Explorers often saw the indigenous people as primitive. The overwhelming desire to better their own situations and fortunes led to many viewing the natives as expendable products. While some used them to simply gain access to land or precious metals, other explorers kidnapped and sold natives into slavery. <span />
The Radical Republicans believed blacks were entitled to the same political rights and opportunities as whites. They also believed that the Confederate leaders should be punished for their roles in the Civil War. Leaders like Pennsylvania REPRESENTATIVE THADDEUS STEVENS and Massachusetts SENATOR CHARLES SUMNER vigorously opposed Andrew Johnson's lenient policies. A great political battle was about to unfold.
Americans had long been suspicious of the federal government playing too large a role in the affairs of state. But the Radicals felt that extraordinary times called for direct intervention in state affairs and laws designed to protect the emancipated blacks. At the heart of their beliefs was the notion that blacks must be given a chance to compete in a free-labor economy. In 1866, this activist Congress also introduced a bill to extend the life of the Freedmen's Bureau and began work on a CIVIL RIGHTS BILL.
We don’t use Hammurabi’s code today when it comes our jail/court system.
