Reconstruction appeared to be a program to aid in the assimilation of the freed blacks into the American social and economic system. The Radical Republicans in Congress had a different goal. Write a 3 page essay describing the plans of Presidents Lincoln and Johnson and how they differed from the plans of Congress. Put special emphasis on the impact of the 14th Amendment and what it attempted to reverse. Do you feel that historians are justified in calling this period the 'darkest' period of American History? Would you have done anything different?