Before the American Civil War in 1854, and until the end of the period known as Reconstruction, it was possible to distinguish a radical faction in the Republican Party of the United States, integrated by slavery and secessionism eradication encouragers, opposed by a Conservative faction led by President Abraham Lincoln, and integrated by the anti-abolitionist and the anti-reconstruction Democratic Party.
The Radical Republicans sought to punish and destroy the political power of former slave owners, to establish civil rights for former slaves and the full implementation of emancipation, giving freed US slaves the right to vote. In contrast, the Moderate Republicans' goals promoted a modest position in order to bring the South back into the American Union as quickly as possible.
Plenty of soldiers were drafted or pressured into war by society and their families. Others joined the war with high hopes and were disappointed by the horrors of war.
