Reconstruction Flashcards
Reconstruction Time Period:
A twelve year period following the Civil War during which the US government worked to reunite the nation and to rebuild the Southern States.
13th Amendment:
Abolishes slavery in the US
14th Amendment:
Gives Civil Rights and citizenship to all African Americans in the US
15th Amendment:
Gives voting rights to all black men over the age of 21 in the USA
Jim Crow Laws:
Laws that enforced segregation in the Southern States
Segregation:
The forced separation of people of different races.
Radical Republicans of Reconstruction:
The members of Congress who felt that Southern States needed to make great social change before they could be readmitted to the Union
Transcontinental Railroad:
A railroad system that crossed the US Construction began in 1863
Military 5 Zones:
Under the Military Reconstruction Act, the South would be split into five military zones controlled by former Union Generals during Reconstruction. This is martial law and was going to be used to make sure the South followed the various rules of Reconstruction.
Poll Tax
A special tax that was needed in order for a person to vote (this was to make it impossible for African American men to vote bc they did not have $$ but backfired because poor Southern whites could not pay either)
KKK:
A secret society created by white southerners that used terror and violence to keep AA away from their civil rights (Ku Klux Klan)
Literacy Tests:
Literacy Tests: Reading and writing exams given in order to cast a vote in the South (backfires because many White Southerners are illiterate)
Grandfather Clause:
Grandfather Clause: If your grandfather can vote, you can vote, but if your grandfather could not, you can not… this is the answer to the South’s desire to keep Blacks out of the voting class
