Chapter 15: Reconstruction 1863-1877 Flashcards
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863)
Lincoln’s suggestion to reconstructing the South’s political/state governments so that Unionists were in charge as opposed to secessionists it provided that:
- Full presidential pardons would be granted to most Southerners who:
a) Took an oath of allegiances to the Union and the US Constitution
b) Accepted the emancipation of slaves - A state government could be reestablished and accepted as legitimate by the US President as soon as at least 10% of the voters in that state took a loyalty oath
Wade Davis Bill (1864)
A bill which, unlike Lincoln’s, was stricter about how Reconstruction would occur
~The bill required that 50% of the voters of a state take a loyalty oath and permitted only non Confederates to vote for a new state Constitution
~Lincoln refused to sign it
Freedman’s Bureau
AKA: the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
~Provided food, shelter, and medical aid for those made destitute by the war: both blacks and whites
~At first, it had the power to resettle blacks on confiscated farmlands in the South
~Frustrated by President Johnson’s pardoning of Confederate owners of their confiscated lands —> restored to original owners
~Biggest success was in education
~Established nearly 3,000 schools for freed blacks
General Oliver O Howard
Biggest aid to the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands in the field of education
~Helped to establish nearly 3,000 schools for freed blacks including several black colleges
~Before funding got out in 1870, the bureau’s schools taught about 200,000 African Americans how to read
Black Codes
Adopted by Southern state legislatures that restricted the rights and movement of the newly freed blacks
~The codes
1. Prohibited blacks from either renting land or borrowing money to buy land
2. Placed freedmen into a form of semi-bondage by forcing them as “vagrants” and “apprentices” to sign work contracts
3. Prohibited blacks from testifying against whites in court
~The contract labor system in which blacks worked the cotton fields under white supervision for deferred wages seemed little different from slavery
“Waving the Bloody Shirt”
The appeal to anti-Southerners by Republicans
~Inflamed the hatreds of Northern voters by reminding them of the hardships of the war
~Branded the entire Democrat party as a party of rebellion and treason
Radical Republicans
One of the two “branches” of the Republican Party who championed civil rights for blacks
~Gained a larger following in 1866 partly out of fear that a reunited Democratic party might again become dominant
~Leading radical republicans in the Senate was Charles Sumner of Massachusetts
~In the House, Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania hoped to revolutionize Southern Society
~Endorsed: women’s suffrage, rights for labor unions, and civil rights for Northern blacks
Thaddeus Stevens
A radical republican in the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
~Hoped to revolutionize southern society through an extended period of military rule in which blacks would be free to exercise their civil rights, be educated in federally funded schools and would receive the planter class’s confiscated lands
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Pronounced all African Americans to be US citizens
~Repudiated the ruling in the Dred Scott case
~Attempted to provide a legal shield against the operation of the Southern state’s black codes
14th Amendment
Passed by Congress and had effects on all levels of American society
~Declared that all persons born/naturalized in the United States were US citizens
~Obligated the States to respect the rights of US citizens and provide them with “equal protection of the laws” and “due process of laws”
~Disqualified former Confederate political leaders from holding either state/federal office
~Repudiated the debts of the defeated governments of the Confederacy
~Penalized a state it it kept any eligible person from voting by reducing that state’s representation in Congress and electoral votes
Tenure of Office Act
An unusual (and probably unconstitutional) law passed by Congress that prohibited the president from removing a federal office/military commander without Senate’s approval
~Johnson challenged it by removing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton
~House responded by impeaching him
15th Amendment
Prohibited any state from denying/abridging a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Law that guaranteed equal accommodations in public places (hotels, railroads, and theaters) and prohibited courts from excluding African Americans from juries
~Law was poorly enforced
Scalawags
Nickname given to Southern Republicans by Democrats
~Typically former Whigs who were interested in economic development for their state and peace
Carpetbaggers
Nickname given to (republicans) northerners who moved South by Democrats
~Moved south for various reasons: some were investors interested in starting up new businesses, some were missionaries, some also went to plunder