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US History: 2024-2025 > Life After the Civil War > Flashcards

Life After the Civil War Flashcards

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1
Q

What challenges faced the United States as the Civil War ended?

A

Political:
* The US needed to determine whether or not to punish for former Confederate politicians and military officials.
* The government needed to outline the process for readmitting seceded Southern states.
Economic:
* Many farms and businesses were destroyed.
Social:
* The government needed to ensure the citizenship rights of newly freed slaves.
Physical:
* Extreme destruction of cities and loss of life associated with the war.

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2
Q

How did different leaders want to approach Reconstruction?

A

President Lincoln:
* Wanted to provide new protections and rights for newly freed Black Americans- such as the 13th Amendment.
* Lincoln outlined a process for readmission that required 10% of eligible voters in a seceded state to swear an “oath of allegiance” to the union
Radical Republicans:
* Wanted to create new agencies, legislation, and amendments to support the free Black population
* Wanted to disenfranchise former southern leaders who supported secession, including former government officials, military officers, and large plantation owners.
President Johnson:
* Johnson pardoned many southern officials to encourage the reestablishment of southern repressive governments
* Refuse to sign new legislation that would support and protect the rights of newly freed enslaved Black Americans

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3
Q

Who were the Radical Republicans?

A

Group of northern politicians who served in Congress as the US entered Reconstruction. They favored important services and protections for freed slaves and severe punishments for southern officials and plantation owners.

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4
Q

What positive changes were occurred for Black Americans during Reconstruction?

A
  • Creation of new constitutional rights; 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.
  • Creation of new agencies to support freed slaves; Freedmen’s Bureau.
  • Opportunities to serve in political office.
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5
Q

What negative changes were occurred for Black Americans during Reconstruction?

A
  • Formation of white supremacist groups.
  • Ongoing racial violence and racial massacres.
  • Restrictive labor systems to replace enslavement.
  • Adoption of new legal measures to restrict Black freedom- limit constitutional rights and privileges
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6
Q

What did the 13th Amendment state?

A

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, shall exist within the United States.

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7
Q

What did the 14th Amendment state?

A

Provided American citizenship to formerly enslaved people and equal protection for all citizens while preventing any state from taking away an individual’s freedom without cause.

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8
Q

What did the 15th Amendment state?

A

Prohibited the federal government and states from denying individuals the right to vote based on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

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9
Q

Who was Hiram Revels?

A

First Black Congressman in the United States; US Senator from Mississippi.

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10
Q

What was the Freedmen’s Bureau?

A

Federal government organization formed to provide services to newly freed Black slaves; such as: job training, education, and more.

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11
Q

What was sharecropping?

A

Labor system adopted by southern plantation owners to repress newly freed slaves; often resulted in extensive debt for free Black laborers.

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12
Q

What is the Ku Klux Klan?

A

One of several white supremacist organizations that formed after the Civil War. Carried out acts of extreme violence to intimidate and repress the free Black population.

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13
Q

Why did southern governments adopt Jim Crow Laws?

A

To limit Black freedom after the end of legal enslavement.

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14
Q

What are some common examples of Jim Crow Laws adopted after the Civil War?

A
  • Restrictions targeting Black voters.
  • Restrictions on where free Blacks could live or travel.
  • Segregation of public and private facilities
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15
Q

What were “poll taxes”?

A

Taxes charged to be able to vote; adopted to limit Black voting rights after the adoption of the 15th Amendment.

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16
Q

What were “literacy tests”?

A

Examinations given to residents seeking to register to vote; used to disenfranchise Black voters after the adoption of the 15th Amendment.

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17
Q

What conflicts occurred within the government during Reconstruction?

A

Lincoln vs. Radicals
* The Radicals thought Lincoln’s 10% Plan was too “lenient” (nice) on the South; Radicals wanted to destroy the South.
Johnson vs. Radicals
* Johnson vetoed many policies the Radical Congress attempted to pass to help former slaves. Forced Congress to override these vetoes.
Radicals vs. the South
* The South did everything they could to undermine the freedoms established by the Radicals to support freed slaved. The Radical Congress created Military Reconstruction to ensure the South played by the rules.
Grant vs. the South
* Grant worked with the Radical Congress to pass the Enforcement Act which allowed the military to go after groups like the KKK.
The South vs. Free Blacks
* The South created Jim Crow Laws, voting restrictions, and the KKK to limit the freedoms of the free Black population.

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18
Q

Who was Andrew Johnson?

A
  • American Vice President during Lincoln’s second term who became President following Lincoln’s assassination.
  • Controversial Reconstruction politician due to his rejection of policies that would support Black Americans.
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19
Q

What was Military Reconstruction?

A
  • Period of Reconstruction organized by the Radicals, during which the South was divided into 5 military occupation zones.
  • The Federal Army led each of these zones in order to ensure that they were following the laws of the federal government- espeically those relating to the rights of free Black Americans, angering the South.
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20
Q

Who was Ulysses S. Grant?

A
  • American President who served two terms during Reconstruction.
  • Former successful Union General who remained deeply unpopular in the South.
  • Supported Military Reconstruction and banning the KKK.
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21
Q

When did Reconstruction end?

A

Following the Election of 1876, newly inaugurated President Hayes removed the last federal troops from the South– ending Military Reconstruction.

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22
Q

How did the end of Reconstruction impact Black Americans?

A

After the troops left the South, conditions grew even worse for Black Americans; as segregation, voting restrictions, and racial violence spread.

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23
Q

What factors contributed to increased technology after the Civil War?

A
  • Widespread availability of natural resources in the United States.
  • Enthusiasm for new opportunities after a brutal war.
  • Creativity that emerged due to wartime military innovations.
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24
Q

What were some important new innovations that emerged after the Civil War?

A
  • Bessemer Process
  • Steam Powered Drill
  • Typewriter
  • Telephone
  • Transatlantic Telegraph
  • Kodak Camera
  • Incandescent Light Bulb
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25
Q

What was the Bessemer Process?

A
  • Process through which steel was mass produced.
  • Because it was cheaper and produced faster, it allowed for an increase in railroad, bridge, and skyscraper construction.
26
Q

What was the Steam Powered Drill?

A

Tool used to access oil beneath the surface. Refined oil helped provide kerosene for lamps; oil was also used to power small motors/engines.

27
Q

What was the Incandescent Light Bulb?

A

New form of electric light developed at Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park lab. Allowed for decreased reliance on kerosene lamps (that often caused fires).

28
Q

How did new innovations impacted American life after the Civil War?

A
  • Many new innovations made life easier.
  • Major construction projects (railroads, skyscrapers, bridges)
  • Created new jobs for women (typewriter, telephone)
  • Improved communication (telephone, transatlantic telegraph)
  • Electric light allowed for longer working hours (with less fire risk)
29
Q

Why did the American Northeast become the industrial center of the United States?

A
  • Less Civil War destruction.
  • Access to financing for companies after the Civil War.
  • Larger populations- meaning more potential employees- caused companies to build factories in Northeast cities (ex. NYC)
30
Q

How did industrialization impact the American economy?

A
  • The American economy became one of the most powerful in the world.
  • Resulted in some of the wealthiest Americans in American history.
  • Created large inequalities between the few wealthy and many poor.
31
Q

What was the Gilded Age?

A

Period of economic growth that occurred after the Civil War; resulted in extreme wealth for a few Americans, but also extreme poverty for most urban Americans.

32
Q

Who was Andrew Carnegie?

A
  • Wealthy businessman of the Gilded Age. Scottish immigrant, who worked as a child laborer during his youth.
  • Developed Carnegie Steel Co. in Pittsburgh during the Gilded Age.
33
Q

Who was John D. Rockefeller?

A
  • Richest man in US history after starting Standard Oil Co. in Cleveland Oil.
  • Controlled 90% of the US oil supply at the peak of his power.
34
Q

How did living conditions change in the Northeast during the Gilded Age?

A
  • Most Americans were forced to live in cramped tenements.
  • Towns were very overcrowded and unsanitary; diseases spread rapidly.
35
Q

What is a tenement?

A
  • Overcrowded apartments where many workers lived in urban communities.
  • These apartments often house a dozen people a single room, and lacked electricity, running water, and indoor bathrooms.
36
Q

How did working conditions change in the Northeast during the Gilded Age?

A
  • Workers increasingly worked in factors.
  • Workers faced long working hours (12 hours/day; 6 days/week)
  • Workers were paid VERY little ($1/day or less)
  • Workers faced dangerously and deadly conditions.
  • Small children worked to help support their poor families.
37
Q

How did laborers attempt to bring attention to their poor working conditions during the Gilded Age?

A
  • Workers began organizing and joining labor unions.
  • Labor unions used a variety of tactics to challenge their employers to improve conditions (ex. boycotts, sabotage, strikes, collective bargaining)
38
Q

What was the American Federation of Labor (AFL)?

A
  • Largest skilled labor union of the Gilded Age.
  • Headed by Samuel Gompers, who promoted using less aggressive tactics to improve working conditions and contracts for laborers.
39
Q

What was the Homestead Strike?

A
  • Strike that occurred at Carnegie Steel’s plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania.
  • Henry Clay Frick hired a private militia to break up the strike; the conflict between workers and the militia resulted in several deaths.
40
Q

Why did many settlers want to move West after the Civil War?

A
  • The East (especially the South) was facing physical destruction after the war; and the West offered new opportunities for those who needed them.
  • Freed slaves could escape southern violence and repression; often getting job opportunities as cowboys.
  • Affordable land.
41
Q

What is Manifest Destiny?

A

The belief held by many Americans that it was America’s God-given right and responsibility to settle the West, spreading democracy and Christianity across the continent.

42
Q

What factors made it easier for settlers to move West after the American Civil War?

A
  • The completion of the transcontinental railroad and railroad expansion.
  • The transcontinental railroad made it faster than ever to move people, goods, and ideas across the continent– largely constructed by immigrants and veterans.
  • The Homestead Act granted 160 acres of land, FOR FREE, to any head of household willing to farm the land; only had to pay a small paperwork fee.
  • The Homestead Act made land ownership a possibility for people not allowed or able to own land in other parts of the country: Civil War widows, freed slaves, new immigrants.
43
Q

What challenges faced western settlers after the Civil War?

A
  • Treeless grasslands; no wood to build a home.
  • Lack of food sources upon arriving.
  • Severe weather patterns (Blizzards, drought, fires, tornadoes).
  • Wild animals (buffalo) and insects (locusts) destroyed crops.
  • Conflicts with Native American populations.
44
Q

What is a Soddy?

A

Makeshift homes built on the Great Plains after the Civil War; constructed of mud bricks and sod.

45
Q

Why did conflict frequently break out between western settlers and Native populations?

A
  • Land disputes.
  • Broken treaties
  • Discovery of gold or other valuable resources.
  • Cultural misunderstandings and disrespect (ex. killing of the buffalo)
46
Q

How did the federal government approach conflicts with Native populations?

A
  • The federal government often sent military forces to remove Natives from the land; often resulting in violent/deadly outcomes.
  • The federal government forced Natives to agree to unfair treaties.
  • The federal government developed programs to remove Natives from their land (ex. Dawes Act, creation of reservations)
47
Q

How did the federal government justify their policies regarding Native Americans?

A
  • The government characterized the Native populations as uncivilized; argued that they were benefitting a savage population by bringing them democracy and Christianity.
  • The government pointed the blame at the Natives for not abiding by treaties or attacking white settlers and soldiers.
  • The government generally characterized the Natives as a violent people.
48
Q

What was the Sand Creek Massacre?

A
  • Attack onNatives living in Colorado by the US Army.
  • Started after gold was discovered near Pike’s Peak.
  • Over 100 Native women and children were killed and mutilated.
49
Q

What was the Battle of Little Bighorn?

A
  • Conflict that broke out after the US Army sent Lt. Col. Custer to force Natives off their land soon after gold was discovered nearby.
  • It is a rare example of a Native victory over the US military.
50
Q

What was the Ghost Dance Movement?

A
  • Cultural movement developed among the Native populations in the Dakota Territory. Natives believed if they performed in a cultural ceremony, they’d be protected from the white man’s bullets.
  • Contributed to the start of the Wounded Knee Massacre.
51
Q

What was the Wounded Knee Massacre (aka. Battle of Wounded Knee)?

A
  • Violent attack against Natives living in Dakota carried out after US officials mistook a Native Ghost Dance ceremony for a warrior dance.
  • Over 300 Natives were killed; Plains Natives struggled to recover after this violent attack.
52
Q

What was the Dawes Act?

A
  • Federal government legislation created in an attempt to civilize and assimilate” the Native population.
  • The federal government redistributed Native lands, allowing individual Native “families” a small plot to build a home on and live.
  • Natives lost 13 million acres of land altogether.
53
Q

What is assimilation?

A

Government effort to “Americanize” Native populations, erasing their “uncivilized” ways of life and culture.

54
Q

How did farming change on the Great Plains after the Civil War?

A
  • Farmers had greater access to steel farm tools (steel plow and reaper) and railroads.
  • Faced increasing financial challenges during a period of powerful businesses in the Northeast.
55
Q

What challenges did western farmers experience after the Civil War?

A
  • Couldn’t afford new steel farm tools.
  • Economic instability after the war.
  • Lack of political influence and representation.
  • Lack of knowledge about western land.
56
Q

Why did farmers alliances, such as the Grange, form after the Civil War?

A
  • Farmers united to help one another overcome their many challenges (since the government wasn’t helping much).
  • These organizations provided services like: shared farm tools and held social events.
57
Q

Why did the Populist Party form in 1892?

A
  • Leaders within the farmers alliance movement felt that the Democratic and Republican Party were not representing the interests of western farmers.
  • These leaders came to Omaha, NE to create a political party that would represent western interests.
58
Q

Who was William Jennings Bryan?

A

Most successful Populist Party politician; represented the interests of many poor Americans- including western farmers- in the Election of 1896.

59
Q

What ideas were supported by members of the Populist Party?

A
  • One-term limit for President
  • “Secret ballot” for voting
  • 8-hour work day limit
  • immigration limits
  • Bimetallism.
60
Q

What is an economic panic?

A
  • An economic downturn, similar to a recession today. Characterized by slow economic growth and high unemployment.
  • The Panic of 1893 was among the worst economic downturns in American history (the worst before the Great Depression)
  • This economic crisis impacted the Election of 1896.

US History: 2024-2025 (10 decks)

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