Question

What are two things the Radical Republicans insisted be part of their Reconstruction plan?

Answer 1

What are two things the Radical Republicans insisted be part of their Reconstruction plan?

1. Each state would have a republican form of government.
2. Every citizen would be properly represented in government.

The Radical Republicans wanted to punish Southerners and slaveowners for causing the Civil War, so they would not have favored returning land to plantation owners. A republican form of government is the way government in the United States had consistently operated -- through democratic election of representatives to serve in government position. A fully "democratic" form of government would mean voting by the people on all issues, which is typically not practical or advisable on a state or national level.

Answer 2

Two things that the Radical Republicans insisted be part of their Reconstruction plan was that the military would stay in the South to supervise the transition, and that the newly freed slaves would be offered all the freedoms of whites in the South.