HIST-222: Reconstruction Era (1865-1877)

Reconstruction Era

The period after the Civil War focused on reintegration of the South into the Union, defining the civil status of freedpeople, and establishing the meaning of freedom.

Lincoln's Presidential Reconstruction

A plan aimed at restoring the Union with leniency toward the South, allowing southerners to take an oath of allegiance whereby 10 percent of a state

’s voting population could establish loyal Unionist governments.

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued on January 1, 1863, it committed the U.S. to abolition in rebellious areas, freeing only those enslaved in certain zones and leaving more than 4{,}000{,}000 in bondage elsewhere.

Thirteenth Amendment

Passed on January 31, 1865, it abolished slavery 'except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted' and granted Congress power to enforce the amendment.

Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction Plan

Offered rapid restoration to the Union under a lenient plan, requiring provisional southern governments to void secession ordinances, repudiate Confederate debts, and ratify the Thirteenth Amendment.

Black Codes

Laws enacted in southern states (e.g., Mississippi) designed to reassert white supremacy and control Black labor and mobility, granting some rights but denying core rights like jury service for Black men or testimony against whites.

Vagrancy Laws

Laws requiring freedpeople to prove employment, with failure leading to arrest, fines, and forced labor, effectively echoing slavery 'by another name'.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Passed by Republicans in Congress, it defined citizenship for all American-born residents (except Native peoples) and protected fundamental rights.

Fourteenth Amendment

Ratified in July 1868, it guaranteed birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law, signaling federal enforcement of the Bill of Rights over states’ authority.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Dissolved southern state governments and divided the South into five military districts, requiring states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, draft new constitutions, enfranchise African Americans, and abolish Black Codes before readmission.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

President Johnson faced impeachment for obstructionism related to Reconstruction policies, narrowly avoiding removal and reinforcing Congressional power.

Scalawags

White Southerners who supported the Republican-leaning governments and Reconstruction coalition in the South.

Carpetbaggers

Northern newcomers who moved to the South during Reconstruction, often supporting the Republican coalition.

Hiram Revels

A key early Black officeholder who served as a U.S. Senator for Mississippi during Reconstruction.

Blanche K. Bruce

A key early Black officeholder who served as a U.S. Senator for Mississippi during Reconstruction.

P. B. S. Pinchback

Served as Louisiana’s governor for 34 days during impeachment proceedings, becoming the first Black governor until 1989.

Freedmen's Bureau

An agency aimed at assisting formerly enslaved people, initially with land redistribution, but later shifting to aid in labor contracts and establishing courts to address abuses.

Special Field Order No. 15

General William T. Sherman’s proposal for land redistribution in Georgia and South Carolina for freedpeople, which ultimately lacked lasting authority and was not fully implemented.

Family Reconstitution (Reconstruction)

A major goal for freedpeople during Reconstruction, involving searching for long-lost relatives, legally formalizing marriages, and seeking control over their own children and labor contracts.

American Equal Rights Association (AERA)

Formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton after joining the national abolitionist movement, it merged abolitionism with women’s rights work in 1866, advocating for universal suffrage.

Fifteenth Amendment

Prohibited voting discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude; ratified in 1870, but did not enfranchise women.

New Departure Strategy

A strategy that emerged from the NWSA (National Woman Suffrage Association) to argue that the Constitution already guaranteed women voting rights through citizenship.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A vigilante group that emerged in 1866 and spread to most former Confederate states by 1868, using violence to suppress Black political participation, intimidate voters, and prevent land ownership and economic independence.

Enforcement Acts (1870–1871)

Federal government legislation that criminalized the deprivation of civil rights and authorized military protection against Klan violence during Reconstruction.

Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act

Federal policy that funded the creation of new higher education institutions (e.g., state universities) that spurred postwar development.

Greenbacks

Fiat currency (not backed by gold or silver) introduced in 1861 during the Civil War to finance government spending.

Black Friday Stock Market Crash (1869)

A financial event on September 24, 1869, signaling financial volatility and contributing to political backlash against centralized federal economic policy.

Redeemers

White Democrats who regained political power in the South, promising white-only rule and marking a shift away from Reconstruction-era policies.

Panic of 1873

An economic depression that worsened conditions, reducing support for Reconstruction and undermining reform coalitions in the North.

Mississippi Plan (1875)

A strategy employed in Mississippi that used violence and intimidation to suppress Black voters, with limited federal intervention.

Compromise of 1877

A political agreement from the contested Hayes-Tilden election of 1876, which awarded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for removing federal troops from the South and granting economic favors to the region, effectively ending federal Reconstruction.