Final answer:
The Radical Republicans aimed to assist freedmen by establishing voting rights, transforming the Southern economy, and increasing federal intervention during Reconstruction, but were countered by Southern Redeemers through voter suppression, Black Codes, and violent opposition.
Step-by-step explanation:
The efforts of the Northern/Radical Republicans to help the freedmen during Reconstruction were met with staunch opposition from Southern Redeemers, reflecting the struggle for equality and power in the post-Civil War United States. One major effort by the Radicals was to grant voting rights to freedmen, with the goal of creating a strong new voting bloc and, for some, achieving racial equality. This initiative led to the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, giving Black men the right to vote. However, white Southerners and Southern Redeemers used legal and extralegal methods to suppress these rights, including voter intimidation, poll taxes, and literacy tests, effectively disenfranchising many black voters.Secondly, during Reconstruction, the Radical Republicans endeavored to transform the Southern economy from a slave-labor system to a free-labor economy. They supported initiatives like the Freedmen's Bureau, which provided assistance to freed slaves in the form of education, legal help, and support in labor contracts. Despite these efforts, the South enacted Black Codes and the convict-lease system, which oppressed African Americans through stringent labor contracts and targeted imprisonment, re-imposing conditions akin to slavery.Thirdly, the Radicals pushed for a more significant federal role in Reconstruction. They advocated that only through increased federal intervention could the rights of freedmen be protected. Southerners perceived this as an attack on their traditional order and responded with the formation of clandestine groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, to terrorize African Americans and Union supporters, further undermining the efforts of Reconstruction.In conclusion, each stride made by the Northern Republicans to assist freedmen was countered by the actions of the Southern Redeemers, resulting in a prolonged struggle for civil rights that extended well beyond the end of Reconstruction.