Reconstruction

i found it very interesting that Foner points out that the so called Radical Republicans were idealistic reformers committed to equal rights. The core belief of the north was to free all blacks in the United States from suppression and slavery. The Radical Republicans took control of government after the assignation of President Lincoln. Foner explains how the Radicals greatly opposed moderate republicans plan for Reconstruction. They believed that the south should be strictly and/or forcefully controlled by government to ensure the safety and right to freedom of African Americans. The south, after the civil war, slowly began to take steps to end slavery, but the hatred of black and discrimination would prove to be an obstacle to social change