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President Andrew Johnson favored Abraham Lincoln’s reconstruction plan, a lenient approach to reconstruction. It was their belief that the nation could be best served by leaving the brutality of the Civil War behind quickly. Radical Republicans, led by Thaddeus Stevens, argued that the South should be punished for starting the Civil War. Eventually, the dispute would lead to an attempt to impeach and remove President Johnson. Although the official reason for the impeachment of …

…not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Not all members of Congress were supportive of these Reconstruction actions. Conservative Democrats (sympathy to the South) were total against any measures that gave blacks any rights or land. This type of split support was the same type of problem that the states had encountered before, that led to the Civil War.