Reconstruction Flashcards
Impeachment
formally charge the president with wrongdoing
Scalawags
southern whites who supported the Union and backed Republicans; means scoundrel or worthless rascal
Amnesty Act
pardoned all Confederates in 1872; all could vote and hold office.
Tenure of Office Act
Act passed by congress that said the president couldn’t formally remove people from office unless the Senate approved
Carpetbaggers
Northern whites who moved to the South after the war and supported Republicans. Many were there to help the south. They were called this because of their cheap suitcases made of carpet.
Abraham Lincoln
” 10% Plan” -when 10% of a population of a state took an oath of loyalty, they were allowed back in the Union and could form a new constitution that would ban slavery. There was no punishment for southerners and all were given amnesty unless in Confederate leadership.
Rutherford B. Hayes
Republican candidate in 1876, lost the popular vote to Tilden but won the electoral vote against Tilden and became president.
Thaddeus Stevens
Radical Republican leader who wanted to punish the South. In July 1864, congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill which said that in order to be allowed in the Union a state had to: have a majority of states’ white males swear loyalty to Union and ban slavery. It only allowed white males who had not fought against Union to join Union.
Ulysses S. Grant
1868 Republican candidate and president. He was a terrible president.
Andrew Johnson
Lincoln’s VP, became president when Lincoln was assassinated. He was born in the south but supported the north. His plan was called “restoration.” It: granted to amnesty to southerners who swore loyalty, opposed equal rights for African Americans, made high ranked Confederates appeal for pardon only to him, allowed only the pardoned to vote and ordered that all states had to denounce secession and ban slavery,.
What were some problems after the Civil War?
The southern states needed readmitted, the southern economy needed rebuild, newly freed slaves didn’t know what to do with themselves, debated punishment for the south, and overall a lot of disagreement!
14th Amendment
Granted full citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. Guaranteed a person’s right to vote. No state could take away a person’s “life, liberty or property” without due process of law. All citizens were entitled to “ equal protection by law”
15th Amendment
1869- prohibited state gov’ts from denying the right to vote to “any male citizen because of race, color or previous condition of servitude.”
Compromise of 1877
March 2, 1877: the Democrats wanted: more aid to the south, and all Union troops removed from the South. In return the South would maintain African Americans rights. “Wise, honest and peaceful local self- gov’t”
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow was a black character in a play. Daddy Rice, a white actor, played Jim Crow, and he would paint his face with charcoal and then sing and dance in a silly way. The term went on to describe any racist law that restricted the rights and opportunities of black people. The Jim Crow Laws were a form of Black Codes and segregation. They controlled who people could marry, adopt, where people could attend school and divided all public accommodations into white and black sections.
