Civil War and Reconstruction Flashcards
Plessy vs Ferguson
Ruled that racial segregation laws are constitutional, “separate but equal”
Sherman’s March to the Sea
- Under leadership of Grant, Sherman burns all of Atlanta, going towards the ocean when the war has just ended.
- Wants to warn the South to never do this again
Lincoln’s 10% Plan
- 10% of Southern voters have to take an amnesty pledge and state can return to the Union.
- Lincoln dies and the plan is never carried out.
Military Reconstruction
- South split into 5 districts led by a Northern general, who have absolute power and take advantage of the situation
- The South is angry and takes it out on black people
13th-15th amendments
- 13th ends slavery
- 14th- everyone has equal protection under the law
- 15th- voting rights to all males regardless of race
Freedmen’s Bureau
- White northerners go south to help prepare former slaves for freedom
- Too underfunded to really help
Treaty of Guadalupe
- US gets northern Mexico and most of the southwest
2. Many Mexicans want to be part of the US
KKK
Hate group for African Americans, Jews, Catholics, northerners, and Irish.
Jim Crow laws/Black Codes
- Literacy test, poll tax, grandfather clause- couldn’t vote unless your grandfather could
- Biased- much easier for white people to vote
Sharecropping
- Rent land to workers, basically continuing slavery
- Workers are too far in debt because they don’t have any money, become legally and economically bound to land along with their children.
Manifest Destiny
The idea (1840s) that the US should expand to the Pacific.
Annexation of Texas
- In 1836, Texas gains independence from Mexico
2. Texas not admitted to the US until 1845- concern about provoking war over border and Texas is very big
Texas secedes from Mexico
- Areas of Texas, New Mexico, and California contain small Mexican population that resist ties with Mexico.
- Provokes Mexican war when Texas wants independence
Mexican War
- Texas fights Mexico and loses, but eventually gets independence
- Treaty sets border at Rio Grande, adding more land
American Anti-slavery Society
- Led by William Lloyd Garrison
2. Advocated immediate end to slavery
John Brown
- Leads violent rebellion to end slavery
2. South is scared by the rebellion, feels they’re under attack
Free Soil Party
- Oppose expansion of slavery into western territories
2. Want to keep land in the west for whites, not against slavery in the south.
Harriet Tubman
Escaped slave who created the Underground Railroad
Sojourner Truth
Abolitionist, suffragist
Fugitive Slave Act
- Can take anyone you think is an escaped slave to the south
- Denies right to trial by jury- extreme opposition in the North
- Forces the north to deal with issue of slavery
Frederick Douglass
- Educated slave who escapes to NY
2. Passionate abolitionist
William Lloyd Garrison
- Leading voice of the abolitionist movement
2. Wrote newspaper, The Liberator
Dorothea Dix
- Investigative reporter
2. Tours mental institution and sees horrible conditions, writes about treatment of the mentally ill
Emma Willard
Advocates for girls to learn useful subjects and go to real schools.
Horace Mann
- Politician who believed mandatory education creates a truly democratic society
- Creates idea of summer vacation for kids to work in fields
Lucriatia Mott
- Leader of Seneca Falls convention
2. Advocate for women’s suffrage
Lowell System
- Hire young women to work in factory
- Create enclosed environment, provide education and religion
- Creates idea that women can be independent and earn wages
- Whole town is owned and controlled by factory
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Leader of Seneca Falls convention
2. Advocate for women’s rights and suffrage
Radical Republicans
- Typical Republican beliefs, but resolve to abolish slavery.
- Examples: Sumner, Stevens, Wade
Impeachment of Johnson
- Removal of Secretary of War from office is deemed unconstitutional.
- Act had been passed that required President to get approval from Senate
Booker T Washington
Influential black educator
Brooks-Sumner Incident
Senator Charles Sumner beaten with a cane in US senate by Preston Brooks for criticizing slaveholders.
Seneca Falls
- Women’s rights convention in 1848
- Come up with Declaration of Sentiments- women are also people and equal to men.
- Movement somewhat overshadowed by abolition
Battle of San Jacinto
- Surprise attack by Texas forces
2. Texas victory
Kansas Nebraska Act
- Establishes idea of popular sovereignty- states decide on whether to use slavery.
- Basically repeals Missouri Compromise, as slavery can go north of the established line- extreme northern opposition
Bleeding Kansas
- In response to Kansas Nebraska Act, extreme abolitionists move to Kansas to swing vote and pro slavery people do the same.
- Violence breaks out
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
- Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Writes a fictional book about the horrors of slavery
- Controversial in the south because the book doesn’t represent all slave owners
Dred Scott vs Sanford
- Establishes that the federal government has no right to tell anyone what to do with their slaves/property
- Southern victory, north is outraged
- Implies slavery can’t be banned by Congress, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional
Judge Taney
Slave owner, judge for Dred Scott case.
Lincoln-Douglas debates
- Lincoln and Douglas debate on a variety of issues
2. House divided speech- Lincoln states that he will end slavery, causing the south to feel threatened.
Civil War Advantages
- North- more factories, more railroads, higher population, control of navy
- South- home field advantage, more military schools, higher morale
Civil War Disadvantages
- North- not fighting in their own territory, had to change the opinions of the south
- South- smaller population, less transportation, lack of industry
Battle of Gettysburg
- Non traditional fight to the death against the north- south is already losing
- South can win the war if they win the battle
- Huge victory for the north
Confiscation Act
1861- authorized confiscation of Confederate property and slaves by Union soldiers.
Draft Riots
- In response to conscription act in the north
- Black people blamed- hunted down and killed
- Poor people are angry because the rich can hire a substitute
Emancipation Proclamation
- Frees slaves in the south
- Ineffective because south is its own country
- Causes the war to be about slavery, north doesn’t want to fight for slavery and south no longer considers returning
- Ensures England won’t help the south
Crittenden Compromise
- Line will be established, everything to the north is free and everything to the south is slave no matter what, and the north won’t interfere.
- Never passes the Senate
1st Battle of Bull Run
- Close to DC
- North retreats, southern victory
- Shows how bad war is, and that the war will go on for longer than expected
Wilmot Provioso
- Bans slavery in lands taken from Mexico
2. Never passed
Civil Rights Act
All citizens receive equal protection under the law.
Lecomption Constitution
- Released by southern slaveholders
- Protected slaveholding, bill of rights excluding free blacks
- Supported by President Buchanan
Election of 1860
- Abe Lincoln, 3 democrats- Stephen Douglas, John Beckinridge, John Bell
- Democrat vote split among the south while Lincoln sweeps the north and wins
- South feels like they don’t have a voice because no one voted for Lincoln. South Carolina leaves the Union the next day.
Wade Davis Bill
- Required 50% of white males to take a loyalty oath for a state to be readmitted
- Must give blacks the right to vote
Compromise of 1850
- Abolished slave trade in DC, California admitted as a free state, federal law to capture runaway slaves, slavery in Utah and New Mexico established by popular sovereignty
- Creates controversy over if sectional beliefs should be overcome.
Anglo American Convention
1818- US and England agree to peacefully jointly occupy Oregon territory
Oregon Treaty (1848)
England agrees to allow US border to expand to 49th Parallel.
Gold Rush of 1849
- Causes California to want to become a state
2. Causes tension between north and south, the balance in the Senate would be upset
Ostend Manifesto
- Plan for US to buy Cuba for a slave state
2. North fears the south is creating a slave empire
Gadsden Purchase
- Only expansionist action of the period
2. 1853- US buys some land from Mexico to build a transcontinental railroad.
Border States
- Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland
- If they left the Union, it would give the south more white men to fight and more factories, all states are close to DC
- Lincoln creates martial law, removes habeus corpus to keep states in Union
Impact of the Civil War
- Southern economy destroyed while northern economy accelerates
- Republican laws passed, Union preserved
- Ideas of secession and nullification defeated
Andrew Johnson Administration
- Pardons most Confederate leaders, allowing plantation owners to continue to dominate politics
- Congress continues to veto bills Johnson tries to pass or passes bills Johnson vetoes (ex: Freedman’s Bureau)
Reconstruction falls apart
- Civil Rights Act (1875) would allow equal access to public places and right to serve on juries, but is overturned
- By 1870s, government is unwilling to monitor the South
