Reconstruction Flashcards
What was Jamestown?
1st colonial settlement
What were the motives for settlement and who were the settlers?
To make a profit.
-indentured servants (England, Ireland, Scotland)
-wealthy investors
Also, New England had religious tolerance (No King Henry VIII with his Church of England)
What was the first state to legalize slavery?
Massachusetts
What was the cash crop in Virginia?
tobacco
Define mercantilism
relationship based on mother country and colony
Explain mercantilism
- mother country sends supplies and colonists
- colonists use supplies for farm
- Harvest raw material and send back to mother
- Mother turns it into things and sends it back to sell.
Why did prices of tobacco fall in the early 1800s?
Southern colonies had financial crisis because of overproduction.
What kind of impact does the cotton gin have?
Solved financial crisis but also prolongs existence of slavery.
Why does King Henry VIII leave the Catholic Church?
They refused to annul marriage with 1st wife.
Who were the Puritans?
They opposed the injustices of the Catholic Church.
Were disappointed to find that Anglicanism was basically Catholicism
What are the main beliefs of Federalists?
centralized government, strong together than separate
What are the main beliefs of Anti-Federalists?
power of local / state government
feared that too centralized government would become monarchy and efforts of independence would be wasted
When is the Antebellum Period?
1791 - Election of Lincoln
What were the class distinctions in 19th c Northern Society?
Upper - politically connected, industrialists (Factory owners)
Middle - merchants, artisans, farmers
Lower - slaves, factory workers, immigrants
What are the class distinctions in 19th c. Southern Society?
Upper - wealthy planters
Middle - poor / moderate farmers (self-sufficient and okay, 1-2 slaves. or very, very poor, illiterate and 0 slaves)
Lower - slaves
What are yeomen?
moderate, self-sufficient farmers
What is so hypocritical about the fact that the US is the last to abolish slavery?
US was founded on ideas of Enlightenment
What was Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction?
to come back to Union, 10% of people in each state who voted in the last election have to take oath of allegiance
What was the exception to Lincoln’s plan?
Rebellion leaders could not come back.
Tell me about Abraham Lincoln
Born in Kentucky - 1809
Moves to Indiana at 8. Mom dies at 9.
Moves to Illinois at 21 and starts studying to be lawyer and become actively involved in politics
Tell me about Lincoln’s beliefs.
Divided house could not work.
Did not concentrate much on slavery because no slavery present in Illinois
Wants to preserve states
Never acknowledged existence of Confederate sates, only as misguided children
Describe the Emancipation Proclamation
Sept. 1862
did not eradicate slavery because only issued / applied to seceded states.
(When Confederates lose, their slaves are already free lol)
Why did Lincoln never acknowledge Confederate states?
Because never recognized by Federal Government
What is the Wade-Davis Act?
Congress’ response to Amnesty of Reconstruction. Made it 50% and wanted to force Southerners to admit moral fault.
How did the Radical Republicans feel about Lincoln?
originally halied him as man of civil rights
then they thought he was too nice. and that he was a dictatorial usurpation.
What is the Freedmen’s Bureau?
March 1865
aided former slaves and poor whites
provided food, clothing, medical care, legal production. etc
What is the 13th Amendment?
abolishes slavery.
Other than Lincoln, who else was going to be killed?
Johnson and William Seward
What was the reason Johnson was against slavery?
there was no economic fairness. Everything was produced in the South.
What was Johnson’s Plan?
1865
Same as Lincoln’s EXCEPT…
people who own property of $20,000 or more are not allowed.
EXCEPT they wrote a letter of apology, so Johnson pardons about 13,000 Confederates.
What happened during the Mid-term Election?
Moderate Republicans were kicked out of Congress, who were replaced by Radicals because they feared states might secede again.
What was the 14th Amendment?
gave blacks basically same civil rights as women
Describe the Act of 1866
Any person who denied another’s voting rights would lose representation in the House.
Describe the Reconstruction Act
divided South into 5 military districts
Describe the Tenure of Office Act
Sole purpose to get Johnson into trouble.
President can’t remove anyone without consent of Senate
(They wanted Stanton to remain)
Who was Booker T. Washington?
Named “Atlantic Compromise”
-to give gain something, one must give up.
What were the 2 original goals of Reconstruction?
- readmitting States back into Union
- how to admit newly freed slaves as citizens
What was the Mississippi Black Code?
1865
If 18+ and found unemployed / gathering, could be fined $50 and put in jail if judge felt like it. And if someone wanted to pay that fine, they would be hired out. (indentured servants)
What do Jim Crow laws do?
Establishes segregation under the assumption that everyone is equal
What are the three things that whites made to prevent blacks from voting?
Poll tax - pay fee to vote
Literacy test - can’t read, can’t vote
Grandfather clause - can only vote if grandfather voted
inconsistently applied (poor white farmers)
What did the KKK believe in?
they protected weak and innocent white Southerners from brute and dangerous blacks.
