Unit 1: Reconstruction Vocabulary

40 acres and a mule

This slogan was created in 1864 and 1865 when the federal government settled nearly 10,000 black families on abandoned plantation land as a way to give formerly enslaved people a new start. The program was abandoned by President Andrew Johnson.

President Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States, saved the Union during the Civil War, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Reconstruction

The era/period after the Civil War (1865-1877) in the United States when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished and prohibited slavery in the United States (except as punishment for a crime)

Black Codes (1865-1866)

Laws passed throughout the South to restrict the rights of recently freed Black Americans. these laws criminalized behaviors that whites did not get in trouble for.

14th Amendment (1868)

This addition to the constitution guaranteed citizenship to all people born in the U.S. & ensures equal protection under the law. This was meant in part to try and push back against Black Codes.

White supremacy

The false and racist belief that whites are biologically different and superior to people of other races & should have the most power in society.

Backlash

a strong & sometimes violent public reaction against something

15th Amendment (1870)

A change made to the constitution that made it so U.S. gov't cannot prevent a person from voting because of race, color, or previous enslavement.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A secret organization that used terrorist tactics in an attempt to restore white supremacy in Southern states & intimidate recently freed Black Americans.

Lynching

A mob-led execution for a perceived threat to the social order. This usually involved being hanged from a tree. 1000s who wanted equality for blacks & whites were executed during Reconstruction.

Ida B. Wells

Born into slavery, she later became a teacher, investigative journalist, and anti-lynching activist.

Sharecropping

A system used on southern farms after the Civil War in which farmers worked land owned by someone else in return for a small portion of the crops. This often resulted in debt & being “trapped” on the land.

Convict leasing

A system of forced prison labor practiced in the Southern United States. This was essentially a loophole for continuing slavery in some way.

President Andrew Johnson

17th President of the United States, A Southerner form Tennessee, as V.P. when Lincoln was killed, he became president. He was much less supportive of equal rights for Freedmen.

Compromise of 1877

Event in which Rutherford Hayes became president instead of Samuel Tilden after a very close election in 1876. Hayes presidency was recognized in exchange for officially ending Reconstruction by withdrawing military troops from their task of supervising southern states.

Freedman's Bureau, 1865-1872

A federal program set up to help freedmen and white refugees after Civil War. Provided food, clothing, medical care, and education until funding was cut by President Andrew Johnson.

Military Reconstruction Act of 1867

Congressional law that imposed military rule on the South and set conditions for the seceded states to rejoin the Union. This law provided “supervision” of Southern states & helped register Black men to vote in the south.

Freedmen

formerly enslaved people

Radical Republicans

A group of Black & White Congressmen who strongly supported strengthening civil rights for freedmen.

Ellipsis

Three periods (...) indicating that you are connecting two different ideas from the same text, and leaving out the section in between.

primary source

an account of an event created by someone who took part in or witnessed the event (ex: firsthand photos/videos, diary entries, interviews, etc.)

secondary source

A secondhand account of a past event, created by someone who didn't experience the event themselves but used primary sources to come to their conclusions. Examples include encyclopedias, articles, textbooks, etc.

Hiram Revels

The first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate, from Misssissippi.

Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871

This was a federal law created in response to KKK violence during Reconstruction under Prez. Grant. It threatened southern states with military action unless they stopped the terrorizing of blacks and denying them the right to vote.

President Ulysses S. Grant

An American general and the eighteenth President of the United States, during Reconstruction (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.

President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

Elected in 1876, he effectively ended Reconstruction efforts by pulling federal military troops out of Southern states and allowing them to make their own rules & regulations for recently-freed Black Americans.

Poll tax

A requirement that citizens pay a tax/fee in order to register to vote. This was meant to discourage low-income black people from voting in Reconstruction and beyond.

Plessy v. Ferguson

a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal ("separate but equal" rule)

Jim Crow Laws

Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites in public settings like schools, libraries, buses, restaurants.

Jim Crow Era

A time period of segregation & inequality between the races that was formalized after Reconstruction and lasted until the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s.

“Home Rule”

The name for the understanding that Southern states would be able to control their own governments & laws after Reconstruction with minimal involvement from the federal government. This meant that upholding rights for Black Americans would be left to the Southern states as well.

White Supremacy

The false & racist belief that white people are superior to other races and should have the most power in society.

The KKK Act of 1871

This act authorized President Grant to use federal troops to put a stop to the KKK's use of violence and threats against Black Americans. This law was effective for a few years, until Grant lost his next election.

loophole

A part of a law that is unclear or has a special exception, allowing people to avoid its true meaning or intent. For example, the 13th Am. had a ______ that allowed people to be enslaved if they were charged with a crime.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

A law passed by Radical Republicans in Congress 2 years before the 14th Am. The goal of the law was to ensure citizenship and equal rights for Black Americans who had been unfairly targeted by Black Codes. Prez. Johnson opposed this law.

disenfranchisement

the denial of the right to vote, often targeting specific groups based on race.

incarcerated

to be confined in jail or prison as a result of being charged with a crime

Amnesty Act of 1872

This was a federal law passed in 1872 under Republican Prez. Grant that lifted voting restrictions and limits on being a leader in government for over 150,000 former Confederates. Meant as a gesture of reuniting, it contributed to Democrats regaining power in many Southern state governments.

Democrats

The political party that dominated the South before the Civil War. During Reconstruction, Southern _______ opposed rights for African Americans, and worked to regain control of Southern state governments.

Republicans

The political party of Abraham Lincoln and the North during the Civil War. During Reconstruction, _______ supported federal involvement in the South, African American voting rights, and keeping federal troops in Southern states.

Corruption

Dishonest or illegal behavior by people in power, such as government officials accepting bribes or making unfair business deals.

Joseph Rainey

The first Black leader in the House of Representatives, from South Carolina.

Grandfather Clause

A law in seven Southern states that made it so if you or your parents/grandparents were able to vote before Reconstruction, you were excused from voting requirements on property, tax, and education. This became a barrier to Black men voting, as they and their elders could not vote before Reconstruction.