Reconstruction and the New South

Black Codes

Southern laws designed to restrict the rights of the newly freed black slaves

Civil Rights Act of 1866

This secured the rights of freedmen., it gave citizenship to African- Americans

Freedmen's Bureau

government agency founded during Reconstruction to help former slaves

Impeachment

Charges against a president approved by a majority of the House of Representatives

Presidential Reconstruction

was the President's idea of reconstruction : all states had to end slavery, states had to declare that their secession was illegal, and men had to pledge their loyalty to the U.S.

Radical Reconstruction

Reconstruction strategy that was based on severely punishing South for causing war

Reconstruction Act of 1867

This Act was passed by Congress which was vetoed by President Johnson. This Act invalidated the state governments formed under the Lincoln & Johnson plans and all the legal decisions made by those governments.

arson

the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property

black peonage

economic slavery that tied African Americans to sharecropping landlords' lands

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacy organization that intimidated blacks out of their newly found liberties

literacy

a person's ability to read or write

Lynch

to execute, by hanging, without lawful approval

Sharecropping

a tenant farmer who gives a part of each crop as rent.

Social Justice

justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.

wage economy

an economy in which people are paid for their work

15th Amendment (1870)

States cannot deny any person the right to vote because of race.

bribery

the practice of offering something (usually money) in order to gain an illicit advantage

Compromise of 1877 provisions

With drawl federal troops from south, federal money given to South for internal improvements, won southerners on the cabinet

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and sympathized with the South

corruption

dishonest or illegal actions

defect

broke away

Liberal Republicans

In 1872, this party advocated civil service reform, an end of railroad subsidies, withdrawal of troops from the South, reduced tariffs, and free trade.

literacy test

A test given to persons to prove they can read and write before being allowed to register to vote

Panic of 1873, depression

A financial crisis that triggered a depression in North America. Made worse by Grant passing the Coinage Act of 1873 ("The Crime of '73"), which practiced deflationary policy.

poll tax

A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote