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Just as with Thaddeus Stevens being the villian of "Birth of a Nation", GOPcapitalist despising him so much is also a great compliment for "the greatest Republican who ever lived" (my words).

Democrat historians -- South and North -- love to slam Stevens, but they also exaggerate his power. For the first four years after the Civil War, the President of the United States was a Democrat. Federal Government policies toward the South from April 1865 to March 1867 were Democrat policies. Republican Reconstruction did not begin until March 1867, and the Radicals were by no means in charge of it. The Reconstruction Act was written mostly by Ohio Senator John Sherman, General Sherman's brother but not really a Radical (you'll remember that even Andrew Johnson overruled General Sherman's peace terms with Joe Johnston as too lenient). Republican Reconstruction measures, needed a two-thirds majority in Congress to get passed President Johnson's veto, and so were usually much less than the Radical wanted.

Stevens was not King of Congress; he was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and his influence over the Senate was nil. The Joint Committee on Reconstruction did even exist until March 1867, by which time the ex-rebel Democrats and the Democrat President had been in control of the South for two years. And the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson did not take place until May 1868, just ten months before his term expired.

Just as with Thaddeus Stevens being the villian of "Birth of a Nation", GOPcapitalist despising him so much is also a great compliment for "the greatest Republican who ever lived" (my words).

Democrat historians -- South and North -- love to slam Stevens, but they also exaggerate his power. For the first four years after the Civil War, the President of the United States was a Democrat. Federal Government policies toward the South from April 1865 to March 1867 were Democrat policies. Republican Reconstruction did not begin until March 1867, and the Radicals were by no means in charge of it. The Reconstruction Act was written mostly by Ohio Senator John Sherman, General Sherman's brother but not really a Radical (you'll remember that even Andrew Johnson overruled General Sherman's peace terms with Joe Johnston as too lenient). Republican Reconstruction measures needed a two-thirds majority in Congress to get passed President Johnson's veto, and so were usually much less than the Radicals wanted.

Representative Stevens was not King of Congress; he was Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and his influence over the Senate was nil. His "forty acres and a mule" proposal went nowhere. The Joint Committee on Reconstruction did even exist until March 1867, by which time the ex-rebel Democrats and the Democrat President had been in control of the South for two years. And the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson did not take place until May 1868, just ten months before his term expired.