CHP 22/ 23 - The Ordeal of Reconstruction 1865-1877

Flashcards covering key concepts and terms related to the Reconstruction Era, focusing on legislation, social changes, and political challenges.

Reconstruction

The period from 1865 to 1877 in which the United States aimed to reunite the nation and integrate formerly enslaved people into society.

Radical Republicans

A faction within the Republican Party that advocated for civil rights and severe reconstruction measures in the South.

Freedmen's Bureau

A federal agency created in 1865 to aid freed slaves in the South during the Reconstruction era.

15th Amendment

Constitutional amendment ratified in 1870 that granted African American men the right to vote.

Black Codes

Laws passed in Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the freedoms of African Americans.

Compromise of 1877

A political agreement that resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction.

De Facto Segregation

The practice of segregating people based on factors such as race or ethnicity without legal mandate.

Amnesty

A government pardon for those who have been convicted of political offenses.

Literacy Tests

Examinations formerly used to deny the right to vote to African Americans and other voters who could not read or write.

Poll Taxes

Fees required to vote that were used to disenfranchise poor African Americans and many poor whites.

Civil Rights Act

A landmark piece of legislation passed in 1964 that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

13th Amendment

The constitutional amendment ratified in 1865 that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States.

14th Amendment

The constitutional amendment ratified in 1868 that granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and guaranteed equal protection of the laws.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States from the late 19^{th} century until 1965.

Plessy v. Ferguson

An 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were \"separate but equal.\"

Sharecropping

A system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced, often leading to a cycle of debt.

Carpetbaggers

A derogatory term applied to Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War to participate in Reconstruction governments or seek economic gain.

Scalawags

A derogatory term for Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party after the Civil War.