The U.S. Congress, under the control of the Radical Republicans, passed the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 on March 7, in spite of President Johnson's veto. This act sought to rebuild the governments of the southern states using the governments of the northern states as examples. It was also implemented to ensure that the civil rights of the free blacks in the South by requiring the states in the South to include the rights of free blacks in their constitutions!!:)
