The Era Of Reconstruction Flashcards
Radical republicans
Congressional group that wished to punish the south for its secession
Pushed for economic and political freedom for newly freed blacks
Proposed difficult methods for southern states to reenter the Union
Hated by President Johnson
Led by Thaddeus Stevens
Believed reconstruction was a constitutional issue; therefore, Congress, not the president, should have control
Reconstruction era
Period after the Civil War during which northern political leaders created plans for the governance of the south and a procedure for former southern states to rejoin the Union
- southern resentment from this era lasted well into the 20th century
- led by President Andrew Johnson
Reconstruction Act
Placed the south under military rule and barred former Confederate supporters from voting
Divided the south into 5 military sections
Guaranteed with the Army Act (reduced the control of the president over the army)
Carpetbaggers
Northerners who moved to the south during the reconstruction era
Deeply resented because of the profits they made during this time that opposed southern tradition
Scalawags
Term of derision used in the south for white southern republicans
KKK
Est. in TN
Violently resented the reconstruction era’s political, socket, and economic changes to the south
Compromise of 1877
Ended the disputed presidential election of 1876
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded electoral votes in FL, LA, & SC giving him the presidency over Democrat, Samuel Tilden even though he had enough electoral votes to win
In return, all federal troops left the south and Congress promised to shop imposing reconstruction legislation in the south
10% Plan
Plan devised by Lincoln that allowed former southern states to reenter the Union when 10% of its voters pledged allegiance to the union
Gave states the chance to form their own government (obviously loyal to Washington)
Black Codes
Passed by al, southern legislatures in 1866
Prohibited interracial marriage
Restricted occupation and suffrage for blacks
Wade-Davis Act
- Stated that Congress would only authorize a state government in for,Ed Confederate states when the majority of voters took an “ironclad” oath, stating that they have and had loyalty to the Union
- impossible to succeed without a large number of black voters
- rejected by Lincoln’s POCKET VETO
Freedman’s Bureau
Designed to help ex-slaves get employment, education, and general assistance
Gave ex-slaves 40 acres of land and a mule
(But many former slaves went back to their plantations to work as tenant farmers against the advice of the Freedman’s Bureau)
*vetoed by Johnson
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Granted freedmen ass the benefits of federal citizens and promised that federal courts would uphold these rights
*enforced by the 13th Amendment (outlawed slavery)
(Also vetoed by Johnson)
14th Amendment
Declared citizenship would be the same in all states
States that didn’t give freedmen suffrage would have reduced representation in Congress
Forbade former Confederate leaders from holding an office position
Pushed by anti black riots
*initiated Rad. Repub. control of the South
Tenure of Office Act
- Issued by Congress to prevent Johnson from firing the Secretary of War and radical republican, Edwin Stanton by stating that the president could not dismiss a Cabinet member without approval of the Senate
- Johnson fired Stanton anyway so the House of Rep.s tried him for impeachment: needed 2/3 and Johnson narrowly escaped conviction (Edmund Ross: deciding vote)
15th Amendment
Stated that no American could be denied suffrage based on race
First time elections were regulated
Many whites didn’t vote out of disgust
