# 5.AIM: Who were the Radical Republicans?

Even though the southerners ratified the 13^th Amendment, which was a requirement for them to be readmitted to the Union, many states passed a series of laws, known as black codes. These laws restricted the rights & movement of the freed men, particularly the right to _____. The 13^th Amendment ended ___________ in the U.S.

Radical Republicans: Republican members of Congress, primarily from the north, wanted to punish the south for starting the war and creating the black codes. Congress passed the 14^th Amendment, which gave citizenship to all blacks (plus anyone who was born in the US). Congress felt that an Amendment was needed because it was feared that the Supreme Court might find such a law unconstitutional.

As relations between President Johnson & Congress worsened over treatment of the south, Johnson vetoed a bill, which would severely punish the south. Congress overrode the Presidents veto(an override requires 2/3 vote of Congress ) and passes the Civil Rights Act of 1867.

PROVISIONS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT:

1. All southern govts. who refused to ratify the 14^th amendment were dismissed.
2. The south was to divided into 5 military districts, controlled by the U.S. army.
3. States had to ratify the 13^th & 14^th Amendments before being admitted into the Union.
4. Blacks must be permitted to vote.
5. Whites who were officials of the Confederate govt. or officers in the Confederate army would not be permitted to vote.

Congress was now ignoring the Constitution by preventing southerners from voting.

Remember that women in the U.S. could still not vote.

15^th Amendment ---1870-----Guaranteed blacks the right to vote.

The Republicans hoped that all blacks would vote for the Republican Party. After all weren’t the 13^th 14^th & 15^th Amendments passed under a Republican Congress?

However after the war the south voted almost exclusively for the Democratic Party because it was a Republican Congress who took away many of their rights & placed the south under military control. The south remained almost exclusively Democratic for almost 90 years but began to vote more Republican starting in the 1960’s

HW: Read pgs 425-429 do #4. Do Vocab on pg 425 & do # 5 on 425