Civil War and Reconstruction Vocabulary

Sectionalism

A strong sense of loyalty to a state or section instead of to the whole country.

Scalawags

Name given by former Confederates to Southern whites who supported Republican Reconstruction of the South.

Emancipation

To free from slavery.

Ironclads

Armored naval vessels.

Carpetbaggers

Name given to Northern whites who moved South after the Civil War and supported the Republicans.

Union

The United States of America; the Northern states during the Civil War.

Confederacy

The Southern states during the Civil War.

Popular Sovereignty

The people rule; that the will of the people is what controls the government.

13th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that outlawed slavery in the US.

14th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that gave citizenship to all former slaves and created naturalization laws.

15th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that gave all men, regardless of race, color, or religion, the right to vote.

Black Codes

Laws passed in the South after the Civil War aimed at controlling freedmen rights, especially voting.

Reconstruction

The reorganization and rebuilding of the former Confederate states after the Civil War.

Slavery

When a person is owned by another and does not have individual rights.

Naturalized Citizen

A person who became a member of the country to which they immigrated and who gained the rights, privileges, and authorities of people born in that country.

Jim Crow Laws

Series of laws that separated whites and blacks in society, with the Supreme Court ruling 'Separate but equal' despite segregation not being equal.