Untitled Flashcards Set

Andrew Johnson

Became President after Lincoln's assassination; outlined a lenient plan for Presidential Reconstruction.

Thirteenth Amendment

Ratified by many Southern states in December 1865, abolishing slavery.

Black Codes

Laws passed by Southern states to restrict the rights of African Americans and maintain a system of forced labor.

Radical Reconstruction

A period where Congress took control of Reconstruction, dividing the South into military districts and extending civil rights to African Americans.

Fourteenth Amendment

Ratified in June 1866, it defined national citizenship and guaranteed equal protection under the law.

Fifteenth Amendment

Ratified in February 1869, it prohibited voting discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A white supremacist group that used violence and intimidation to suppress black voting and oppose Reconstruction.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

The House voted to impeach Johnson; he was acquitted by one vote in the Senate.

Sharecropping

A labor system where landowners provided land and resources in exchange for a share of the harvested crops, often leading to debt for workers.

The Lost Cause

A historical narrative that romanticizes the Confederacy's motives for the Civil War, emphasizing states' rights and downplaying slavery.

Redemption

The period after Radical Reconstruction when Southern Democrats regained control of state governments and initiated oppressive measures against African Americans.

Civil Rights Bill of 1866

Legislation defining national citizenship and prohibiting states from denying citizens' rights based on race.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election, leading to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the end of Reconstruction.

Economic Decline in the South

Post-war economic struggles faced by both freed people and landowners due to devastation from the Civil War.

Negro Suffrage

The right to vote granted to African American males during Reconstruction, which faced violent opposition from white supremacists.

Military Reconstruction Act of 1867

Legislation passed by Congress, dividing the South into five military districts and requiring the creation of new state governments that included black suffrage.

Freedmen's Bureau

Established to assist former slaves and poor whites in the South by providing food, housing, education, and medical care.