12 Reconstruction, 1865-1877 Flashcards
amnesty
pardon
black codes
a series of laws passed by Southern legislatures, which severely limited African Americans’ rights in the South
carpetbagger
name given to Northern whites who moved South after the war and supported Republicans
Civil Rights Act
1866 law that granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States except Native Americans
Compromise of 1877
the method used to reach an outcome in the 1876 presidential election
crop liens
allowed merchants to take sharecroppers’ crops if sharecroppers could not pay their debts
debt peonage
a condition that trapped sharecroppers on the land because they could not make enough money to pay off their debts and leave
Election of 1866
election during which the Republicans achieved a three-to-one majority in Congress
Election of 1876
election during which Hayes defeated Tilden for the presidency without winning a majority of the popular vote
Fourteenth Amendment
amendment to the Constitution that granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States
freedmen
freed African Americans
Freedmen’s Bureau
bureau established by Congress to help freed African Americans adjust to their new freedom
furnishing merchant
country stores and local suppliers who provided sharecroppers with their supplies
graft
gaining money illegally through politics
Hiram Revels
first African American elected to the Senate
Horace Greeley
newspaper publisher and 1872 presidential candidate for the Liberal Republicans
impeach
to bring charges of a crime against a government official
Joseph Rainey
first African American elected to the House of Representatives
Ku Klux Klan Act
law that outlawed the activities of the Ku Klux Klan
Military Reconstruction Act
law passed by Congress that divided the Confederacy into five military districts
Panic of 1873
an economic crisis that started when a series of bad railroad investments forced a powerful banking firm to declare bankruptcy
pocket veto
the rejection of a bill by the president by leaving the bill unsigned until after Congress adjourns
Radical Republicans
a group of Republicans who opposed Lincoln’s plan to bring the South back into the Union
Reconstruction
the rebuilding after the Civil War
scalawag
name given by former Confederates to Southern whites who supported Republican Reconstruction of the South
sharecroppers
farmers who paid a share of their crops to cover their rent and the equipment they needed
sin tax
tax on alcohol and tobacco
tenant farmers
farmers who paid rent for the land they farmed
Tenure of Office Act
law that required the Senate to approve the removal of any government official whose appointment had required the Senate’s consent
Thaddeus Stevens
a Radical Republican who did not want to reconcile with the South
Wade-Davis Bill
a plan for Reconstruction drawn up as an alternative to Lincoln’s plan
Whiskey Ring
a scandal in which government officials and distillers cheated the government out of millions of dollars by filing false tax reports
William Belknap
Grant’s secretary of war; accepted bribes from merchants operating at army posts in the West
12.1 Explain why the efforts to provide African Americans with their own land failed?
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12.2 What actions by the Radical Republicans were intended to protect the civil rights of African Americans?
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12.3 Describe how some white Southerners reacted to the Republican Party gaining power in the South.
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12.4 What factors contributed to improving the economy of the South after Reconstruction?
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