Reconstruction Era: Key Terms and Amendments in U.S. History

Reconstruction

The rebuilding of the South after the Civil War.

Need for Reconstruction

Effort to rebuild the South, restore the Union, provide jobs for soldiers, rebuild infrastructure, and help formerly enslaved people adjust to freedom.

10 Percent Plan

Lincoln's plan allowing a Southern state to rejoin the Union after 10% of voters swore loyalty to the U.S.

Wade-Davis Bill

Plan that denied voting and office-holding rights to former Confederates.

Andrew Johnson

Lincoln's vice president who became president after Lincoln's assassination; favored mild Reconstruction.

Radical Republicans

Members of Congress who wanted strong Reconstruction and voting rights for freedmen.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Law granting African Americans citizenship and equal rights; vetoed by Johnson.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

Guaranteed equal protection of the laws and citizenship.

15th Amendment

Prohibited denying voting rights based on race.

Johnson's Reconstruction Plan

Required Southern states to withdraw secession, swear allegiance, cancel Confederate debt, and ratify the 13th Amendment.

Radical Republican Reaction

Opposition to Johnson's plan because it failed to protect land rights, voting rights, and legal protection for freed people.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Divided the South into five military districts and required new constitutions guaranteeing black male suffrage.

Impeachment

The process of bringing formal charges against a government official.

Andrew Johnson Impeachment

Johnson was impeached but not removed from office by one vote.

Ulysses S. Grant

Former Union general elected president in 1868.

Enforcement Act of 1870

Gave the federal government power to punish those who blocked African Americans from voting.

Freedmen's Bureau

Organization that helped formerly enslaved people with education, jobs, and food.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South after the Civil War, often viewed as exploiting the region.

Sharecropping

System where farmers rented land and paid with a share of their crops.

40 Acres and a Mule

Proposed plan to give land to freedmen that was never fully enacted.

African American Political Participation

Voting and holding office became the greatest gain of Reconstruction for African Americans.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

White supremacist group that used violence to oppose Reconstruction and black political rights.

Jim Crow

System of racial segregation and discrimination in the South.

Amnesty Act of 1872

Restored voting and office-holding rights to many former Confederates.

Panic of 1873

Economic crisis caused by overinvestment and bank failures.

5-Year Depression

Economic downturn causing unemployment, wage cuts, and business failures.

Judicial Rollbacks

Supreme Court decisions that weakened the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Election of 1876

Disputed election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden.

Compromise of 1877

Agreement that ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops from the South.

End of Reconstruction

Federal withdrawal allowed Democrats to regain control of Southern governments.

Legacy of Reconstruction (Mistakes)

Failure to protect civil rights, provide land, and address racism.

Legacy of Reconstruction (Successes)

End of slavery, passage of Reconstruction Amendments, and growth of African American institutions.