Reconstruction Flashcards
What is reconstruction?
The period following the Civil War in which Congress passed laws designed to rebuild the country and bring the southern states back into the Union.
What was a major problem in Virginia after the Civil War?
Millions of freed slaves needed housing, clothing, food, and jobs
What happened to Virginia’s economy after the Civil War?
It was ruined because:
- Money had no value
- Banks were closed
- Railroads, bridges, plantations, and crops were destroyed.
What was the Freedmen’s Bureau?
A government agency that provided food, schools, and medical care to freed slaves and others in Virginia and the rest of the South.
What was sharecropping?
A system common in Virginia after the war in which freedmen and poor white farmers rented land from a landowner by promising to pay the owner with a share of the crops.
What were two measures taken to resolve some of the problems in Virginia after the Civil War?
The establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau and Sharecropping.
What is segregation?
The separation of people, usually based on race or religion.
What is discrimination?
An unfair difference in the treatment of people.
During Reconstruction what happened to African Americans?
They began to have power in Virginia’s government, and men of all races could vote.
What happened to African Americans after Reconstruction?
The gains they had made were lost because of “jim Crow” laws.
What were the “jim Crow” laws?
They were laws that established segregation or separation of the races and reinforced prejudices held by whites.
What were some of the things that the “Jim Crow” laws did?
- Unfair poll taxes and voting tests were established to keep African Americans from voting.
- African Americans found it very difficult to vote or hold public office.
- African Americans were forced to use separate drinking fountains and bathrooms.
- African Americans were forced to attend separate schools.
What was a poll tax?
A tax that had to be paid in order to vote.
What happened to Virginia cities after the Civil Ware and Reconstruction?
They began to grow with people, businesses, and factories.
What was the most important factor in the growth of cities after Reconstruction?
The railroads
