Reconstruction Era

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War when Southern states and freedmen were being integrated into the United States.

10% Plan

Lincoln's plan that required 10 percent of voters in a Southern state to swear allegiance to the Union before it could be readmitted.

Oath of Allegiance

A pledge acknowledging one's duty and swearing loyalty.

Assassination

A politically motivated killing.

Freedmen's Bureau

A temporary organization for assisting formerly enslaved people and other poor or displaced individuals after the Civil War.

Black Codes

Laws passed in many Southern states to restrict formerly enslaved people and continue the labor practices of slavery.

Vagrancy

The act of loitering, wandering, or homelessness recognized as a criminal offense.

Penal Labor

Forcing people to work in prison or as punishment.

Sharecropping

A system where families rent land and pay the owner a share of their crops.

Veto

The rejection of a proposed law or decision.

13th Amendment

The amendment that abolished slavery, except as punishment.

14th Amendment

The amendment that extended citizenship to formerly enslaved people born in the United States and granted "equal protection under the law."

15th Amendment

The amendment that granted the right to vote to Black men.