apush period 5 pt3

Copperheads

also known as Peace Democrats, were Northern Democrats during the Civil War who opposed the war effort, advocated for immediate peace with the Confederacy, and often criticized President Lincoln's policies like conscription and suspension of civil liberties, viewing them as threats to traditional American values and democracy

Conscription/Draft

the mandatory government enrollment of individuals for military service

New York Draft Riots

massive, violent civil disturbances in NYC, sparked by resentment against the Union's first federal draft, which wealthier men could avoid with $300, while poor, mostly Irish immigrants felt unfairly targeted and feared Black competition for jobs after emancipation

Habeas Corpus suspension

President Lincoln temporarily suspending the right to challenge unlawful detention during the Civil War, allowing arrest without trial for "security threats," raising major debates about civil liberties vs. government power in emergencies

Contraband

enslaved people who escaped to Union lines during the Civil War, classified by Union General Benjamin Butler as "contraband of war" (confiscated enemy property) rather than returned fugitives, effectively seizing them as labor and challenging slavery by turning them into war assets and future soldiers, leading to camps and education for these self-emancipated people

54th Massachusetts Regiment

a pioneering, all-Black Union regiment in the Civil War, formed after the Emancipation Proclamation, proving Black soldiers' valor, notably at Fort Wagner, challenging stereotypes, and inspiring greater Black enlistment despite facing discrimination like unequal pay

Reconstruction

the period after the Civil War when the United States attempted to reintegrate the Southern states into the Union and define the rights of newly freed slaves

Presidential Reconstruction

the lenient initial phase of rebuilding the U.S. after the Civil War, led by Lincoln and Johnson, focusing on quickly readmitting Southern states with minimal conditions (like accepting the 13th Amendment) and offering pardons, but it failed to protect freed slaves' rights, leading to harsh Black Codes and backlash from Radical Republicans who wanted stricter terms and federal protection for African Americans, eventually shifting power to Congress

Radical Reconstruction

the period where Radical Republicans in Congress took charge, overriding President Johnson to impose strict terms on the South, using military rule (Reconstruction Acts), protecting freedmen's civil rights (14th/15th Amendments), and fundamentally restructuring Southern society with Black suffrage and new state governments

Radical Republicans

a powerful post-Civil War congressional faction pushing for full civil rights, voting rights (suffrage), and equality for African Americans, harsher penalties for the South, land reform, and federal power to remake Southern society

Wade-Davis Bill

a Congressional Reconstruction plan by Radical Republicans that offered a harsher path for Confederate states to re-enter the Union than Lincoln's lenient plan, requiring 50% of a state's white males to take an "Ironclad Oath" of loyalty (never aiding the Confederacy) and guaranteeing Black men the right to vote, but President Lincoln pocket-vetoed it, highlighting early conflicts over Reconstruction policy

Freedmen's Bureau

a federal agency established in 1865 to aid newly emancipated slaves and poor whites in the South during the Reconstruction era

Black Codes

restrictive laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War (1865-1866) to control newly freed African Americans, aiming to keep them in subservient roles, ensure cheap labor for plantations (via vagrancy/apprenticeship laws), and maintain white supremacy, effectively re-establishing slavery in all but name before Congressional Reconstruction curtailed them

Thirteenth Amendment

legally abolishing chattel slavery and involuntary servitude (except for criminal punishment) in the U.S.

Fourteenth Amendment

a cornerstone Reconstruction Amendment granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. (including formerly enslaved people) and guaranteeing Equal Protection and Due Process under the law, fundamentally expanding federal power to protect individual rights against state infringement

Fifteenth Amendment

prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude

Reconstruction Acts (1867)

Congressional laws that forcefully restructured the South after the Civil War, placing former Confederate states under military rule (divided into 5 districts) and requiring new state constitutions guaranteeing Black male suffrage and ratifying the 14th Amendment for readmission to the Union

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

the first time a U.S. President was impeached by the House (for violating the Tenure of Office Act by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton) but acquitted by the Senate, stemming from bitter clashes with Radical Republicans over Reconstruction policies and presidential power

Tenure of Office Act

defining Congress's attempt during Reconstruction to limit presidential power, requiring Senate approval for removing cabinet members and other officials previously confirmed by the Senate

Civil Rights Act of 1866

the first federal law defining U.S. citizenship and affirming that all citizens are equally protected by the law, granting African Americans rights to own property, enter contracts, and testify in court, effectively countering Black Codes, and marking a major legislative push during Reconstruction that Congress passed over President Johnson's veto, laying groundwork for the 14th Amendment

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War during Reconstruction

Scalawags

a derogatory term for a white Southerner who supported Reconstruction and cooperated with the Republican Party after the Civil War

Sharecropping

an agricultural labor system in the post-Civil War South where a landowner allowed a tenant to use their land in exchange for a share of the crop

Ku Klux Klan

a white supremacist domestic terrorist organization with three distinct historical iterations significant to APUSH. The common thread across its history is the use of violence and intimidation to suppress the rights of minority groups, primarily African Americans, and enforce white supremacy

Compromise of 1877

an informal agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South