Chapter 16: The Agony of Reconstruction Flashcards
Robert Smalls
An African American leader from South Carolina
- surrendered the confederate ship Planter to the Union during the civil war
- Smalls was made a captain in the navy during the war
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
.
10% Plan
Once ten percent of the pop. Swear an oath to the union, the state is aloud to make a loyal state govt.
Louisiana and Arkansas were the first (joined during the war)
Radical Republicans
Favored protected of black rights and black male suffrage.
Wade-Davis Plan
Congress’ response to the 10% Plan.
- 50% of the pop. had to swear an oath to the union.
- those who swore to never want the states to secede could vote in elections for delegates to a constitutional convention
- did not require black suffrage
Lincoln use his pocket veto, it was super effective.
13th Amendement
The Amendment that abolished slavery.
Johnson thought this would complete the reconstruction.
Limited suffrage to white males
Black Codes
Subjected exslaves to regulations and restrictions of their freedom
Freedmen’s Bureau
Temporary agency set up to aid the former slaves by providing relief, education, legal help, and assistance in obtaining land or employment.
Vetoed by Johnson
Civil Rights Bill
Nullify Black Codes and guarantee equality to freedmen.
Nullified by Johnson
National Union
Used Johnson to promote his idea that the rest of the rebel states should be absorbed into the union without any fluff.
New conservative party?
14th Amendment
An amendment the made it unconstitutional for Johnson to not enforce the civil rights legislation in court.
Gave the federal govt the responsibly to protect civil rights.
“Swing Around the Circle”
Johnson’s tour of the nation, in which he engaged in undignified exchanges with hecklers and called his opposers mean names.
Radical Reconstruction
The compromise between the radicals and some moderate ideals.
Nullified the president’s initiatives and reorganized the south on a new basis.
“Regeneration before Reconstruction”
.
First Reconstruction Act
Passed over Johnson’s veto
- placed south under the rule of the army by reorganizing the region into five military districts
- this would not last for ever
Tenure of Office Act
Required the Senate’s approval for the removal of cabinet officers or anybody else whose appointment was cause through The Senate’s approval
Edwin Stanton
Secretary of War that Johnson tried to fire (only radical in the cabinet left behind by Lincoln). Went against the Tenure of Office Act and gave Congress a reason to impeach him.
Lorenzo Thomas
The person Johnson appoint to be the new secretary of war, after Grant refused the position.
“High Crimes and Misdemeanors”
Johnson’s attorneys said that he had not committed any of these, and therefore could not be removed from office.
Benjamin Wade
The guy who would replace Johnson, if he was removed from office, was a worse of a guy.
“Forty Acres and a Mule”
The Freedman’s Bureau had islands and coastal areas off of Georgia and South Carolina to split into 40 acres and give to ex-slaves for a small fee.
The dream would not give them control of their land and labor. It didn’t get through congress.
Contract Labor System
workers committed themselves for a year in return for fixed wages, a great deal of which was witheld until after the harvest.
Freedman’s bureau enforced the contracts to protect the blacks.
Sharecropping
Blacks worked a piece of land independently for a fixed share of the crop, usually half.
Led to a form of slavery (tied to a landlord via debts)
Black Code of 1865
attempted to require the separation of the races in public places/facilities.
Most were overturned by congress as violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
The start of the “separate but equal” ordeal.
“Jim Crow”
the title given to laws, or facilities (train cars) ment specifically for blacks.
Carpetbaggers
those from the north that moved south in order to make money off of enlistment of government aid for private enterprises.
Panic of 1873
Inflation caused the downturn.
Put many state governments at risk of bankruptcy. Put an end to the building of railroads.
Pinkney B.S. Pinchback
served for a time as the acting governor of Louisiana.
Not many blacks were elected in offices of any kind.
Blanche K. Bruce
An African American in national office.
Educated - privileged prewar
Showed more integrity and competence than their white peers.
Apprenticeship System
black children should be the apprentices of some white person.
Preferably their former masters.
Could become a form of re-enslavement.
Challenged the system in county courts and through the freedman’s bureau.
Ulysses S. Grant
Won the election of 1868.
Blamed for the corruption in his administration.
Greenbackers
party that supported paper money to specie.
Strongest in the west.
Specie Resumption Act
provided for a limited reduction of greenbacks leading full resumption of specie payments.
People suffering from deflation were pissed.
Greenback Labor Party
Nominated Peter Cooper for the presidency, but they didn’t get many votes.
Later, 14 of their congressmen were voted into congress. Kept the money issue alive for a decade.
Fifteenth Amendment
Republican effort for equal rights for the blacks
Made the denial of any male citizenship or suffrage illegal
Lucy Stone
Leader of a group of feminists.
Supported the amendment by calling it the “Negro’s hour”
Ku Klux Klan
Secret society of crazy racists.
“Night Riders”
Members of the Klan that would visit the homes of repubs (post-15th amendment) and threaten/whip/kill them.
Force Acts
Ku Klux Klan Acts
made interfering this voting rights to be a federal crime.
White League
.
“Spoilsmen” or “Politicos”
Those replace the old radicals of the Republican Party.
Radicalism was dying.
Jay Gould
Made a profit off of corruption of the Grant administration via a brother-in-law of Grant’s.
Schuyler Colfax
Vice President of Grant’s first term.
Involved in the Credit Mobilier Scandal
Credit Mobilier
Construction company who kept money that was supposed to be given to the stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Covered their tracks by bribing influential congressmen, like Colfax.
Horace Green
Nominee of the Liberal Republicans and Democrats.
Died before the electoral vote was cast.
Was a bad campaigner.
