(Page 2 of 2) The Radical Republican Congress observed the South
with dismay. The Republicans intended to use federal power to
force freedom on the South. One of the Radical Republicans' most
important tools was the 14th Amendment to the Constitution,
which required states to respect basic human rights. While the
vague language of the amendment has produced disagreement about
exactly what is covered, the Congressional backers of the
amendment seem to have intended, at the least, protecting the
core freedoms listed in the national Bill of Rights. Announced
Representative Clarke of Kansas: "I find in the Constitution an
article which declared 'the right of the people to keep and bear
arms shall not be infringed.' For myself, I shall insist that
the reconstructed rebels of Mississippi respect the Constitution
in their local laws." The earlier Freedman's Bureau Bill had
also been squarely aimed at protecting the right to bear arms.
The bill guaranteed federal protection of "the full and equal
benefit of all laws