How did johnsons and Stevens views on the south differ?

Answer 1

Andrew Johnson and Thaddeus Stevens had fundamentally different views on the South during the Reconstruction era. Johnson, a Southern Democrat, favored a lenient approach, advocating for rapid reintegration of Southern states with minimal federal intervention, which often allowed former Confederates to regain power. In contrast, Stevens, a leading Radical Republican, believed in a more stringent policy that demanded civil rights protections for freed slaves and significant federal oversight to reshape Southern society. This divergence reflected broader tensions between reconciliation and reform in post-Civil War America.