14th Amendment

Radical Republicans did not want the Southerners to win control of Congress and repeal the Civil Rights Bill. They passed the 14th Amendment to make sure that the concepts of the Civil Rights Bill was put into the Constitution. Radical Republicans were disappointed that the 14th Amendment did not give emancipated blacks the rights to vote, but made sure that if seceeded states wanted to rejoin the Union, that the states would have to ratify the 14th Amendment.