asdfasdf

Reconstruction

process of readmitting southern states after the Civil War.

Southern economy after the war

in ruins--towns and cities destroyed, farms and crops destroyed, businesses and banks bankrupt.

Lincoln's Ten-Percent Plan

Lincoln's quick and painless plan to readmit the southern states.

Wade-Davis Bill

a harsher version of Lincoln's plan that was written by congressional Republicans. "Reconstruction should be run by Congress!"

Thirteenth Amendment

abolished slavery.

New freedoms for African Americans

legally marry, adopt children, travel freely, search for relatives, attend school.

Freedmen's Bureau

helped freedpeople--food and shelter, jobs, legal issues, reuniting families, education.

Andrew Johnson

became president after Lincoln's assassination; was a Democrat from Tennessee who owned slaves; handled Reconstruction poorly (Veto! Veto! Veto!) and was impeached; saved by one vote from being removed from office.

Black Codes

laws passed in southern states to limit the freedoms of African Americans.

Radical Republicans

Controlled Congress for much of Reconstruction and demanded a harsher Reconstruction process for the southern states.

Fourteenth Amendment

granted citizenship and due process to African Americans.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

granted African Americans the same rights as whites; Johnson vetoed it, but Congress overrode the veto. Republicans were angry that Johnson had also vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau Bill.

1866 Elections

Johnson was a disaster on the campaign trail for the Democrats and Republicans won a commanding two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate; also hurting the Democratic cause were race riots in Memphis and New Orleans that left dozens of African Americans dead.

Reconstruction Acts

laws passed in 1867 that divided the South into five military districts. The southern states would be under military control until they rejoined the U.S.

Johnson's Impeachment

Radical Republicans in the House brought charges against Johnson for abusing his power. In the Senate trial, Johnson was saved from removal from office by one vote. After the trial, Johnson's power was greatly diminished.

Election of 1868

Johnson does not even make it out of the Democratic race as they choose Horatio Seymour from New York. The Republicans choose Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant, who goes on to win the election.

Fifteenth Amendment

granted African American males the right to vote.

Carpetbaggers

a derogatory name given to northerners who came south During Reconstruction for political or economic purposes.

Scalawags

a derogatory name given to southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.

African Americans in Reconstruction politics

African Americans began to exercise their new political power and won many offices at all levels throughout the South. During this time, Hiram Revels became the first African American U.S. Senator.

New governments

southern state governments had to go through a series of steps to gain readmission into the Union--honor new laws, pass the Reconstruction Amendments, take oaths to the U.S., etc.

Ku Klux Klan

southern white terrorist organization that used fear, violence, and intimidation to suppress African American freedoms.

Reconstruction ends

many people around the country grew tired of the never- ending conflict of Reconstruction. Republicans began to lose control of southern state governments and scandals at the national level damaged the party.

Panic of 1873

severe economic depression that much of the country blamed on Republicans. The stock market crashed and banks, railroads, and businesses went bankrupt. Millions were out of work.

Election of 1876

Controversial election between Hayes (R) and Tilden (D). A special commission declared Hayes the winner.

Compromise of 1877

Democrats agreed to honor Hayes's controversial win in return for Hayes pulling federal troops out of southern states. Reconstruction was over.

Poll tax

a special tax people had to pay that was aimed at poor African Americans in southern states to prevent them from voting.

Segregation

forced separation of whites and blacks.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Homer Plessy (Louisiana) was arrested for sitting in a white train car and sued claiming his 13th and 14th Amendment rights had been violated. The Supreme Court decided against Plessy and declared segregation and Jim Crow Laws (southern laws that enforced segregation) to be valid. The Court used the term "separate but equal" in explaining their decision. Whites could keep blacks out of public facilities as long as blacks had their own public facilities. Almost always the facilities for blacks were much worse than the facilities for whites. "Separate but equal" conditions throughout the South lasted well into the 1900s.

Sharecropping

a person who borrows land, tools, and supplies to farm and in return gives up most of the harvest to the landowner, keeping a little for himself. kept thousands of poor blacks (and whites) in debt forever--slavery without the name attached.

Homestead Act

free government land for small farmers who promised to live on and farm the land for five years. After five years, the farmer could apply for a title to the land. This led to thousands of Americans and European immigrants to flock to the Midwest and the Great Plains.

Morrill Act

government land given to establish land grant colleges in the Midwest and the Great Plains

Railroad empire

as the nation grew westward, the railroads grew powerful and connected the nation as it never had been connected before nationwide delivery, nationwide travel.

Conflicts with Native Americans

Plains Tribes grew alarmed at the invasion of their tribal lands by settlers. They reacted violently to protect their lands as treaty after treaty was violated. Many tribes were eventually forced onto reservations where their quality of life was poor and their tribal culture was destroyed

Buffalo Soldiers

a name of respect given to African American soldiers by Native Americans because of the bravery and fighting spirit of the soldiers.

Dawes General Allotment Act

The 1887 act tried to lessen traditional influences on Indian society by making land ownership private rather than shared. By selling reservation land to private individuals--including whites and not just Native Americans--the government was trying to break up tribal culture. The act was also supposed to grant U.S. citizenship to Native Americans but the government did not follow through on the promise.