The Civil War and Reconstruction Era

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery (1865)

14th Amendment

Gave citizenship to all people born in the U.S. and required states to treat all citizens equally (1868)

15th Amendment

Established that voting cannot be denied based on race (1870)

Jim Crow Laws

Segregated (divided) people based on their skin color

Literacy Test

Test given to see if someone was able to read/write before voting

Poll Tax

Money that had to be paid before someone could vote

Grandfather Clause

If your father or grandfather (or any relative) voted before you, you wouldn’t have to pay a poll tax and wouldn’t have to take a literacy test

Emancipation Proclamation

Document that stated all enslaved people in Confederate States were to be freed

Ratify

To approve something (usually a law)

Black Codes

Unfair laws passed by Southern States to limit black people’s rights

Reparations

To edit/redo a law that was already passed

Impeachment

To vote someone out of office

Freedmen’s Bureau 

Provided former enslaved people resources to thrive

Sharecropping

A way for landowners to still be able to have workers (legal slavery)

Plessy vs. Ferguson

Case that tried to prove that segregation was cruel, but the Supreme Court then ruled slavery to be legal

Lincoln’s Plan

Was easy on the Southerners who wanted to be back in the Union, also known as the 10% plan

Johnson’s Plan

Was harsh on the Southerners who wanted to be back in the Union, known as the 50% plan

Radical Republicans

Wanted to help black people the most, had no %