Reconstruction Flashcards
Fourteenth Amendment
Anyone born in the United States is a citizen
What is a sharecropper
Gives a part of crop as rent
Fifteenth Amendment
Granted African Americans the right to vote
Infrastructure
Public property a society uses like roads bridges and railroads
Pardon
Forgiveness
Tenant Farmer
A person who farms rented land
Impeach
Charge for misconduct
Carpetbagger
Opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War
Reconstruction
period immediately after the Civil War
Scalawag
a person who behaves badly but in an amusingly mischievous rather than harmful way
Reconstruction Act of 1867
established military rule over Southern states until new governments could be formed
Black Codes
Restrictive laws to limit what African Americans do
What new wealthy class developed as a result of tenant farming
Wealthy Merchants
When it was determined that Johnson had violated the Tenure of Office Act, what was the result
He was impeached
After the Civil War, what were the most visible new black organizations in the South?
Churches
Who wanted land to be redistributed in the South following the Civil War?
White Southerners
Describe and compare the Reconstruction plans of Lincoln and Johnson.
Lincoln and Johnson both wanted to have the 13th amendment passed for each location, both plans were considered lenient for the South. But Johnson’s more so because he granted pardons to those who would ask him personally
Why was it difficult for poor white southern laborers to find work after the Civil War?
Because they were in competition and there were not enough jobs to keep them at full employment
List any failures of Reconstruction
Racist attitudes continued throughout the North and the South
Who was the winner of the 1876 presidential election? Why?
Hayes, because he cheated, and threw out some democratic votes so he would win
Why were people tired of Reconstruction by the 1870’s?
Because the people were heavily taxed
After the Civil War, what direction did Southern farming take?
Cash Crops
Why was President Johnson impeached? Explain including result.
He broke the Tenure of Office Act, but he was pardoned and found not guilty
What were the main goals of the Freedmen’s Bureau?
To help supply freedmen so they were more comfortable
When white southerners regained control of state governments, what did they do?
Democrats had the power, and they planned to reverse reconstruction era reforms
What were the main aims of the Ku Klux Klan?
To stop African Americans from voting, or holding political office, etc. They did so violently
How did southern governments try to improve economic conditions?
Tried to do a free-labor economy like the North
Why did Radical Republicans oppose Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan?
Because they thought it was to lenient on the South
