Reconstruction Flashcards
Terms
Key Goals of Reconstruction
Reunify the North and South
The federal government wanted to reintegrate the Southern states that seceded from the Union and restore their place in the country.
Ensure civil rights
The federal government wanted to establish laws and policies to protect the rights of the newly freed slaves and ensure their integration into society.
Define new relationships
The Reconstruction era sought to define new relationships between African Americans and whites.
The Reconstruction era involved many changes, including:
New laws and constitutional amendments
These permanently altered the federal system and the definition of American citizenship.
Rebuilding the South
The federal government sought to rebuild the South’s infrastructure and revitalize its economy.
Education
Northern teachers traveled to the South to provide education and training for the newly freed population.
Five Outcomes of Reconstruction
Constitutional Amendments:
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were crucial in defining new legal rights for African Americans, including the abolishment of slavery, citizenship, and voting rights.
Political Participation:
Former slaves were able to participate in the political process by voting and holding elected office in Southern states during Reconstruction.
Freedmen’s Bureau:
This federal agency assisted formerly enslaved people with issues like education, land distribution, and legal aid.
Social Change:
While limited, Reconstruction led to some social changes like the establishment of Black churches and communities.
Economic Challenges:
Despite efforts to reform the Southern economy, many African Americans remained economically dependent on white landowners, leading to ongoing challenges
Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States and its territories, with the exception of as punishment for a crime
Fourteenth Amendment
ratified on July 9, 1868, and it granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people. The amendment also extended the Bill of Rights to the states, and it included the following provisions
Fifteenth Amendment
protects the right to vote and states that it cannot be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude
Presidential Reconstruction v. Congressional Reconstruction
Led by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, this approach was more lenient towards the South. It allowed the white South to regulate the transition to freedom without Black involvement in Southern politics. For example, Johnson pardoned most Southern whites, restoring their political rights and property except for slaves.
Led by Congress, this approach blamed the South for the Civil War and wanted retribution. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 divided the South into military districts and required Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment. This period of Radical or Congressional Reconstruction lasted until 1877
Wade Davis Bill
a Reconstruction plan passed by Congress in 1864 to readmit the seceded states to the Union.
Would also have abolished slavery, but it required that 50 percent of a state’s White males take a loyalty oath to the United States (and swear they had never assisted the Confederacy) to be readmitted to the Union.
enacted (and Lincoln pocket vetoed) the Wade-Davis Bill, which proposed to delay the formation of new Southern governments until a majority of voters had taken a loyalty oath.
Freedmen’s Bureau
a US government agency that provided aid to formerly enslaved people and impoverished whites in the years following the Civil War:
provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans.
established by Congress on March 3, 1865
mission was to help freed people become self-sufficient by providing relief, food, shelter, clothing, medical services, land, schools, and legal services
Civil Rights Bill (1866)
the first federal law in the United States to define citizenship and protect the civil rights of all citizens equally. It was passed in 1866 after being initially vetoed by President Johnson and overturned by Congress.
Tenure of Office Act
March 2, 1867), in the post-Civil War period of U.S. history, law forbidding the president to remove civil officers without senatorial consent. The law was passed over Pres. Andrew Johnson’s veto by Radical Republicans in Congress in their struggle to wrest control of Reconstruction from Johnson.
Johnson’s Impeachment Crisis
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.
Sharecropping
a common agricultural arrangement in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877). It was a way for poor farmers to access land and survive economically, while also providing landowners with labor.
Land access: Poor farmers would rent small plots of land, or shares, from landowners.
Labor: In exchange for the land, farmers would provide labor and give the landowner a portion of their crop yield, or shares. The amount of the share varied by contract but was usually between one-fourth and three-fourths of the crop.
Supplies: Farmers would also provide sharecroppers with supplies, such as meat, mules, and cabins
The KKK Act
The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, also known as the Enforcement Act of 1871, was the third of three Enforcement Acts passed by Congress between 1870 and 1871 to combat white supremacist violence and protect the voting rights of African Americans:
Enforcement Act of 1870
Also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1870 or the First Ku Klux Klan Act, this law prohibited voter discrimination and allowed the president to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment.
Enforcement Act of 1871
This law made state officials liable for depriving people of their civil rights, made KKK intimidation tactics federal offenses, and gave the president more power to enforce the law. The law also allowed the president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and call out the militia to suppress conspiracies against the federal government.
The KKK Act was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on April 20, 1871. Grant requested the legislation after receiving reports of widespread racial threats in the Deep South, particularly in South Carolina.
The Slaughterhouse Case
The law
The law prohibited slaughtering animals outside of the corporation’s slaughterhouse for 25 years and closed existing slaughterhouses.
The butchers
A group of white butchers in New Orleans sued the corporation, arguing that the law violated their rights as U.S. citizens. They argued that the law forced them to give up their businesses and operate in the corporation’s slaughterhouse, which was “involuntary servitude” under the Thirteenth Amendment.
The Supreme Court’s decision
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the corporation, upholding the law. The Court interpreted the Privileges or Immunities Clause as protecting the rights of U.S. citizenship, not state citizenship. The Court’s narrow interpretation of the clause limited the federal government’s power to enforce civil rights.
The Election of 1876
The disputed American presidential election was held on November 7, 1876, in which Republican Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Democrat Samuel J. Tilden.
The election involved substantial electoral fraud, voter intimidation by paramilitary groups, and disenfranchisement of black Republicans. The election had the highest voter turnout of the eligible voting-age population in American history
