Quiz 2/4/2023 Flashcards
Reconstruction
The Reconstruction era was the period after the American Civil War from 1865 to 1877, during which the United States grappled with the challenges of reintegrating into the Union the states that had seceded and determining the legal status of African Americans. Amendments that affirmed the “equality of all men before the law” and prohibited racial discrimination, that made African Americans full U.S. citizens, and that forbade laws to prevent African Americans from voting. During a brief period in the Reconstruction era, African Americans voted in large numbers and held public office at almost every level, including in both houses of Congress. However, this provoked a violent backlash from whites who did not want to relinquish supremacy. The backlash succeeded, and the promises of Reconstruction were mostly unfulfilled.
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865 in the aftermath of the Civil War, abolished slavery in the United States. The 13th Amendment states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Freedman’s Bureau
The Freedmen’s Bureau, formally known as the Bureau of Refugees, was established in 1865 by Congress to help millions of former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided food, housing and medical aid, established schools and offered legal assistance. It also attempted to settle former slaves on land confiscated or abandoned during the war. However, the bureau was prevented from fully carrying out its programs due to a shortage of funds and personnel, along with the politics of race and Reconstruction.
Andrew Johnson and why he was impeached
President Andrew Johnson clashed repeatedly with the Republican-controlled Congress over reconstruction of the defeated South. Johnson vetoed legislation that Congress passed to protect the rights of those who had been freed from slavery. This clash culminated in the House of Representatives voting, on February 24, 1868, to impeach the president. On March 5, the trial began in the Senate, where Republicans held more seats than the two-thirds majority required to remove Johnson from office. When the trial concluded on May 16, however, the president had won acquittal, not because a majority of senators supported his policies but because a sufficient minority wished to protect the office of the president and preserve the constitutional balance of powers.
Carpetbaggers
The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of Reconstruction when the Southern states that seceded were reorganized as part of the Union—to describe Northerners who moved to the South after the war. Many who migrated to former Confederate states during Reconstruction were middle-class professionals seeking economic opportunities; a number also were motivated by a desire to aid newly freed African-American slaves or participate in other efforts intended to reform Southern society. These new arrivals supported the Republicans (the party of Abraham Lincoln)
Scalawags
white Southerners who supported Reconstruction-era Republicans were called scalawags by their political enemies, who considered them traitors to the South. Scalawags included non-slaveholding, small-time farmers; middle-class professionals and others who had stayed loyal to the Union during the war.
Election of 1876 and Compromise of 1877
In the months following the Election of 1876, but prior to the inauguration in March 1877, Republican and Democratic leaders secretly hammered out a compromise to resolve the election impasse and address other outstanding issues. The Compromise of 1877 was an informal, unwritten deal that settled the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election; through it Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House. In exchange the Democrats agreed to accept a Hayes victory and to respect the civil and political rights of African Americans, on the condition that Republicans withdraw all federal troops from the South, thus consolidating Democratic control in the region.
Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests
After Reconstruction, African Americans were prevented from voting (or from registering to vote) through intimidation, violence, poll taxes, literacy or comprehension tests (which were not applied to whites), “good character” tests, grandfather clauses (which in their original form restricted voting rights to the [male] descendants of persons who were eligible to vote prior to 1866 or 1867), whites-only primary elections, and outright fraud committed by white election officials.
Ku Klux Klan
Late in 1865, just after the United States Civil War ended, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded. The Klan, a secret organization that used terror tactics to target newly freed African Americans, attracted defeated Confederates who resented the changes of Reconstruction. Under the cloak of darkness and in disguise, the KKK worked to enforce white supremacy as the political and social order of the South.
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism is a loose set of ideologies that emerged in the late 1800s in which Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was used to justify certain political, social, or economic views. Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the fittest”—the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.
Laissez Faire
Laissez-faire is an economic theory from the 18th century that opposed any government intervention in business affairs.
Andrew Carnegie
Scottish-born Andrew Carnegie was an American industrialist who amassed a fortune in the steel industry then became a major philanthropist. While working for the railroad, he invested in various ventures, including iron and oil companies, and made his first fortune by the time he was in his early 30s. In the early 1870s, he entered the steel business, and over the next two decades became a dominant force in the industry.Carnegie then devoted himself to philanthropy, eventually giving away more than $350 million.
Gospel of Wealth
it is a book. Carnegie boldly articulated his view of the rich as mere trustees of their wealth who should live unostentatiously, provide moderately for their families, and use their fortunes to promote the “general good.” He goes on to suggest some “best uses” to which the millionaire can devote his wealth (universities, libraries, medical institutions, public parks, and more).
Captains of Industry and Robber Barons
Robber barons are the lesser appreciated of the two as they were seen to be mostly self-centered, and aim at achieving wealth for themselves at the expense of the society as a whole. Robber Barons were known to exploit workers, with bad working conditions, low wages and created monopolies with low prices, wiping out all healthy competition. Captains of industry, on the other hand, refer to great leaders and philanthropists that benefitted not only themselves, but also the society and people by creating more jobs, opportunities, invention, increasing productivity, etc.
Philanthropist
Philanthropy refers to charitable acts or other good works that help others or society as a whole. Philanthropy can include donating money to a worthy cause or volunteering time, effort, or other forms of altruism.
