Unit 4: Crisis - Chapter 15: Reconstruction Flashcards
Define the term: Andrew Johnson
Lincoln’s VP who took over after his assasination
Define the term: Reconstruction
The period of time from 1865-1877 where the north attempted to rebuild the war torn south
Define the term: Ten Percent Plan
Lincolns original plan for reconstruction, required 10% of the voting population to swear an oath to the union and gave pardons to all but the highest leaders of the confederacy
Define the term: Radical Republicans
Republicans who favored more strict policies for the southern states, Andrew Johnson’s key opposition
Define the term: Wade-Davis Bill
The law passed by congress which was far more strict than Johnson or Lincolns plan. Required 50% of a states white males to swear an oath to the union, and required black males the right to vote, pocket vetoed by Lincoln
Define the term: Suffrage
The right/ability to vote
Define the term: Thaddeus Stevens
The representative from Pennsylvania who led the Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives
Define the term: Charles Sumner
The senator from Massachusetts who led the Radical Republicans in the Senate
Define the term: Amnesty
Forgiveness of wrongdoing of political or legal offenses
What did the thirteenth amendment do?
Outlawed slavery (except as punishment for prisoners)
Define the term: Black Codes
Laws implemented in the south that kept slavery in place de facto (in fact) if not de jure (in law)
Define the term: Feedmen’s Bureau
The government organization responsible for assisting former slaves in building their lives, placed them in jobs.
Define the term: Freemen
The term used for former slaves
Define the term: Refugees
People who are seeking asylum, usually for political or war time purposes
What did the 14th Amendment do?
Made people born in the US citizens
Created the federal concept of due process
Granted equal protection of laws
Changed the 3/5 compromise to make all people a whole person
Barred rebels from holding office without congressional approval
Made federal assumption of confederate debts illegal
What did the reconstruction act of 1867 do?
Divided confederate states into 5 military districts
Assigned a governor for each of those districts
Required a new constitution
Required blacks as part of the constitutional process
Required ratification of 13th and 14th amendments
Required approval of all those steps from congress
Define the term: Tenure of Office Act
Presidents could not fire appointees who had been approved by congress without
Define the term: Edwin Stanton
Lincoln’s Secretary of War, the man who the Tenure of Office Act was intended to protect, a Radical Republican, and the guy who barricaded himself in his office
Define the term: Impeachment
The formal bringing of charges against a government official
Define the term: Sharecropping
You farm the land, and get a portion of the profit on that crop
What are the problems with sharecopping?
Landowners would undercut peoples wages
Landowners would charge rent equal to the pay the sharecroppers would recieve
Define the term: Tenant Farmer
Traveling farmers who would rent portions of land to farm. Usually had their own tools/animals
Define the term: Carpetbagger
Derogatory term for northerners who came south to take advantage (for good and bad) of the economic opportunities
Define the term: Scalawags
Derogatory term for southerners who cooperated with northerners and the northern policies congress was implimenting
Define the term: Ku Klux Klan
One of the first domestic terrorist organizations who targeted successful black people. Goal was to put blacks back in their “rightful place” below the white men of the country
Define the term: Lynched
A mob kill of some perceived offense, often without trial
Define the term: Ulysses S. Grant
Successful confederate general who was elected to the presidency in 1872. Notorious for drinking and for scandals during his administration
What did the Fifteenth Amendment do?
Gave all citizens (still male) the right to vote, and protection against voting discrimination by race, color, or previous condition of servitude (slavery)
Define the term: Tammany Hall
Political party in New York, led by William “Boss” Tweed who corruptly stole money from the government through bribes and other methods
Define the term: Panic of ‘73
The Depression that came during the Grant Administration, fueled by Greenbacks
Define the term: Greenbacks
Money that the north had printed to help pay for the war, not backed by anything but the government
Define the term: Redeemers
People who were elected in the south who the people viewed as taking them back to their “glory days” post reconstruction
Describe the scandal of the Tilden/Hayes election
Tilden needed only 1 more EC vote to win, states sent two slates of electors and Congress had to decide which were legitimate. They set up a committee with 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats, Republicans chose their own party and Hayes won the election. Democrats agreed to abide by it IF reconstruction officially ended
Define the term: Compromise of 1877
Democrats agreed to accept the election results if the Republicans agreed to end reconstruction, oversight, and remove military governorships
Define the term: Solid South
The term used to describe the southern states, who voted democrats into office exclusively until 1972
What three Amendments were added to the constitution during reconstruction?
13th, 14th, 15th,
Who were the two leading Radical Republicans in Congress?
Thaddeus Stevens (House) Charles Sumner (Senate)
What was the political struggle happening between the President and Congress in terms of reconstruction plans?
Congress viewed the states as conquered provinces, therefor the President had no authority to control the admission of the states back into the union. The President (Johnson) wanted to unify the country through more lenient policies.
What agency was established to help former slaves build lives?
The Freedmen’s Bureau
What were some of the problems Senator’s had in voting to convict Johnson after impeachment?
They questioned the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office Act
They knew the impeachment was done for political purposes
They knew that the most radical of the Radical Republicans would become President
What were the 3 themes in the election of 1876?
Reconstruction, Republican Scandals, Economic Hard Times
