APUSH - Chapter 15

Civil Rights Act of 1866

The first United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law

14th Amendment

A reconstruction Amendment that 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"

Equal protection of the laws

A phrase that requires states to guarantee the same rights, privileges, and immunities to all citizens

15th amendment

An amendment that prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude"

Credit Mobilier

a major scandal where insiders in the Union Pacific formed a construction company and then hired themselves to build the railroad at inflated prices, bribing congressmen to keep it quiet.

William (Boss) Tweed

The powerful leader of the Tammany Hall political machine, known for his massive corruption

Patronage

The practice of granting favors, contracts or appointments to office in return for political supports (also known as the spoils system)

Spoilsmen

A derogatory term for politicians who expected government jobs and favors after a political party victory

Thomas Nast

A prominent political cartoonist who was known for exposing the corruption of Tammany Hall and William Tweed.

Horace Greeley

A newspaper editor who was the Liberal Republican and Democratic presidential candidate in 1872, running against Ulysses S. Grant.

Liberal Republicans

A political party formed in opposition to the corruption of the Grant administration and the Republicans Party's Reconstruction policies

Panic of 1873

A severe economic depression in the United States, triggered by bank failures, over speculation and the collapse of the railroad industry

Greenbacks

Paper money issued by the U.S. government during the Civil War that was not backed by gold or silver

Redeemers

Southern white Democrats who sought to regain political power and end Reconstruction in the South, often using tactics of intimidation and violence.

Rutherford B. Hayes

A republican candidate in the disputed election of 1876 who became president through the compromise of 1877

Samuel J. Tilden

A democratic candidate in the disputed election of 1876 who won the popular vote, but lost the presidency due to the Compromise of 1877.

Compromise of 1877

A political deal that resolved the disputed 1876 election, resulting in Rutherford B. Hayes become president in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

Pres. Lincoln’s plan (aka 10% plan) for Reconstruction, which offered a pardon to most Confederates who took an oath of loyalty to the Union and accepted the abolition of slavery.

Wade

Davis Bill (1864)

Freedmen’s Bureau

A federal agency established to aid former enslaved people and poor whites in the south during Reconstruction, providing food, education, healthcare, and legal assistance.

Andrew Johnson

17th president of the United States. Succeeded after Lincoln was assassinated and clashed with Congress over Reconstruction policies

Presidential Reconstruction

A plan by Andrew Jackson, requiring Southern states to ratify the 13th Amendment and deny Confederate debt.

Black Codes

Laws passed by Southern states to restrict the freedom of Afeican americans. The codes maintained white supremacy and a labor force similar to slavery, enacted immediately after the Civil War.

Congressional Reconstruction

Period after 1866 when Radical Republicans in congress took control of Reconstruction, implementing stricter measures in the south to protect the rights of newly freed African Americans

Radical Republicans

A faction of the republican party which advocated for the abolition of slavery, the enfranchisement of African Americans and harsh punishment for the Confederacy.

Charles Sumner

A leading Radical Republican Senator. A vocal abolitionist and a key figure in pushing for civil rights and a stricter reconstruction policy.

Thaddeus Stephens

A leading Radical Republican who championed legislation for African American rights and land redistribution in the South

Benjamin Wade

A Radical Republican senator from Ohio. Prominent figure in impeachment proceedings against Andrew Jackson, co sponsor of the Wade David Bill

Reconstruction Acts (1867)

Laws that divided the post war south into five military districts. The acts established conditions for Southern States to be readmitted to the Union, including ratifying the 14th amendment and granting voting rights for African American men.

Tenure of Office Act (1867)

A federal law that restricted the power of the President to remove certain officeholders without Senate approval. Johnson went against this, leading to his impeachment

Edwin Stanton

U.S. secretary of War during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Johnson directly violated the terms of the Tenure of Office Act when he attempted to dismiss Stanton.

Impeachment

The formal process by which a legislative body levels charges against a high

“Scalawags”

A derogatory term used by Southern Democrats for white southerners who cooperated with the Republican Reconstruction efforts

“Carpetbaggers”

a term used by southerners to convey their discomfort against northerners who moved to the south after the civil war.

Blanche K. Bruce

The first African American senator to complete a full term in the U.S. Senate

Hiram Revels

The first African American senator, representing Mississippi

Sharecropping

A system of agriculture where a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land.

Ku Klux Klan

white supremacist domestic terrorist organization that used violence and intimidation to suppress the rights of minority groups and maintain white dominance

Force Acts (1870, 1871)

The force acts were a series of laws passed by the U.S. congress during the reconstruction era to protect the rights of African Americans and to suppress the Ku Klux Klan by authorizing the use of federal troops and suspending habeas corpus in areas where the Klan was active.

Amnesty Act (1872)

A U.S. federal law that removed voting restriction and restored political rights to all but about 500 former Confederate leaders