The quote demonstrates the idea that the South needed to be punished for their action of secession and warfare in addition, the government must take charge of the process to change and rebuild the South.
This was done through military occupation of the South and creation of occupation zones. The New South program brought industry to urban areas of the South to diversify the southern economy. The government required the acceptance of the Thirteenth Amendment meaning the South had to release slaves and end the practice. The Freedman's Bureau aided former slavers in obtaining land and their new rights as citizens. The Radical Republicans required states to write new Constitutions and perform loyalty pledges to return to the US as a full state.
