to what extent were the southerners justified in nursing grouses against northern republicans?

Common to the "Lost Cause" mythology -- NOT AT ALL!

There are many who try to tell us of how "harshly" the "Radical Republicans" treated the South. This answer is mostly based on the mythology ex-Confederates made up to justify THEIR actions -- including their horrible treatment of blacks in the period of Reconstruction and beyond.

Overview - the "Radical Republicans" for the most part did NOT work to "punish" the South as that is commonly understood. Rather, they sought to act to PROTECT the rights and well-being of former slaves. Originally, they did not have enough political support to do so -- but that all changed when Southern whites

a) Southern states passed "Black Codes" (1865) to severely limit the freedoms of the freedmen (often virtually returning them to slavery)

b) Southern whites violenting opposed the rights of blacks (and of other Republicans), even to the point of murderous riots and lynchings (formation of KKK, etc).

c) Andrew Johnson campaigned against the "Radicals" in 1866 by suggesting THEY should be lynched. . .

d) Southern states returned their former Confederate leaders to federal office

http://www.sagehistory.net/reconstruction/topics/r...

Take a quick look at the beginning of this "Timeline of the Reconstruction Era" and you'll get some idea of how the Northern Republicans were trying to HELP and to counter anti-black activities in the South. (The only "harsh" part is the "military districts", though if you look at how limited they were in their activities it's NOT what many make it sound like. They basically stayed around to try to PROTECT blacks, make sure they were allowed to vote, and that the Southern governments themselves were not simply overthrown by violent action.)

1865

* Various states enact Black Codes.

* Congress forms the Freedmen's Bureau. It is organized to help ex-slaves with food, medical care, resettlement, and education.

1866

* The Civil Rights Bill is enacted by Congress. Johnson vetoes the bill, but Congress overrides his veto. The Act gave blacks the rights and privileges of full citizenship. It counteracts Black Codes.

* The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is proposed by Congress. It provides blacks with citizenship and guarantees that federal and state laws should be applied equally to black and white citizens.

* A group of whites in Tennessee found the Ku Klux Klan.

1867

* The first, second and third Reconstruction Acts are passed. The time known as "Radical Reconstruction" begins. Congress provides that Southern states will not be readmitted to the Union until they ratified the 14th Amendment. All of the states, except Tennessee, refused to do so. All of the southern states, with the exclusion of Tennessee, are divided into five military districts.

http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/reconstruction/a...

MORE DETAILS, esp. of the South's ANTI-black actions (and some on the Republican response):

Freedmen's Bureau:

"In 1865, after the Civil War ended, Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedmen's Bureau, in an effort to assist former slaves. It provided food, medical care, helped with resettlement, and its most notable task, it established schools. Over 1,000 schools were built, teacher-training institutions were created, and several black colleges were founded with the financial help of the bureau. Despite the bureau's success, it was unable to cure all problems. Due to several overriding factors, such as inadequate funds, inefficiency, and corruption, the organization's efforts came to an end in 1870."

Black Codes, etc

"While the Freedmen’s Bureau worked to help Southern blacks, opposition to their new freedom was mounting. In 1865, several Southern states passed legislation creating Black Codes. Depending upon the state, these laws generally restricted blacks’ right to own property, controlled where they were allowed to live, established a curfew, and forced blacks to work as agricultural laborers or as domestics. The Black Codes were quickly eliminated with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Act gave blacks the rights and privileges of full citizenship."

http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/reconstruction/a...

Take a look at the Black Codes (1865)!

http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/blackcodes/a/bla...

example: Missisippi

http://www.sagehistory.net/reconstruction/docs/Mis...

Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction

June 20, 1866

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1851-1875/reconstruc...

The Force Acts of 1870-1871

* "As a response to attempts on the part of some groups in the South to undermine the Republican Party through violence, Congress passed a series of Force Acts designed to protect people's right to vote. The United States Army, which still had troops stationed in the South, was one institution given the responsibility of enforcing these laws. The Acts were upheld by the Supreme Court in 1883 on the basis of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution."

http://www.sagehistory.net/reconstruction/docs/For...

story of Reconstruction in Louisiana, note esp. the importance of RIOTS (slaughters)...

http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/cabildo/cab11.htm

The New Orleans Massacre, -Harper's Weekly article begins:

* "The Committee of Congress appointed to investigate the riot in New Orleans on July 30, 1866, have lately presented a report, giving a full history of the tragedy. It is shown by that record that the riotous attack upon the Republican Convention, with its terrible results of massacre and murder, was planned and executed by the Mayor of New Orleans, and that it had the countenance of President Johnson, without which it would never have taken place."

http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/06FirstImpeac...

compare:

http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/06FirstImpeac...

Judge Albion Tourgee on the KKK

The following letter was published in the New York Tribune in 1870. In it Judge Albion Tourgee of North Carolina, a carpetbagger, describes the outrages of the Ku Klux Klan to an acquaintance in the U.S. Senate.

http://www.sagehistory.net/reconstruction/docs/KKK...

Former Senator Coleman has surely no dignity. he's a crooked lengthy island criminal professional (Al Franken easily grew up in Minnesota) who spent the perfect countless years with his nostril firmly up President Bush's @$$, a lot to the embarrassment of we Minnesotans. upload his habit of wrongdoing on accurate of this (have we realized yet what befell with the $seventy 5,000 despatched to him via his spouse's employer?), and his obstinance which has robbed us of our 2d Senate seat for almost 3 months, and also you'll see why former Senator Coleman has incurred the wrath of Minnesotans (nicely, as a lot wrath as we can muster and nonetheless be "useful"). each and each and every of the ballots that the interior of reach election officials and the non-partisan state board deemed valid were counted (some cases!), regardless of the former senator's tries to maintain away from the count number of absentee ballots - till, it really is, he lost the recount and feigned difficulty about the voice of those who solid absentee ballots! So now it in simple terms continues to be for Mr Coleman to don between the stunning Neiman Marcus matches with which he changed into offered, restore his somewhat hair and teeth, carry a press convention and let us know in his humorous accent that he recognizes his loss and that he's leaving the full State of Minnesota. That does not provide him any dignity, even though it should be very welcomed by utilizing Minnesotans, whose money, time, and congressional representation he's squandering by utilizing difficult due procedure.