Of course, they were called "Radical Republicans" in those days and earned a special hatred from the Confederate side.
So tell me, do you admire Thad Stephens?
Also, they were the ones who put a hold on Lincoln's Colonization efforts by eliminating funding for his pet program each year after they gained the power to do so. Lincoln didn't give up on it like some on this forum claim, the radicals just took his money away.
So tell me, do you admire Thad Stephens?
Not really. He was a hate-filled vitriolic merchant of misery. He was the extreme of the extreme, and not typical of those whom Lincoln was trying to set himself apart from on the suffrage issue. Many of those men were decent and respectable, unlike our dear Thaddeus. Before Mr Stephens had the South to hate and violate, he hated and persecuted Masons. Everything was a diabolical masonic conspiracy to dear Thad. He was always hating and persecuting someone, through his whole life. Mr. Stephen's early years are very interesting, but yet, they always seems to be either ignored or quickly skimmed through by "historians". I wonder why...(a hint for the more curious amongst us = "pond")