Reconstruction Era: Key Policies, Amendments, and Organizations

Freedmen's Bureau

Federal agency created in 1865 to help formerly enslaved people transition to freedom by providing food, education, and legal aid during Reconstruction.

"10 percent" Reconstruction Plan

Lincoln's 1863 plan that allowed a Southern state to rejoin the Union once 10% of its voters swore loyalty and accepted emancipation.

Wade-Davis Bill

1864 Congressional plan for Reconstruction requiring 50% of voters to swear loyalty and stronger safeguards for emancipation; pocket-vetoed by Lincoln.

Black Codes

Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the rights and movements of freed African Americans.

"Lost Cause"

Southern ideology that romanticized the Confederacy and justified the Civil War as a noble defense of states' rights rather than slavery.

Civil Rights Bill

1866 law that granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to African Americans, passed over President Johnson's veto.

Fourteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment (1868) granting citizenship to all born or naturalized in the U.S. and guaranteeing equal protection of the laws.

Reconstruction Amendment

Collective term for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which abolished slavery, defined citizenship, and protected voting rights.

Ex parte Milligan

1866 Supreme Court case ruling that military tribunals could not try civilians in areas where civil courts were open.

Redeemers

Southern Democrats who regained political power after Reconstruction and sought to restore white supremacy.

Woman's Loyal League

Organization founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in 1863 to campaign for abolition and women's rights.

Union League

Republican political organization in the South that mobilized African American voters and promoted Reconstruction policies.

Scalawags

White Southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party after the Civil War.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South after the Civil War, often to seek economic opportunity or aid in Reconstruction.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist terrorist organization founded in 1866 to intimidate Black voters and undermine Reconstruction governments.

Force Acts

Laws passed in 1870-1871 to protect African Americans' voting rights and suppress Klan violence.

Colfax Massacre

1873 attack in Louisiana where white supremacists killed over 100 African Americans defending a local government.

United States v. Cruikshank

1876 Supreme Court case that limited federal power to prosecute racial violence, undermining Reconstruction protections.

The Slaughter-House Cases

1873 Supreme Court decisions that narrowly interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment and weakened federal protection of civil rights.

Tenure of Office Act

1867 law requiring Senate approval for the president to remove certain officeholders; led to Johnson's impeachment.

Seward's Folly

Nickname for Secretary of State William Seward's 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia, initially mocked as wasteful.

Oliver O. Howard

Union general and head of the Freedmen's Bureau who worked to assist freedpeople during Reconstruction.

Andrew Johnson

17th U.S. president who succeeded Lincoln and clashed with Congress over lenient Reconstruction policies.

Thaddeus Stevens

Radical Republican leader in Congress who advocated for harsh Reconstruction measures and civil rights for freedpeople.

Hiram Revels

First African American to serve in the U.S. Senate, representing Mississippi during Reconstruction.

Blanche Bruce

Second African American to serve in the U.S. Senate and the first to serve a full term, representing Mississippi.

Edwin M. Stanton

Secretary of War under Lincoln and Johnson; his dismissal by Johnson led to impeachment proceedings.

William Seward

Secretary of State under Lincoln and Johnson who negotiated the purchase of Alaska and promoted U.S. expansion.