Chapter 15: Reconstruction

Flashcards created to review key concepts from Chapter 15 on Reconstruction, helping students grasp the complexities and significant events of this period.

What was the Freedmen’s Bureau?

An agency established by Congress in March 1865 to provide social, educational, economic services, and advice/protection to ex-slaves.

What was the primary focus of the Radical Republicans during Reconstruction?

They favored abolition and advocated for full rights for ex-slaves in the South.

What did the Black Codes aim to do after the Civil War?

The Black Codes aimed to deny citizenship rights and control labor and mobility of freed blacks.

What was the significance of the Fourteenth Amendment?

It guaranteed rights of citizenship to former slaves and others born or naturalized in the U.S.

What was the purpose of the Reconstruction Act of 1867?

It declared Southern state governments inoperative, divided former Confederate states into military districts, and mandated the writing of new constitutions guaranteeing universal male suffrage.

Who was impeached during Reconstruction?

President Andrew Johnson was impeached primarily due to his violation of the Tenure of Office Act.

What did the Fifteenth Amendment accomplish?

It officially granted the right to vote to African American men and other citizens.

What was sharecropping?

A labor system where landowners furnished laborers with housing, farm animals, and tools in exchange for a share of the laborers' crop.

What effect did the Ku Klux Klan have during Reconstruction?

The KKK sought to enforce white supremacy and terrorized African Americans and their allies, particularly in political contexts.

What was the outcome of the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson?

It established the doctrine of 'separate but equal,' which upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation.

How did the Dawes Act affect Native Americans?

It terminated tribal ownership of most reservation lands and allocated parcels to individual Native Americans, opening remaining land to white settlers.

What were the implications of the Homestead Act of 1862?

It provided 160 acres of land free to anyone who would live and farm it for five years, encouraging westward expansion.