<P> Congress had to consider how to restore to full status and representation within the Union those southern states that had declared their independence from the United States and had withdrawn their representation . Suffrage for former Confederates was one of two main concerns . A decision needed to be made whether to allow just some or all former Confederates to vote (and to hold office). The moderates in Congress wanted virtually all of them to vote, but the Radicals resisted . They repeatedly imposed the ironclad oath, which would effectively have allowed no former Confederates to vote . Historian Harold Hyman says that in 1866 Congressmen "described the oath as the last bulwark against the return of ex-rebels to power, the barrier behind which Southern Unionists and Negroes protected themselves ." Radical Republican leader Thaddeus Stevens proposed, unsuccessfully, that all former Confederates lose the right to vote for five years . The compromise that was reached disenfranchised many Confederate civil and military leaders . No one knows how many temporarily lost the vote, but one estimate was that it was as high as 10,000 to 15,000 out of a total white population of roughly eight million . </P> <P> Second, and closely related, was the issue of whether the roughly four million freedmen should be allowed to vote . The issue was how to receive the four million Freedmen as citizens . If they were to be fully counted as citizens, some sort of representation for apportionment of seats in Congress had to be determined . Before the war, the population of slaves had been counted as three - fifths of a corresponding number of free whites . By having four million freedmen counted as full citizens, the South would gain additional seats in Congress . If blacks were denied the vote and the right to hold office, then only whites would represent them . Many conservatives, including most white southerners, northern Democrats, and some northern Republicans, opposed black voting . Some northern states that had referenda on the subject limited the ability of their own small populations of blacks to vote . </P> <P> Lincoln had supported a middle position to allow some black men to vote, especially army veterans . Johnson also believed that such service should be rewarded with citizenship . Lincoln proposed giving the vote to "the very intelligent, and especially those who have fought gallantly in our ranks ." In 1864, Governor Johnson said, "The better class of them will go to work and sustain themselves, and that class ought to be allowed to vote, on the ground that a loyal negro is more worthy than a disloyal white man ." As President in 1865, Johnson wrote to the man he appointed as governor of Mississippi, recommending, "If you could extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read the Constitution in English and write their names, and to all persons of color who own real estate valued at least two hundred and fifty dollars, and pay taxes thereon, you would completely disarm the adversary (Radicals in Congress), and set an example the other states will follow ." </P> <P> Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens, leaders of the Radical Republicans, were initially hesitant to enfranchise the largely illiterate Freedmen . Sumner preferred at first impartial requirements that would have imposed literacy restrictions on blacks and whites . He believed that he would not succeed in passing legislation to disfranchise illiterate whites who already had the vote . </P>

Years of first republican in office since reconstruction