USH Unit 5 Reconstruction

Reconstruction

The period from 1865-1877 when the U.S. rebuilt the South after the Civil War, reunited the nation, and attempted to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people.

10% Plan

Lincoln's Reconstruction plan allowing Southern states to rejoin the Union once 10% of voters swore loyalty to the U.S., emphasizing forgiveness and unity.

Andrew Johnson

President after Lincoln's assassination whose lenient Reconstruction plan favored Southern whites and failed to protect African American rights.

Black Codes

Laws passed in Southern states that restricted African Americans' freedom and forced them into low-wage labor, limiting voting, movement, and jobs.

13th Amendment

Amendment ratified in 1865 that officially abolished slavery throughout the United States.

14th Amendment

Amendment ratified in 1868 that granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the U.S. and guaranteed equal protection under the law.

15th Amendment

Amendment ratified in 1870 that prohibited denying voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Radical Republicans

Members of Congress who wanted strict Reconstruction policies and full civil and political rights for freed African Americans.

Wade-Davis Bill

Radical Republican Reconstruction plan requiring 50% of voters to swear loyalty and excluding former Confederate leaders from government.

Freedmen's Bureau

Federal agency created in 1865 to help former slaves and poor whites with education, food, medical care, and labor contracts.

Sharecropping

Farming system where tenants worked land in exchange for a share of the crop, often trapping African Americans in debt and poverty.

Carpetbaggers

Northern whites who moved to the South after the Civil War to support Reconstruction or seek economic opportunity.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and worked with the Republican Party.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

White supremacist terrorist organization that used violence and intimidation to stop African Americans from voting and to destroy Reconstruction governments.

Tenure of Office Act

Law passed by Congress that limited the president's power to remove federal officials without Senate approval.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Process in which Johnson was charged with violating the Tenure of Office Act and avoided removal from office by one vote.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general and Republican president whose administration was weakened by corruption scandals during Reconstruction.

Panic of 1873

Severe economic depression caused by bank failures and overinvestment that reduced Northern support for Reconstruction.

Slaughterhouse Cases

Supreme Court decisions that limited the federal government's ability to protect civil rights under the 14th Amendment.

U.S. v. Cruikshank

Supreme Court case ruling that the federal government could not punish individuals who violated civil rights, weakening Reconstruction enforcement.

U.S. v. Reese

Supreme Court case that weakened enforcement of the 15th Amendment by allowing voting restrictions not directly based on race.

Literacy Test

Requirement used to prevent African Americans from voting by forcing them to pass unfair reading or writing tests.

Poll Tax

Fee required to vote, used to prevent poor African Americans from participating in elections.

Grandfather Clause

Law allowing people to vote only if their ancestors voted before a certain date, effectively excluding African Americans.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation and discrimination in the South after Reconstruction.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Compromise of 1877

Agreement that resolved the election of 1876 by removing federal troops from the South, officially ending Reconstruction.

Solid South

Period when Southern states were politically dominated by the Democratic Party after Reconstruction.

Women's Rights Movement

Movement advocating equality for women, including education, property rights, and voting rights.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first women's rights convention held in 1848 that called for equal rights and suffrage for women.

19th Amendment

Amendment ratified in 1920 that granted women the right to vote.

Homestead Act

Law that gave free land to settlers to encourage westward expansion, often at the expense of Native Americans.

Dawes Act

Law that attempted to assimilate Native Americans by breaking up tribal land into individual plots.

Mexican Americans

People living in former Mexican territories who faced land loss, discrimination, and violence after U.S. expansion.

Chinese Immigrants

Immigrants who came to the U.S. for the Gold Rush and railroad work and faced widespread discrimination.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Law passed in 1882 that banned Chinese immigration and denied Chinese immigrants citizenship.