What did the radical republicans think about reconstruction after the civil war?
First of all, the radicals were not out to seek revenge on the Confederacy — they WERE after justice against the LEADERS of that Confederacy, however. I think the best example I can give you is Zachariah Chandler, one of the more radical of the radicals. To ZC, anyone who was an officer or a leader of the so-called confederacy, which he considered to be traitorous and treasonous, would have been at the very least barred from any public office — after all, he reasoned, why would you ever put back into power someone who wanted to overthrow the government? The leaders – Davis, Stevens, and others – would have been hanged as traitors. Reconstruction would have included complete freedom and suffrage to the former slaves, and compensation by their former masters. States would have needed to pass a very rigorous series of hurdles before being re-admitted to full status. During the war Chandler was among the first to call for the enlistment of black troops. He said, “I would use black troop
