o were geared to place blacks in an inferior position. Interracial marriage was prohibited. In some areas freemen needed special licenses to engage in specific trades and in others they were denied certain lands for farming. The South was left in economic ruin filled with racial discrimination.
             With the South in a state of desperation it was clear that the federal government needed to take action. However, how to do so was greatly debated. Much of the failings of Reconstruction were a result of the opposing views of President Andrew Johnson and Congress. Johnson, a southerner and former slaveholder fully disagreed with the Republican aims of strict southern reinstatement and racial equality and from the beginning called such radicals h
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