Reconstruction (discriminatory actions) Flashcards
Scalawag
a white Southerner that helped the Republicans during Reconstruction
Carpetbagger
a Northerner who moved South to get rich during Reconstruction
IV. Lincoln’s Freedmen Plans
Lincoln and Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau that helped ex-slaves get an education, job, food, and clothing
Impeachment
to charge an elected official with a crime
Tenure in Office Act
a law that gives the Senate the sole right to remove a cabinet member
(get ready for this)
V. Andrew Johnson’s impeachment
- strongly opposed reconstruction acts, Congress had to pass laws to limit power
- passed the Tenure of Office Act so the president can’t remove government officials without the senate’s approval
- Congress wanted to protect Secretary of War Edwin Stanton
- tensions between Johnson and Radical Republicans grew so the pres. fired Stanton, getting impeached for violating the act
- Senate was one vote shy from impeaching him
Ku Klux Klan
a white supremacist terrorist group
Poll tax
a tax that was levied on black voters
Segregation
separation of people based on race or other ethnic groups
VI. Problems in the South
- Pres. Ulysses S. Grant wanted to make sure blacks were able to vote, adding military districts that maintained civil rights for blacks
- Southerners used the Grandfather Clause, Literary Test, and the Poll Tax to restrict black voting rights
- blacks in the south were poor and had to rely on sharecropping
- white supremacist groups formed like the KKK to separate blacks from whites by terrorizing and murdering many African Americans
Black codes
restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African American
Due Process
fair treatment through the normal judicial system
VII. Black Codes
Southerners didn’t give blacks real freedom even after the 13th amendment, limiting their occupations to laborers and servants, banned them from owning guns, voting, or serving in juries, this was disapproved by many republicans
VIII. Attempts at Civil Rights
Passed 14th amendment, required all Southern states to rewrite their constitution, tried to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1875 but the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional
14th Amendment
birthright citizenship, states can’t deprive anyone of due process
Civil Rights Act of 1875
tried to ban all discrimination in public areas and transportation
Rutherford B. Hayes
19th president who won the 1876 election although he lost the popular vote
Compromise of 1877
an agreement with Southern Democrats to elect Hayes in return for ending Reconstruction
IX. Problems in the Republicans
Grant’s corrupt Republican Party was comprised of “The Whiskey Ring” (his drinking friends), caused the Panic of 1873, democrats took back control and tarnished Grant’s legacy and the Republican party
Panic of 1873
railroad corruption caused unemployment to skyrocket
X. The End of Reconstruction
Controversial Election of 1876, New South had growing industries but only for whites
Controversial Election of 1876
Hayes (R) vs Tilden (D)
won by 1 electoral college vote
basically bribed the South by promising that he would remove military soldiers from their district in return for electoral votes
