Abstract:
After the close of the Civil War, Congress passed several reconstruction acts that specified those things southern states must do before being readmitted to the Union. One of the requirements was adoption of a new state constitution. A convention to to accomplish this goal opened on January 14, 1868. One of the provisions made in the new constitution was universal male suffrage. Considered very progressive for its time, the new constitution was challenged by conservatives, who termed it the "radical Reconstruction constitution".