HIST 041 Week 15 (Vocabulary)

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War, in which States who had seceded from the United States were brought back into the Union

Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan

Lincoln's plan for reconstructing Southern states was the most lenient, and only required 10% of a state's population that voted in 1860 to swear loyalty to the United States. Once that happened, Southern states could govern themselves and be represented in Congress

Johnson's Plan for Reconstruction

After Lincoln's assassination, Johnson took over Reconstruction, and his plan was initially required more from the South, but then relaxed the requirements for re-entry to the United States. This infuriated the Republican Congress

The Freedmen's Bureau

Organization established to provide support for former slaves, as well as poor whites in the South. It provided Food, medical aid, legal support, and educational opportunities

Confederate Pardons

Under Johnson's plan for Reconstruction, Confederate leaders were required to receive a presidential pardon before they could participate in the United States. Johnson initially rarely granted these pardons, but he increasingly granted them, and returned land to these wealthy Southern whites (even taking them away from former slaves who had been given that land)

Black Codes

A series of laws passed in Southern States during Reconstruction, that were specifically designed to regulate the lives of former slaves, and limit their participation in Southern society. Examples of Black Codes were laws that forbade freedmen from owning land, doing any job except farming, and laws that allowed police to arrest Black people who were gathering in groups

Civil Rights Bill 1866

This law, passed by Congress over a presidential veto, declared that former slaves were citizens of the United States. This law eventually would be part of the 14th amendment

13th Amendment

abolished slavery in the United States

14th Amendment

Guaranteed the right of citizenship for all people born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves. This amendment also guaranteed that all citizens would enjoy equal protection under the law

15th Amendment

Guaranteed voting rights for all male citizens of the United States

Redeemers

a political coalition in the South during Reconstruction. Redeemers were the Southern wing of the Democratic Party. They sought to regain their political power and enforce white supremacy

Carpetbaggers

a derogatory term applied by Southerners to opportunistic Northerners who came to the South after the Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the local populace for their own financial, political, and/or social gain

Scalawags

A derogatory term applied to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War. The word has a long history of use as a slur in the South

Congressional Reconstruction

Also known as Radical Reconstruction, this is the period where Congress controlled the process of bringing Southern states back into the United States. The Congress was trying to force the South to accept the legal equality of freedmen, and to punish the Confederate leaders

Compromise of 1877

an unwritten deal, informally arranged among U.S. Congressmen, that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election. Rutherford B. Hayes received the votes to become the president, and in return, the last troops were pulled out of the South, thus ending the Reconstruction Era

Sharecropping

a legal arrangement with agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case in 1896 that upheld the practice of segregation in public places, using the phrase "separate but equal."

Poll Tax

A practice in the South where potential voters were required to pay a tax in order to register to vote. It effectively kept a large portion of the Black population of Southern states from exercising their right to vote

Grandfather clause

laws in Southern states that attempted to keep Black men from exercising their right to vote. These laws stated that a person couldn't vote unless their grandfather had been able to vote (since most freedmen's grandfathers had been slaves, they were excluded)