Reconstruction

13th Amendment

This amendment freed all slaves everywhere in the United States and its territories.

14th Amendment

This amendment intended to grant citizenship to all African Americans and to ensure 'equal protection under the law.'

15th Amendment

This amendment intended to grant suffrage to all black males.

Freedman’s Bureau

This is considered the federal government’s first welfare agency, established to aid freed slaves and displaced whites.

Reconstruction

A period post-Civil War focused on reintegrating Southern states and addressing the rights of freed slaves.

Rutherford B. Hayes

He ended up the victor of the 1876 presidential election despite his opponent winning the majority of the popular vote.

Jim Crow laws

Laws intended to segregate blacks and whites in public facilities in the South.

Redemption

The term referring to the return to political power of whites in the South after the Civil War.

Grandfather clauses

Laws passed to allow whites to bypass poll taxes and literacy tests but restrict African Americans.

Radical Republicans

Influential congressional leaders like Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens who fought for African American rights.