Eric Mckitrick contends that Radical Reconstruction, which was designed to bring about a social revolution in race relations, failed to help the America Negro find his proper place in American life. He cites three reasons for the failure of Reconstruction: opposition from Southern whites, confused priorities, and the federal government's unwillingness to maintain the long-term pressure necessary to accomplish Radical Republican goals. The Radical Republicans believed blacks were entitled to the same political rights and opportunities as whites. They additionally believed that the Confederate leaders should be punished for their roles in the Civil War. Three goals of radical republicans were they wanted to prevent the leaders of the confederacy from returning to power after the war, they wanted the republican party to become a formidable institution in the south, and they wanted the federal government to help African Americans achieve political equality by guaranteeing their rights to vote in the south. The actual accomplishments of the Radical Reconstruction were; three new Constitutional amendments, known as the Reconstruction Amendments, were adopted. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and was ratified in 1865. The 14th Amendment was proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, guaranteeing citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States (except Native Americans), and granting them federal civil rights. Finally, the 15th Amendment, proposed in late February 1869 and passed in early February 1870, decreeing that the right to vote could not be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Initially, Southern whites were forced for a time to accept regimes they did not want. The resulting Reconstruction provoked great bitterness in the South. Most white southerners claimed that the blacks that won office during Reconstruction were incapable of running the government.
