In 1865 President Johnson announced that Reconstruction was over and the Southern states were ready to rejoin the Union. Radical Republicans believed that the South would not be completely rebuilt until freedmen were granted the full rights of citizenship. They also wanted the federal government to take a more active role in Reconstruction, where there would be tougher requirements for restoring Southern governments. The Radical Republicans joined with moderate lawmakers to enact the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and extend the life of the Freedmen's Bureau. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 struck at the black codes by declaring blacks to have the same civil rights as whites.
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