Literally everything about the Civil War and Reconstruction

What was the Missouri Compromise and why did it matter?

1820 agreement admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as free, drawing a line at 36°30' to limit slavery's expansion.

What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) do?

Repealed the Missouri Compromise line and introduced popular sovereignty, allowing settlers to vote on slavery.

What was the significance of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)?

The Supreme Court ruled slaves were property, not citizens, and Congress had no power to ban slavery in territories.

Why did Lincoln's 1860 election trigger secession?

Southern states feared Lincoln would halt slavery's expansion, signaling federal power could be used against slavery.

What was the states' rights argument used to justify secession?

Southerners argued states voluntarily joined the Union and could voluntarily leave, asserting state sovereignty over federal authority.

What was 'Bleeding Kansas'?

A series of violent clashes (1854-59) between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas Territory.

What did the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) do?

Freed enslaved people only in Confederate states still in rebellion and reframed the war around abolition.

What was the significance of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry?

One of the first Black Union regiments, proving Black soldiers could fight and boosting Black enlistment.

What was Sherman's 'total war' strategy?

Targeted civilian infrastructure and morale alongside military forces to break Confederate will.

What is the key argument of the Gettysburg Address?

Lincoln redefined the war as a fight to fulfill the promise that 'all men are created equal.'

What was Lincoln's 10% Plan?

A lenient Reconstruction plan allowing states to rejoin after 10% of voters swore loyalty and accepted emancipation.

What was the Wade-Davis Bill and why did Lincoln pocket-veto it?

A Radical Republican plan requiring 50% of voters to swear loyalty before readmission, vetoed by Lincoln to maintain executive control.

What were the Union's key advantages in the Civil War?

Larger population, industrial manufacturing, superior railroad network, and control of the federal government.

What did the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments each do?

13th abolished slavery, 14th granted birthright citizenship and equal protection, 15th gave Black men the right to vote.

What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

A federal agency that aided formerly enslaved people through education, labor contracts, food, and legal assistance.

What did the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 do?

Divided the South into five military districts and required states to ratify the 14th Amendment before readmission.

What were Black Codes?

Laws passed by Southern states restricting Black people's movement, labor, and rights after the Civil War.

Why was Andrew Johnson impeached?

He violated the Tenure of Office Act by removing Secretary of War Stanton without Senate approval.

Who were the Radical Republicans and what did they want?

Congressional leaders who wanted strong federal enforcement of Black civil rights and harsh conditions on Southern readmission.

What was sharecropping and how did it trap freedpeople?

Freedpeople farmed land owned by whites, giving a share of the crop as rent, leading to economic bondage.

What political gains did Black Americans make during Reconstruction?

Elected to Congress and local offices, with over 2,000 Black men holding public office.

What was the Compromise of 1877 and what did it end?

A deal making Rutherford Hayes president in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.

What were 'Redeemer' governments?

Southern Democratic governments that rolled back Black civil rights and restored white supremacist power.

What role did the Ku Klux Klan play in ending Reconstruction?

Used terrorism and intimidation to suppress Black voting and Republican organizing.

What was 'waving the bloody shirt' and why does it matter?

Republicans invoked Civil War sacrifice to win votes; Northern voters grew fatigued by the 1870s.

What was the Panic of 1873's effect on Reconstruction?

The economic depression shifted Northern political attention away from Southern racial justice toward economic recovery.

What is the 'Lost Cause' myth?

A post-war narrative portraying the Confederacy as a noble cause about states' rights, not slavery.

What was the Dunning School interpretation of Reconstruction?

A view that Reconstruction was a corrupt failure imposed on a victimized South by vengeful Republicans.

What is the revisionist view of Reconstruction?

Modern historians view it as a genuine attempt at multiracial democracy violently overthrown.

What is Eric Foner's key argument about Reconstruction?

It was a transformative constitutional revolution whose failure left the promises of freedom unmet.

What is the 'agency' argument historians make about freedpeople?

Freedpeople actively organized politically and shaped Reconstruction policy.