A guarantee that former slaves would have equality with whites. This would be that Confederate states would only be granted executive recognition once they had abolished slavery.
Charles Sumner's Republican group wanted Lincoln's reconstruction plan to include a guarantee that former slaves would have equality with whites.
Explanation:
Charles Sumner was an American politician from Massachusetts, famous for his public speaking. He was one of the leaders in the fight against slavery in his state. An influential member of the Republican Party's radical wing with Thaddeus Stevens during the Civil War and Reconstruction, he was a staunch supporter of the equal rights of blacks.
In 1866, Sumner became a leader of the Radical Republicans. He wanted the South to pay the price of secession and slavery. He also opposed the automatic reinstatement of the former Confederate States in the Union until a law on civil rights had been approved by at least half of those states.
