Civil war and Reconstruction

Civil War

The conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865 primarily over issues of slavery and states' rights.

Slavery

The institution that was the main cause of the Civil War, particularly the disagreement over its expansion into newly acquired territories.

States' Rights

The argument made by Southern states asserting their right to govern themselves on issues like slavery and tariffs.

Economic and Social Differences

The contrasting economies of the North (industrial) and the South (agricultural and reliant on slavery) leading to tensions.

Abraham Lincoln

The President of the United States during the Civil War who issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Secession

The act of Southern states withdrawing from the Union, starting with South Carolina in December 1860.

Fort Sumter

The first battle of the Civil War that began when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military garrison.

Antietam

The bloodiest single day in American military history, which led to the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Appomattox Court House

The site where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation

An 1863 declaration by Abraham Lincoln that freed slaves in Confederate-held territory.

Confederacy

The group of 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union.

Reconstruction

The period from 1865 to 1877 when the South was rebuilt and re-integrated into the Union.

Radical Republican Plan

A Reconstruction strategy demanding stricter terms for Southern states and more protections for freedmen.

13th Amendment

The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

Freedmen's Bureau

A government agency created to assist freed slaves and poor white Southerners by providing food, housing, and education.

Black Codes

Laws passed in Southern states to restrict the freedoms of African Americans after the Civil War.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist group formed in 1865 that aimed to suppress African American rights.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the South.

Sharecropping

A system where farmers rented land from landowners in exchange for a portion of their crops.

Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests

Methods used by Southern states to disenfranchise African Americans and restrict their voting rights.

War Guilt

The belief that Confederate leaders should publicly ask for pardon as a condition for reintegration into the United States.

Disfranchisement

The temporary loss of voting rights for certain political and military leaders of the Confederacy.

Legacy of Slavery

The long-lasting social and political consequences of slavery's abolition in the United States.