There were very different views of freedom and rights during Reconstruction. Before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, there was a vision of a very fast and speedy return of the southern states. Lincoln had put great importance on the reunion of the nation as a whole again. Along with Andrew Johnson, who had taken presidency after Lincoln’s assassination, saw the same views of him along with restoring the political rights to white southerners as soon as they were able to commit to the union. However, he he did not want to extend citizenship to former slaves. With the issue of the citizenship to the African Americans, many different views were competing against each other. White southerners had the idea that restricting the rights of citizenship
