Thaddeus Stevens

     Born April 4th, 1792, in Danville, Vermont, Thaddeus Stevens would become one of the most influential Radical Republicans. He was a Congressman of Pennysylvania  who advocated the seizing of land from southern planters and distributing it among the freed slaves before allowing ex-Confederates to return to the Union. He and other Radicals (like Charles Sumner of Massachusetts and George Julian of Indiana) believed in a program of "regeneration before Reconstruction," which demanded an extended period of military rule and federal aid for schools to educated both blacks and whites for citizenship. However, the majority of other congressmen found this program to be unacceptable, as it contrasted too sharply with the American traditions of federalism and regard for property rights, which might result in an increase in the amount of the time to pass before the Union was back into proper functioning order.