Chapter 4 Section 4 Flashcards
Reconstruction
The period during which the United States began to rebuild after the Civil War
Federal Government readmits defeated Confederate States to the Union
Freedmen’s Bureau
Established by Congress to provide food, clothing, hospitals, legal protection, and education for former slaves and poor whites in the south in 1865
Ten Percent Plan(Lincoln)
Government would pardon all Confederates(except high ranking officials and those accused of crimes against prisoners) who would swear allegiance to the Union
As soon as 10% took oath of allegiance, a Confederate State could form a new government and chose reps and senators to congress
Radical Republicans
Led by Senator Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens
Wanted to destroy political power of former slaveholders
*Wanted African Americans to be given full citizenship and the right to vote
Angered by Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan
Andrew Jackson
Lincoln’s successor
Plan was to break the planters’ power by excluding high-ranking Confederates and wealthy Southern landowners from taking oath needed for voting privileges
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws(black codes) that restricted African Americans lives
This and the Freedmen’s Bureau Act were vetoed by Johnson
14th Amendment
Prevented states from denying rights and privileges to any U. S. citizen
Intended to overrule and nullify the Dred Scott decision
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Didn’t recognize state governments- except Tennessee- formed under the Lincoln and Johnson plans
Divided former Confederate states into 5 military districts
States had to grant African Americans men to vote and ratify 14 amendment to reenter the Union
Vetoed by Johnson
Tenure of Office Act
Stated that a president couldn’t remove cabinet officers during the term of the president who had appointed them without senators approval
Johnson Impeached
Radicals believe Johnson was blockading Reconstruction
They found grounds when he violated the Tenure of Office Act by removing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office
House impeached Johnson but he remained in office after senate voted not to convict
Presidential Election of 1868
Ulysses S. Grant won
15th Amendment
No one can be kept from voting because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude
Important Radical victory
What were the three groups that constituted the Republican Party?
Scalawags, Carpetbaggers, and African Americans
Scalawags
White Southerners who joined the Republican Party
Many were small farmers who wanted to improve their economic position and didn’t want former wealthy planters to regain power
Carpetbaggers
Northerners who moved to the South after the war
Negative conception of how they arrived with few belongings in small bags made of carpeting
African Americans
Gained voting rights because of the 15 Amendment
Supported Republicans
What did African Americans do during Reconstruction?
Founded their own churches(the only institutions they fully controlled)
Ministers were influential and played an important role in political life of country
African Americans Schooling
Public school systems established by Reconstruction governments
African American churches create and run government schools
Atlanta, Fisk, and Howard Universities were founded by religious groups such as the American Missionary Association
Hiram Revels
First African American senator
Sharecropping
Landowners divide their land and assigned each head of household a few acres, along with seed and tools
Sharecroppers kept small share and gave rest to landowners
Tenant Farming
“Croppers” who saved a little might even rent land for cash and keep all their harvest in a system known as tenant farming
Ku Klux Klan(KKK)
Most notorious and widespread of the Southern Vigilante groups
Goal was to destroy Republican Party, to throw out the Reconstruction governments, to aid the planter class, and to prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights
Killed and refused to hire African American Republicans
Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871
Enforced to curtail Klan violence and Democratic intimidation
Acts:
Federal supervisions of elections in Southern States
Gave president the power to use federal troops in areas where the Klan was active
Amnesty Act
Returned the right to vote and the right to hold federal and state offices to about 150,000 former Confederates
What allowed Southern Democrats to regain political power?
Enforcement acts, Amnesty act and the Freedmen’s Bureau expiring
What made the congressional Reconstruction come to an end?
“Redemption” (which was Democrats return to power) and a political deal during the national election of 1876
What made Southern Reconstruction come to an end?
The election of 1876 which had the Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden, win the popular vote but not the electoral vote
Southern democrats agreed to accept Hayes if federal troops withdrew from South
Republicans agreed and Hayes was elected president ending Southern Reconstruction
