SS

Reconstruction

The time period after the Civil War (1865-1877) when states formerly part of the Confederacy were brought back into the U.S.

Andrew Johnson

The 17th president of the U.S. (Democratic) who served from 1865 to 1869 and succeeded Lincoln after his assassination.

Radical Republicans

A faction that controlled Congress during Reconstruction, aiming to punish the South and promote African-American equality.

Scalawags

White Southerners who joined with northern Republicans during Reconstruction, often seeking power and wealth.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction for economic, social, and political opportunities.

13th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the U.S.

14th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that granted U.S. citizenship to African American males.

15th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that granted African American men the right to vote.

Ulysses S. Grant

The president who worked to implement Congressional Reconstruction and had a presidency marked by scandals.

Election of 1876

An election where Samuel Tilden ran against Rutherford B. Hayes, resulting in controversy over the electoral vote count.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement where Democrats accepted Hayes as president in exchange for the removal of troops from Southern states.

Black codes

Laws passed in Southern states after the Civil War aimed at restricting the rights of African Americans.

Ku Klux Klan

A secret society formed by White Southerners with the goal of intimidating African Americans and their supporters.

Poll taxes

Taxes required to be paid before voting, which many African Americans could not afford.

Literacy tests

Tests required to prove reading and writing ability before voting, which many African Americans could not pass.

Freedmen’s Bureau

An organization created to assist former slaves in transitioning to freedom after the Civil War.

Grandfather Clause

A law allowing individuals to bypass literacy tests or poll taxes if their grandfathers had been eligible to vote.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws that enforced social and legal segregation in the South.

Plessy v. Ferguson

A Supreme Court case that upheld segregation as legal under the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Brown v. Board of Education

A landmark Supreme Court case that declared segregated educational facilities unconstitutional.

19th Amendment

An amendment that granted women the right to vote.

Homestead Act

A law that provided 160 acres of western land to settlers willing to farm it.

Morrill Land Grant Act

A law that granted states land to finance education in agriculture and mechanic arts.

Transcontinental Railroad

A network of railroads that connected the East and West coasts of the U.S., completed in 1869.

Pacific Railway Act of 1862

An act providing federal support for the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Dawes Act

A law that aimed to assimilate Native Americans by dividing reservations into individual plots.

Carlisle Indian School

An institution focused on assimilating Native American children into white American culture.

Forced Assimilation

The process of coercing African Americans and Native Americans to adopt the lifestyle of white Americans.

Nativism

The belief in the superiority of one's home country, often leading to opposition against immigration.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

A law that restricted immigration to the United States from China.