reconstruction Flashcards
a period of rebuilding
reconstruction
process of reuniting the country and rebuilding the South after the Civil War
amnesty
an official pardon; prevents you from being trialled for a crime later (Southerners except Confederate leaders who gave loyalty to the Union)
radical
extreme; more violent
freedmen
a new government set up by the president and government that help former enslaved people
John Wilkes Booth
assassinated Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Vice President who became President after Lincoln’s assassination; later impeached
black codes
laws that aimed to control freed men and women; trampled the rights of African Americans
override
when Congress has enough votes to defeat vetoes or bills that become laws
Edwin Stanton
Sec. of War during the Civil War; took charge after Lincoln was assassinated; was dismissed by Johnson ultimately leading to his impeachment trial
impeach
formally charge with wrongdoing; the act of removing someone from office; requires 2/3rds of Senate to pass
Ulysses S. Grant
The Republican’s presidential candidate who won the election of 1868; received the most African American votes in the South
Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce
2 African Americans in the Senate
scalawags
“worthless rascals”; Southern Whites who backed the Republicans
carpetbagger
Northern Republicans who went to the South with their belongings in cheap suitcases made out of carpet fabric to make $$$ and rebuild
corruption
dishonest or illegal actions
sharecropping
a tenant farmer who gives a part of each crop as rent; economic method that was used in the South after the war; did not allow African-Americans to move up in society
integrated
public areas that allowed BOTH white and African American people
reconciliation
coming together again
Rutherford B. Hayes
man who became president after the Compromise of 1877, Republican
Samuel Tilden
Democratic presidential nominee during the Election of 1876; won 184 votes but ended up losing by 1 electoral vote
Election of 1876
one of the closest elections in US History; caused the end of Reconstruction
commission
a group of seven Republicans, seven Democrats, and one independent to review the election results
cash crops
crops that could be sold for money
poll tax
a fee that people had to pay before voting; prevented many African Americans and poor whites from voting
literacy test
voters had to read and explain difficult parts of state constitution or the Federal Constitution; prevented many African Americans and poor whites from voting
grandfather clauses
Southern states did not allow African Americans to vote if any of their relatives had been a slave; Jim Crow Law; prevented many African Americans from voting
segregation
the separation of races
Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court case that legalized segregation in the US as long as it was “equal”
lynching
angry mob kills a person by hanging; many African Americans were lynched
W.E.B Du Bois
African American writer and civil rights leader