APUSH Period 5 PT2

Radical Republicans

A group of Republicans in Congress during Reconstruction who believed the South should be punished for the Civil War and that the federal government had a responsibility to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people. They pushed for strict Reconstruction policies and civil rights amendments.

Emancipation Proclamation

An order issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that declared enslaved people in Confederate states to be free. It did not end slavery everywhere, but it changed the purpose of the Civil War by making emancipation a central goal.

Jefferson Davis

The president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War who led the Southern states after secession and became the political symbol of resistance to the Union.

Robert E. Lee

The top general of the Confederate army whose surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in 1865 effectively ended the Civil War.

George McClellan

A Union general known for being overly cautious and hesitant to attack Confederate forces, which frustrated Abraham Lincoln and slowed early Union success in the war.

Ulysses S. Grant

The most successful Union general who used aggressive tactics and total war to defeat the Confederacy and later became president of the United States.

10% Plan

A lenient Reconstruction plan proposed by Abraham Lincoln that allowed Southern states to rejoin the Union once 10 percent of voters swore loyalty to the United States and accepted the end of slavery.

Wade-Davis Bill

A Reconstruction plan proposed by Congress that required a majority of white male citizens in Southern states to swear loyalty before rejoining the Union, reflecting Radical Republican demands for harsher Reconstruction.

Black Codes

Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War that restricted the freedoms of African Americans and attempted to maintain white control over labor and society.

Freedmen’s Bureau

A federal agency created to assist formerly enslaved people by providing food, education, medical care, and help finding employment during Reconstruction.

Civil Rights Act 1866

A law passed in 1866 that granted African Americans citizenship and guaranteed equal protection under the law, directly challenging discriminatory Southern laws.

13th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that permanently abolished slavery throughout the United States.

14th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that granted citizenship to all people born in the United States and guaranteed equal protection under the law.

15th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that prohibited states from denying voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

National Women’s Suffrage Association

An organization founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony that focused on securing women’s right to vote through a constitutional amendment.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system where formerly enslaved people worked land owned by others in exchange for a share of the crops, often trapping families in long-term debt.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and worked with Republicans, often viewed as traitors by other Southerners.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction, often to participate in politics or business, and were accused by Southerners of exploiting the region.

Civil Rights Act 1875

A law passed in 1875 that attempted to guarantee equal access to public accommodations regardless of race but was poorly enforced and later ruled unconstitutional.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist organization that used violence, intimidation, and terror to oppose Reconstruction and suppress African American voting.

Andrew Johnson

The president who took office after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and favored lenient Reconstruction policies, frequently clashing with Radical Republicans.

Charles Sumner

A Radical Republican senator who strongly supported civil rights for African Americans and was nearly beaten to death in the Senate before the Civil War.

Thaddeus Stevens

A Radical Republican leader in the House of Representatives who pushed for harsh Reconstruction policies and equal rights for freedmen.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A leading women’s rights activist who helped organize the women’s suffrage movement and co-founded a major suffrage organization after the Civil War.