APUSH Chapter 15 Vocab

Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan

This plan offered a path for Confederate states to rejoin the Union if 10% of their 1860 voters pledged allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and emancipation. It was designed to be lenient and quickly restore the Southern states.

Wade Davis Bill

This bill, proposed by Radical Republicans, required a majority (50%) of a state's white male citizens to take a loyalty oath, among other stringent conditions, before readmission to the Union. It demonstrated Congress's desire for a stricter Reconstruction process than Lincoln's plan.

Pocket Veto

A legislative maneuver where the president indirectly vetoes a bill by taking no action on it before Congress adjourns. Lincoln used this to block the Wade-Davis Bill.

John Wilkes Booth

A Southern sympathizer and actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., in April 1865. His actions tragically ended Lincoln's leadership at the start of Reconstruction.

Andrew Johnson

The 17th U.S. President, he succeeded Lincoln and clashed repeatedly with the Republican-controlled Congress over Reconstruction policies. A Southern Democrat who remained loyal to the Union, he was eventually impeached but not removed from office.

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

This plan offered amnesty to most former Confederates if they pledged loyalty, but required Southern states to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment and repudiate Confederate debts. It was largely seen as too lenient by Radical Republicans in Congress.

Thirteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1865, this amendment permanently abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments.

Black Codes

Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the civil rights and civil liberties of newly freed African Americans. These codes aimed to maintain white supremacy and a cheap labor force, effectively a system of quasi-slavery.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Established by Congress in 1865, this federal agency provided practical aid to newly freed African Americans and poor white Southerners. Its services included food, medical care, education, and legal assistance, and it was vital in the transition from slavery to freedom.

Fourteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1868, this amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people, and guaranteed all citizens "equal protection of the laws" and due process. It was a cornerstone of civil rights legislation and a key component of the Radical Republican plan.

“Waving the bloody shirt”

A phrase used during Reconstruction-era election campaigns, usually by Republicans, to remind Northern voters of the human costs of the Civil War and the Democratic Party's role in the Confederacy. This strategy was used to focus public attention on war memories and gain votes.

Radical Republicans

A faction of the Republican Party in Congress who advocated for a stringent Reconstruction policy, emphasizing full political and civil rights for African Americans and punishment for former Confederate leaders. Key figures included Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens.

Charles Sumner

A Radical Republican Senator from Massachusetts, a leading figure in the fight for equal rights for African Americans during Reconstruction. He was a prominent manager in Johnson's impeachment trial.

Thaddeus Stevens

A Radical Republican Representative from Pennsylvania and one of the most powerful members of the House. He advocated for the forceful disenfranchisement of former Confederates and played a key role in drafting the Reconstruction legislation and managing Johnson's impeachment.

Reconstruction Act 1867

Passed over Johnson's veto, this act divided the former Confederacy into five military districts, each commanded by a Union general. States were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and grant voting rights to African American men before readmission to the Union.

Tenure of Office Act / Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Restricted the president from removing certain officeholders without Senate approval. Johnson's removal of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in defiance of this act led the House of Representatives to impeach Andrew Johnson in 1868, though he was acquitted by the Senate.

Fifteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1870, this amendment prohibited the denial of a citizen's right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". It aimed to secure voting rights for African American men nationwide.

Ulysses S. Grant

The Union's leading Civil War general, he was the Republican candidate who won the presidency in 1868, succeeding Andrew Johnson. His two terms were marked by support for Reconstruction but also by scandals and corruption.

Carpetbaggers

A term used by white Southerners for opportunistic Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction. They often arrived with few belongings and sought to profit from the unsettled conditions or to help with the Reconstruction effort.

Scalawags

A derogatory term for white Southerners who collaborated with the Republican Party and the Reconstruction governments, often for personal gain. Many were poor farmers who sought to improve their economic standing.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system common in the post-Civil War South where tenant farmers rented land and housing from a landowner in exchange for a "share" of the annual crop. It was a dominant labor system that trapped many African Americans and poor whites in a cycle of debt.

“crop lein” or “debt peonage”

credit system where farmers secured needed supplies from local merchants by pledging a lien (claim) on their future crops, often with extremely high interest rates. This led to debt peonage, a system of involuntary servitude where workers were bound to their creditor until their debts were paid off, effectively a new form of economic slavery.

Redeemers / Redemption

The Southern Democratic political coalition that sought to regain political power and restore white supremacy in the South after the Civil War. "Redemption" refers to their triumphant return to power and the end of federal intervention in Southern states' affairs.

Ku Klux Klan

A secret society founded in the South after the Civil War that used violence, intimidation, and murder against African Americans and their allies to resist Reconstruction, suppress Black voting, and reassert white control.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

A former Confederate general who became one of the early and prominent leaders (Grand Wizard) of the Ku Klux Klan. He was known for his brutal tactics during the war and his role in post-war racial violence.

Rutherford B. Hayes

The Republican presidential candidate in the disputed election of 1876. His election was secured through the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended federal Reconstruction efforts in the South.

Samuel Tilden

The Democratic candidate in the election of 1876 who initially won the popular vote but lost the contested electoral college vote. He was part of the Compromise of 1877 negotiations.

Compromise of 1877

A political deal that resolved the contested 1876 presidential election. In exchange for the Democrats accepting Rutherford B. Hayes as president, the Republicans agreed to withdraw the remaining federal troops from the South, thus ending Reconstruction.