How did Grant approach Reconstruction?
Reconstruction was a necessary continuation of the war's purpose. Having won the war, we had a duty to ensure the peace was just and lasting. This meant protecting the newly freed people and ensuring their rights were respected, as was their right to citizenship. My administration sought to uphold these principles. I believed that a strong federal hand was needed to enforce the law and prevent the undoing of our gains. As I stated, I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution. The nation had transgressed, and we had to see that those transgressions were met with the right and just outcome.
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