Radical Republican

Radical Republicans were a group of politicians during the Reconstruction era that believed freed slaves should have political equality with other citizens.

Famous Radical Republicans

• Charles Sumner: Senator who was beaten on the floor of the Senate by South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks.
• John Bingham: Congressman from Ohio, principal framer of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• James H. Lane: Senator from Kansas.
• Benjamin Wade: Extremely radical presiding officer of the Senate.
• Thaddeus Stevens: Outspoken, radical Congressman.
• Benjamin Butler: Infamous general (and later Senator) who allowed the pillaging of Southern cities, sometimes called the "Damnedest Yankee"
• Henry Wilson
• Salmon P. Chase
• Elihu Washburne: Senator who persuaded future President Grant to enter military service.
• James A. Garfield: Future President who was less radical than others; disliked Benjamin Wade.
• Hannibal Hamlin: First Vice President of Abraham Lincoln.
• Henry Winter Davis
• Zachariah Chandler: U.S. Senator from Michigan and Secretary of the Interior under Ulysses S. Grant.