Which groups supported Radical Reconstruction and which opposed it, within the South and the North?

• A. Northern Republicans and Freedmen supported; Southern Democrats, Confederates, and Redeemers opposed.
• B. Northern Democrats and Freedmen supported; Southern Republicans opposed.
• C. The Southern states unanimously supported Radical Reconstruction.
• D. Federal judges led the opposition to Reconstruction.

Answer: (D)

Support for Radical Reconstruction split along regional lines: Northern Republicans and Freedmen supported it, while Southern Democrats, former Confederates, and Redeemers opposed it. Northern Republicans backed federal efforts to reshape the South and protect Black rights; Freedmen supported these measures to secure citizenship, equal protections, and participation in government. In the South, white Democrats and former Confederate elites resisted, aiming to restore white political dominance and roll back Reconstruction gains.

Federal judges did not lead the opposition; courts sometimes constrained Reconstruction policies, but the driving opposition came from Southern political groups and conservative Southern factions—in other words, from political actors in the North and South, not from a judiciary-led movement.