The effectiveness of Radical Republican plan during the Reconstruction

The radical republicans' plan for reconstructing the South after the Civil War was a miserable failure although there were some good things that came out of it. The radical republicans guaranteed basic rights to the freed slaves. The enforcement of newly passed laws and equal treatments were one of the good things that came out of the Reconstruction. Yet, there were more failures than successes in Reconstruction such as removal of ex-confederates from Congress.

The radical republicans shifted the focus of economy and warfare to the protection of freedmen with their reconstruction plan. The passing of 13th amendment (abolishes slavery), 14th amendment (grants black people the right to vote), 15th amendment (guaranteed all residents and US born residents citizenships and basic rights are protected within citizenship), and new state constitutions. The three amendments guaranteed the blacks the same basic rights that were taken for granted by the whites. The new state constitutions allowed the blacks to hold offices in Congress and guaranteed all the basic rights to everyone regardless of race, sex, religion, and age.The radical republicans really did a wonderful job in improving the country in terms of humanity and upheld the Constitution and protected the suppressed group.

The enforcement of the newly passed laws was one of the positive changes that reconstruction brought to United States. The enactment of the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 helped enforce the federal laws passed to protect the basic rights of the blacks and it permitted them to vote without opposition. The Union military was used to maintain order and exert control over the South and prevent the ex-confederates from voting. But there was only few good things that happened during the reconstruction of the United States.

Yet there were alot of bad results from the radical republicans' plan during the reconstruction. The ex-confederates were stripped of their basic rights: voting suffrage, holding of public offices, owning property, and other basic rights guaranteed to all US citizens. Military rule were used to exert control over the Southerners. The farmers were in huge debt and high taxes were imposed over the Southern products, and other items. This angered many Southerners. There were corruption within the government and this was really starting to 'annoy' the US citizens. Cotton prices was falling during the reconstruction under the radical republicans' control. The debt peonage made the issue of mistreatment of black Americans resurface right after the Civil War. The establishment of KKK (Ku Klux Klan), a white superiority organization that opposed the domination of the black population and protested with the use of violence; was due to the poorly execution of the radical republicans' plan during the reconstruction.

The entire plan of the radical republicans to acheive reconstruction goals failed miserably. It resulted in the radical republicans' loss of power. Womens' rights weren't protected or guaranteed and there were alot of missed opportunities for more effervescent improvements in the federal system of US. Racial tensions continued after the reconstruction and it would reach the boiling point in the 1960's. The radical republicans failed and their plan was not very effective throughout the reconstruction.