Reconstruction:Johnson Plan v. Radical Republicans _Help!!?

Johnson's plan was similar to Lincoln's. Reinstate the South as soon a possible with as many rights and privileges, just like before the war. This was an olive branch and believe that only a few Confederate leaders should be held responsible, and if anything, because succession was a debatable topic before the war, the South had not done anything really wrong or deserving punishment for.

The Radical Republicans were out for vengence. Make the South pay - deny Southerner's the right to vote; occupy the South militarily; prop up a pro-North government in each Southern State (ran by free slaves who were puppets to Northern Carpetbaggers); tax the South to pay for the War; and a list of other things.

The end result was that the Radical Republicans got their way, the South was occupied for 12 years and as a result, became a lawless place with a lot of hatred, racial strife, and reactionary. When reconstruction ended, the damage had been done. Although the South returned to the Union just as before the war, it remained a sub-nation to the rest of the country. Many of the problems we have today, IMO are the result of reconstruction more so than the war itself.