Reconstruction and the New South – Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from Reconstruction and the New South.

Ten Percent Plan

Lincoln's Reconstruction plan that allowed a rebel state to form a Union government once 10% of those who voted in 1860 took an Oath of Allegiance and received a presidential pardon.

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (Dec 8, 1863)

Lincoln-era proclamation permitting rebel states to rejoin the Union after oath and pardon requirements.

Oath of Allegiance

A pledge to support the Constitution and the Union; required by Reconstruction plans for participating in government formation.

Wade-Davis Bill

1864 bill demanding a majority of white male citizens swear allegiance and an ironclad loyalty oath; would bar former Confederates from voting or holding office; vetoed by Lincoln.

Pocket veto

Presidential veto by withholding signature until Congress adjourns, effectively killing a bill.

Andrew Johnson

Succession president who followed Lincoln; his Reconstruction plan resembled Lincoln's; faced impeachment but survived conviction by one vote.

Proclamation of Amnesty (May 29, 1865)

Johnson's amnesty proclamation granting pardon and establishing loyalist provisional governments.

Provisional governors

Loyal Unionists named to organize conventions and govern temporarily in the South.

Renounce secession

One of the requirements for Southern states under Johnson's plan to rejoin the Union.

Abolish slavery

Obligatory step under Reconstruction plans, achieved by ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment.

Ratify Thirteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery.

Repudiate state debts

Debt repudiation required to separate state governments from Confederate obligations.

Black Codes

Laws in the South restricting the rights of freedpeople, prompting Congressional backlash.

Joint Committee on Reconstruction

Congressional committee formed to study and formulate a Reconstruction plan after the Southern states acted.

Reconstruction Acts (March 2, 1867)

Three acts that began Congressional Reconstruction, reorganizing the South into military districts and setting readmission conditions.

Readmission (1868)

Six Southern states completed Reconstruction and were readmitted to the Union by 1868.

Political Reconstruction completed (1870)

By 1870, the political dimension of Reconstruction was finished, restoring governance in the South under new political arrangements.

Impeachment of Johnson

Johnson was impeached by the House and came within one vote of conviction in the Senate; remained in office after settlement.

Ulysses S. Grant

Elected president in 1868; led Reconstruction-era Republican governance in the South.

Redemption

Effort by whites to regain control: whites who cooperated with Republicans faced intimidation; Blacks faced terror and silencing.

Ku Klux Klan

Secret organization that terrorized freedpeople and Republicans to undermine Reconstruction.

Freedmen's Bureau

Established March 1865 to aid freedpeople; oversaw labor contracts and basic assistance.

Labor contracts

Agreements between freedmen and planters overseen by the Freedmen's Bureau, defining work terms after emancipation.

Sharecropping

Tenant farming system where the worker earns a share of the crop rather than wages; often linked to debt.

Crop lien

Mortgage on a year's crop to secure seed, supplies, and fertilizer; contributed to a cycle of debt.

Tenant farming

System where tenants farm land for rent or a share of the crop, common in the postwar South.

New South

Term coined by Henry W. Grady advocating diversification of agriculture, industrialization, education, and improved race relations.

Henry W. Grady

Editor who popularized the 'New South' concept in 1886.

Bourbons

Leaders of the southern Democratic party seeking to undo Republican Reconstruction gains.

Disfranchisement

Efforts to deny Blacks the vote through measures like poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation.

Poll taxes

Taxes levied to vote, used to suppress Black suffrage in the South.

Literacy tests

Racially biased tests used to disenfranchise Black voters.

Jim Crow laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation in the South starting in the 1880s.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court decision establishing the 'separate but equal' doctrine in public facilities.

Fifteenth Amendment

Amendment (ratified 1870) prohibiting voter discrimination on basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.