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What were scalawags?

"Scalawags" was the name white Southerners gave to other white Southerners who supported or were sympathetic to the goals of Republican lawmakers during Reconstruction (1865–77). Reconstruction was the twelve-year period of rebuilding that followed the American Civil War (1861–65), a bloody conflict between the North and the South. The war ended with the defeat of the South. During this time President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) struggled with the U.S. Congress over the process of readmitting the Southern states to the United States (the Union). Johnson supported a fairly tolerant and rapid approach, while Congress favored more gradual reunification. Congress was dominated by radical Republicans, members of an anti-Southern political party, who overturned presidential vetoes to achieve their goals. (According to the U.S. Constitution, the president can veto, or not approve, a law passed by Congress. The...

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