Introduction

President Abraham Lincoln’s plans for Reconstruction conflicted with Radical Republicans that led to the Fourteenth Amendment. Radicals disproved of Lincoln’s plan to gradually end slavery, as it did not punish former Confederates. The Radicals wanted a more radical proposal that guaranteed equal rights, political rights, and suffrage immediately rather than Lincoln’s gradual emancipation. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Radicals discussed additional Freedmen protections as a result of the limited nature of Lincoln’sProclamation. Lincoln’s plan readmitted the former Confederate States into the Union after state officials swore an oath of loyalty and abolished slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation did not abolish slavery, but it persuaded former slaves, Confederates, and Democrats to join the Union to help change the course of the war to abolish slavery. Radical Republicans believed that Freedmen's emancipation and actions during the Civil War entitled them to the same civil and political rights as white Americans. Radical Republicans used the Emancipation Proclamation as well as Black participation in the Civil War as a legitimate justification for Freedmen to obtain civil and political rights. Freedmen in Alexandria required Radical Republican support to advance their goals and obtain the right to vote.