Sectional divisions blocked House business before the Civil War. When war came, the House concentrated on winning. With peace, the House turned to issues of recovery. The House remained deadlocked even as conflict loomed. But Southern congressmen soon defected to the Confederacy, freeing Republican representatives to act. They abolished slavery in territory held by Union troops and passed long-stalled bills to build railroads and open land to homesteaders. After the war, Republicans demanded that the House punish rebels more harshly than Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson recommended. Ultimately, their agenda faltered under its own weight. Republicans failed to remove President Johnson through impeachment. Moreover, the effective resistance of former Confederates frustrated their vision of reshaping the South, socially and economically.
Partisan Politics and the Radical Republicans
In the deeply divided house, balances between parties and regions proved critical. No one bloc dominated, but antislavery Republicans were gaining support. The House remained deadlocked. When the South seceded, however, the logjam broke and Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens assumed unchecked power. After the ambitious postwar Reconstruction failed, a new political era arose in which fresh debates about national economic development replaced old battles about sectionalism and slavery.
