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When elected officials arrived in DC, the congress would not seat them because they did not believe the south had the right to new state governments yet. Former Confederate states had started to form new state governments under Johnson's plan. During Johnson's presidency, however, the president and congress did not work together as well. This was an organization that was formed to help newly freed African Americans adjust to their freedom by building schools, providing shelter, food, etc. One example of this forced collaboration between Lincoln and Congress came when they worked together to form the Freedmen's Bureau. Even though Lincoln "pocket vetoed" the bill, it was clear that anything the president wanted to do from here on out would have to be a compromise with the Radical Republicans. It also prohibited former Confederates from holding office. Only white men who swore that they did not fight for the Confederacy during the war could vote for delegates at the states new constitutional convention. A majority of the white males in the state had to vote to rejoin. The Radicals plan for Reconstruction (the Wade-Davis Bill) had three requirements that states had to fulfill to become a part of the Union again. They opposed Lincoln's plan, because they thought it was too soft and they opposed Johnson because they believed he sympathized with the South too much. The Radical Republicans believed that the South should be dealt with harshly. While Johnson, as president, had his plan for Reconstruction, so did congress, which was mainly Radical Republicans, lead by Thaddeus Stevens.
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