The answer is Radical Republicans.
They believed blacks were entitled to the same political rights and opportunities as whites. They also believed that confederate leaders should be punished for their roles in the civil war.
The Republican Radicals felt that extraordinary times called for direct intervention in state affairs and laws designed to protect the emancipated blacks. At the heart of their belief was the notion that blacks must be given a chance to compete in a free-labor economy. In 1866, the activist congress introduced a bill to extend the life of the Freedmen's Bureau and began work on a Civil Rights Bill.
