How did Congress respond to Andrew Johnson's plan?

• A. They hated it and started Radical Republicanism
• B. They supported it and began Reconstruction
• C. They ignored it completely
• D. They delayed it until after the next election

Answer: (A)

Congress opposed Johnson’s plan because his approach was a quick, forgiving readmission for the former Confederacy with few protections for freedpeople. Radical Republicans argued that this would restore the old planter class and leave newly freed citizens without true rights. So Congress blocked many of Johnson’s steps, refused to seat Southern representatives, and began charting a tougher Reconstruction policy on its own. They moved to military control in the South, required new state constitutions that guaranteed black male suffrage, and pushed civil rights legislation—an effort that culminated in Johnson’s impeachment. This shift marks the rise of Radical Reconstruction, a more assertive federal role in rebuilding the South and protecting freedpeople’s rights.