Social Studies

Reconstruction

1. (1865 – 1876) The effort to rebuild and reunite the country after the Civil War that resulted in a white government and racist people.

Sharecropping

1. A system where the owner of land allows a person to use their land for farming in exchange for a share of the crop.

Black Codes

The numerous laws adopted in the states after the Civil War that were intended to maintain white supremacy in those places.

13th Amendment

1. This amendment banned slavery “except as punishment for a crime” and was ratified in 1865, marking a significant step towards civil rights for all citizens.

14th Amendment

1. This amendment made all people born in America citizens and guaranteed to all citizens “equal protection of the law.”

Plessy v. Ferguson (1898)

1. A decision by the Supreme Court that racial segregation was not against the U.S. Constitution.

Jim Crow Laws

1.  The laws affected almost every aspect of daily life, mandating segregation of schools, parks, libraries, drinking fountains, restrooms, buses, trains, and restaurants.

15th Amendment

1. This amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1870) guaranteed the right to vote to all male citizens. Several loopholes still made it extremely hard for Black citizens to vote. 

Grandfather Clause

1. A law passed in some states that said if your grandfather was not eligible to vote then you weren’t eligible to vote. 

Poll Tax

Fees you had to pay in order to vote.

Literacy Test

1. Only people skilled in reading and writing to a certain level could vote.

Ku Klux Klan

1. A terrorist group dedicated to making the lives of Black people as horrible as possible. Their racist ways often made it extremely difficult for African Americans to vote.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

1.  A case that banned segregation in schools.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

1. A case that banned segregation in all public facilities.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

1. A case that banned all of the loopholes used to make voting hard for African Americans.