Reconstruction Era Flashcards
Who was John Wilkes Booth?
Assassin of Abraham Lincoln.
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1866 do?
A bill that allowed The Bureau to set up special courts to try people charged with violating African Americans’ rights. African Americans could sit on the juries in these courts and could be the judge of accused white Southerners.
Define Amnesty
Forgiveness for any crimes committed; Government pardon for wrongdoings
Who were the Radical Republicans?
Members of congress who wanted extreme change after the Civil War
Why were the Radical Republicans considered “radical”
Because they took a more radical approach to reconstruction.
What two main goals did the Radical Republicans have for Reconstruction
- Wanted to protect African Americans’ rights
2. Granted citizenship to African Americans.
What was the Radical Republicans’ Act of 1867
Stated that the ten states that had not ratified the Fourteenth Amendment form their own new government.
What was Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan?
States had to ratify the 13th amendment, amnesty was given to former Confederates, and southern states were allowed to elect representatives to the U.S. House
Who was Andrew Johnson?
Vice President of the United States who took over after Lincoln’s assassination.
What was Reconstruction?
Reconstruction was the rebuilding the former Confederate states and readmitting them to the Union.
What was Radical Reconstruction
A plan that divided the South into 5 military districts, worked to give the rights to freedmen, and took away power from former Confederates
Define impeachment
The process of bringing formal charges against a public official
Describe Lincoln’s 10% Plan
- It would require voters in each Southern state to take an oath of loyalty to the Union.
- When 10% of the voters in a state had taken the oath, the state would form a new state government.
- The state would also be required to adopt a new constitution that banned slavery.
What was the Freedmen’s Bureau
Provided emergency relief, education, help finding work, help settling disputes, etc.
What did the 13th Amendment do?
Abolished all slavery in the United States.
What did the 14th Amendment do?
- Protected citizenship of African Americans
2. Established that all citizens are equally protected under the laws of the U.S.
What did the 15th Amendment do?
Gave voting rights to African American males
What were black codes?
Laws in the South that were meant to control freedmen
What was the Ku Klux Klan?
A secret society made up of former Confederates who terrorized the freedmen in the South
Who were the scalawags?
White Southerners who supported the Union (against secession or pro-Republican)
Who were the carpetbaggers?
Whites from the North who traveled South after the War
What was sharecropping?
A system in the South that seems to replace slavery by having a person rent land from a landowner in exchange for a percentage of the value of the crop that person farms
Who were the freedmen
Former slaves
Why did Congress impeach President Johnson?
Violation of the Tenure of Office Act
Who won the Presidential election in 1876?
Rutherford B. Hayes
What were poll taxes?
A fee required by voting
What were literacy tests?
- Another way of denying voting
- Required potential voters to read explain difficult parts of state constitutions or the federal constitution. (if you couldn’t read or write, you couldn’t vote
What was the purpose of grandfather clauses?
It kept blacks from voting if their father or grandfather hadn’t voted before
What were the Jim Crow laws?
It required that all African Americans and whites were to be separated in almost every public place. They had to separate facilities because he believed that the African Americans were far from equal.
What was decided in the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson?
The Court ruled that segregation was legal as long as African Americans had access to public places equal to those of whites.
What was lynching?
Angry mobs killing people by hanging them
Who were the Exodusters?
African Americans who came to Kansas from the Deep South to get away from Reconstruction
Where did most African Americans live during Reconstruction?
African Americans lived in the Deep South during Reconstruction most of the time
Who was Benjamin “Pap” Singleton?
Land speculator and promoter who encouraged African Americans to move to Kansas.
Who was the President in the election of 1868?
Ulyssess S. Grant
Who was Samuel J. Tilden?
Democratic candidate for President
Who won the election of 1876?
Rutherford B. Hayes.
What was the Sharecropping Contract?
A giant loophole for the sharecroppers to be in debt
