Reconstruction Era: Key Legislation, Amendments, and Political Movements

Freedmen's Bureau (1865-1872)

A federal agency created to aid formerly enslaved people and poor whites after the Civil War. Provided food, clothing, medical care, and education. It also helped negotiate labor contracts and establish schools. It was the first major federal welfare agency in U.S. history.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system that replaced slavery. Landless farmers (freedmen and poor whites) worked a plot of land owned by someone else in exchange for a 'share' of the crop. Trapped farmers in a cycle of debt because they had to borrow for supplies and often ended the year owing more than they earned, creating a new form of economic dependency.

Crop Lien

A credit system used in the sharecropping system. Farmers used their future crops as collateral to get loans for seeds, tools, and other supplies from merchants or landowners. The high interest rates and the lien itself ensured that debt accumulated year after year, making it nearly impossible for sharecroppers to become independent landowners.

Black Codes (1865-1866)

Laws passed by Southern state governments after the Civil War. Designed to restrict the freedom of African Americans and force them into a labor system as close to slavery as possible. They limited Black people's rights to own property, conduct business, buy/lease land, and move freely through public spaces. Outraged Northerners and convinced Radical Republicans that the South was not accepting the war's outcome, leading to the imposition of Radical Reconstruction.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

The first U.S. federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law. Declared that all persons born in the U.S. (except Native Americans) were citizens and granted them equal rights, regardless of race. It was passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto. It was the first major legislative victory for Radical Republicans and laid the groundwork for the 14th Amendment.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States (except as punishment for a crime).

14th Amendment (1868)

Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people. It guaranteed 'equal protection of the laws' and 'due process of law.'

15th Amendment (1870)

Prohibited the denial of the right to vote based on 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude.'

Reconstruction Act of 1867

A law passed by Radical Republicans in Congress. It placed the Southern states (except Tennessee) under military rule, requiring them to draft new state constitutions guaranteeing Black male suffrage and ratify the 14th Amendment to be readmitted to the Union. It began the period known as 'Radical Reconstruction' and marked a shift of power from the President to Congress.

Carpetbaggers

A derogatory term used by Southern whites. Referred to Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction, often accused of carrying all their possessions in a carpetbag suitcase to profit from the region's turmoil. Their motives were mixed—some were entrepreneurs, teachers, or reformers, while others were opportunistic.

Scalawags

A derogatory term used by Southern Democrats. Referred to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction and cooperated with the Republican Party. They were often non-slaveholding farmers or businessmen who saw cooperation as a path to modernization or a break from the old plantation elite.

Blanche Bruce

The first Black senator to serve a full term, representing Mississippi starting in 1875.

Women's Rights Movement

A movement for expanded legal and political rights for women.

14th and 15th Amendments

Amendments that granted voting rights and citizenship to Black men but excluded women.

Impeachment (of Andrew Johnson, 1868)

The process of charging a government official with a crime, specifically President Andrew Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act.

Tenure of Office Act

A law that was violated by President Andrew Johnson when he fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without Congressional approval.

Radical Republicans

A faction of Congressmen within the Republican Party who believed the South should be punished for the war and advocated for full citizenship and civil rights for African Americans.

Reconstruction Amendments

Amendments aimed at establishing civil rights for African Americans during Reconstruction.

Freedmen's Bureau

An agency established to aid freed slaves during the Reconstruction era.

Military Reconstruction

The process of rebuilding the South with military oversight after the Civil War.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

A war between the United States and Mexico following the U.S. annexation of Texas.

Mexican Cession

The territory acquired by the U.S. as a result of the Mexican-American War, including California and the modern-day Southwest.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

A proposed amendment stating that slavery should be prohibited in any territory acquired from Mexico.

Free Soil Party (1848-1854)

A single-issue political party that opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Compromise of 1850

A package of five laws intended to resolve disputes over slavery in territories acquired from the Mexican-American War.

California

Admitted as a free state under the Compromise of 1850.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law that was strengthened under the Compromise of 1850, requiring the return of escaped slaves.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that allowed territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery.

Washington, D.C.

The location where the slave trade was banned (but not slavery) under the Compromise of 1850.

Civil War

A conflict that was temporarily postponed by the Compromise of 1850 but inflamed tensions due to the harsh Fugitive Slave Act.

Banned slave trade in Washington, D.C.

It temporarily postponed a civil war but inflamed tensions due to the harsh Fugitive Slave Act.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

Part of the Compromise of 1850; it required citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves and denied alleged fugitives the right to a jury trial, imposing heavy penalties on those who helped enslaved people escape.

Significance of the Fugitive Slave Act

It outraged Northerners, turned many into active abolitionists, and made the conflict over slavery more personal and violent.

Significance of Popular Sovereignty

Championed by Senator Stephen Douglas, it was intended as a compromise but often led to violent clashes, most famously in 'Bleeding Kansas.'

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

A law proposed by Stephen Douglas that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and established popular sovereignty for both territories.

Significance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act

It caused a political explosion, led to the creation of the Republican Party, and triggered the violent conflict known as 'Bleeding Kansas.'

Republican Party (Founded 1854)

A new political party formed in reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Core Principle of the Republican Party

They were a Northern, sectional party that advocated for 'free labor' and the economic development of the West without slavery.

Significance of the Republican Party

It quickly became a major party, and its first successful presidential candidate was Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

Bleeding Kansas (1854-1859)

A period of violent guerrilla warfare in the Kansas Territory between pro-slavery 'Border Ruffians' and anti-slavery 'Free-Staters.'

Significance of Bleeding Kansas

It was a 'dress rehearsal' for the Civil War, demonstrating that the debate over slavery would be settled with violence.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

A landmark Supreme Court case where the Court ruled that enslaved people were not citizens and could not sue in court.

Key Rulings of Dred Scott v. Sandford

Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories, declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, and the concept of 'free soil' was illegitimate.

Significance of Dred Scott v. Sandford

It was a major victory for the South that enraged the North, strengthened the Republican Party, and pushed the nation closer to war.

John Brown's Assault at Harpers Ferry (1859)

An attempt by radical abolitionist John Brown to start a slave rebellion by seizing a federal arsenal in Virginia.

Significance of John Brown's Assault

He was captured and executed; Northern abolitionists saw him as a martyr, while Southerners viewed the raid as proof the North intended to incite a bloody slave rebellion.

Southern Nationalism

The ideology that the Southern states constituted a separate nation with a distinct culture and interests.

Main Idea of Southern Nationalism

The belief that the 'Southern way of life' was fundamentally different from and threatened by the industrial, anti-slavery North.

Secession (1860-1861)

The act of Southern states formally withdrawing from the United States.

Significance of Secession

Following Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, seven states seceded to form the Confederate States of America, leading to the American Civil War.