Reconstruction Era Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the Reconstruction Era in the United States.

13th Amendment

Slavery and involuntary labor should not exist within the United States, unless it is a punishment for crime. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

14th Amendment

All people born in the U.S are citizens of the U.S. No state is allowed to enforce any law which should deprive anyone from liberty. Guarantees equal protection under law.

Andrew Johnson

Democrat, former Tennessee Senator, Lincoln chose him as Vice President to appeal to Northern Democrats and Southern Unionists.

Impeachment

Putting someone on trial to remove them from office.

Amnesty

Forgetting past deeds, consigning them to oblivion so that they may not become an issue in the future.

Lincoln’s 10% plan

Offered amnesty to most southerners in exchange for oath of allegiance to U.S. Constitution and acceptance of federal laws ending slavery.

Black Codes

Imposed by the state government, restrictive laws that were slightly similar to slavery, for African Americans, refusing to allow marriage, voting and education

Freedmen’s Bureau

Provided aid and and support to formerly enslaved people, also increased their power (education, voting, civil rights).

15th Amendment

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied by the U.S by race, color or previous experiences with slavery.

Poll Tax

A voting restriction for African Americans that allowed them to vote only if they pay.

Literacy Test

A voting restriction that only allowed African Americans to vote if they pass the test.

Jim Crow Laws

Racial segregation, where different racial groups are kept apart in areas like schools, housing, and public facilities.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction, viewed as traitors to the Confederacy.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who came South to participate in Constitutional conventions or sometimes make a profit in the South.

Civil Rights Act

Act declaring every person born in the US was a citizen with full rights, extended into the 14th amendment, cannot provoke someone’s citizenship based off color or race if literally born in US.

Debt Peonage

Impossible to get out of debt, started from scratch. The best thing they could do if they were working in the field, was sharecropping.

Sharecropping

Allowed to live on land where working, and you could get crops at the end of the season. Recieved little money. A system that was set up to keep them in debt.

Booker T. Washington

A Reformer/educator during reconstruction, he thought that African Americans should focus on improving their economic power and success in order to be seen as equals to whites.

Compromise of 1877

During the 1876 election there was a dispute/close election between the two candidates, Hayes and Tilden. To resolve the dispute, they came up with a compromise. The compromise being that the federal troops would be removed from the south in order for them agreeing to Hayes becoming president

Ku Klux Klan

Terrorist group that targeted: Republican politicians, African Americans who voted for Republicans, Successful African Americans, White supporters of Reconstruction Murdered and physically attacked victims, Burned homes, schools, churches, and farms, Used terror to intimidate Black and white supporters of Reconstruction