some ways, the original Reconstruction Act was the high-water mark of Republican Radicalism and demonstrated the limits of power based on legislation alone. At least on paper, Congress had dramatically enlarged federal power and black rights. In December 1866 only about 0.5 percent of black adult males could vote. In December 1867 the figure rose to 80.5 percent, with the entire increase coming in the old Confederacy. This was sufficient for a group of Republicans, some of them Radicals, who were willing to move toward peace and the readmission of the Confederate states.
