Reconstruction Flashcards
What did the 10% plan mean?
That each of the 12 seceded states had to redraft their constitution to include the abolishment of slavery and civil rights. Also 10% of the population had to pledge an oath of allegiance to the United States.
What did the Radical Republicans want?
To transform the south and safeguard the rights of African Americans
What was Wade-Davis Bill?
Where instead of 10% of the state population doing a pledge of allegiance it would be 50%
What was the official abolition of slavery called and when was it?
13th Amendment passed in 1865
What was the freedman’s bureau?
Helped distribute food,land and supplies to slaves
Who was Andrew Johnson?
A democrat, who was Lincoln’s Vice President and automatically took his place after the assassination in 1865
Give 2 things Johnson did without consulting congress
Pardoned over 13000 plantation owners if they took an oath of allegiance
Allowed states to redraft their own constitutions resulting in Black Codes in Southern states
What did the black codes include - 3 examples
Enforced segregation
Banned interracial marriage
Forced black children into work preventing them from getting an education
What were voting tests and Grandfather clauses?
Tests that required a grade 5 education to be able to vote
In order to vote your grandfather must have also been registered to vote
Give 2 congressional bills vetoed by Johnson in 1866
Renewal of the freedmans bureau
Civil Rights Bill (though it was then overturned)
Give 2 bills Congress passed to limit presidential power
Tenure of Office Act 1867 - meaning Johnson could not remove officials from office
Military reconstruction Act 1867 - meaning former confederate states were under federal military rule to ensure they follow the 14th amendment
What is the 14th Amendment?
All US citizens are proclaimed equal and federal government can intervene in state legislation if it is discriminatory
When and why was Johnson impeached?
He removed Stanton from office, disobeying the Tenure of Office Act so was impeached in 1868
How big does the congress majority need to be to remove someone from office?
Two thirds
What were the results?
35 voted against and 19 for so it was one vote short of a majority
When did Grant take office?
1868
Give 2 acts passed under Grant
15th Amendment 1869 - Gave the right to vote to all African Americans
The KKK Act 1870 - Made the group illegal supposedly to protect black citizens more
What was the last major piece of reconstruction legislation?
The Civil Rights Act 1875 - extended equality to transport and jury service
What happened at the Colfax Massacre 1873?
150 black people killed by a southern militia with a cannon
Give 2 Supreme Court rulings that undermined Reconstruction legislation?
United States vs Reese - found that the 15th Amendment did not confer suffrage
United States vs Cruikshanks - found that 14th Amendment did not apply at state level
Who were the redeemers?
A democratic movement in the south usually wealthy businessman who won back almost every confederate seat back in the senate and the house
Why was Grant chosen by congress?
Because he was politically inexperienced and easy to control
Who was running in the 1876 election?
Samuel Tilden - unionist who was known for stopping corruption
Rutherford Hayes - pretty much unknown republican
What were the results of the 1876 election?
Tilden won 250000 more votes but Hayes got 1 more electoral college vote
How did reconstruction end?
Hayes made the compromise with Tilden where he sacrificed the federal troops in southern states protecting African Americans so he could be in power
