wanted to pay slave owners who were loyal to the Union ( Rogowski, 2018).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Therefore, the radicals did not in any way meet their agenda of punishing those who initiated a bloody war to the end. They did succeed in amending part of the constitution as a way to fight for the freedom for the slaves. However, the mode they chose to air the freedom call exposed the slaves to more harsh life and allowed the Southerners to gain political power.
Reference
Rogowski, J. C. (2018). Reconstruction and the State: The Political and Economic Consequences of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
