Chapter 10: The South Post-Civil War & Reconstruction

Flashcards covering the key vocabulary and concepts from Chapter 10, Lessons 1-3: The South Post-Civil War and Reconstruction.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War focused on rebuilding the South and reintegrating it into the Union.

Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan

Aimed to reconcile the North and South with a moderate policy, offering amnesty to Southerners who pledged loyalty and accepted Union proclamations; if 10% of state voters took the oath, a new state government could be organized.

Radical Republicans

Led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, they sought to revolutionize Southern institutions, habits, and manners, prevent Confederate leaders from regaining power, expand the Republican Party in the South, and protect/expand voting rights for African Americans.

Wade-Davis Bill

Passed by Congress in 1864, it required a majority of white males in Confederate states to take an oath of allegiance, abolish slavery, deprive former officials of the right to vote or hold office, and reject Confederate debt.

Pocket-Veto

Lincoln blocked the Wade-Davis Bill by not signing it before the end of the Congressional session.

Freedmen's Bureau

Established by Congress to help war refugees and former slaves in the South by providing rations, medical supplies, assistance in finding family members, record-keeping (legalizing marriages), job placement, and education.

Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction Plan

Offered to pardon former Confederate citizens who took an oath of loyalty and returned their property (excluding Confederate officials and those with property over $20,000); Confederate states could form new governments if they revoked secession, ratified the 13th Amendment, and rejected Civil War debt.

Black Codes

State laws passed in the South to limit the rights of African Americans and exploit them as workers.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Granted citizenship to all people born in the U.S. (excluding Native Americans) and theoretically allowed African Americans to own property and be treated equally.

14th Amendment

Passed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, it granted citizenship to all born or naturalized in the U.S. and prohibited states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process and equal protection of the laws.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South after the Civil War, often viewed as opportunists but some came to assist or seek new opportunities.

Scalawags

White Southerners who supported Republicans and Reconstruction, including former Whigs, small farmers, and pro-business individuals.

15th Amendment

Enabled African Americans to vote and hold office; stated that the right to vote shall not be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A white supremacist group founded in 1866 that used violence, terror, and intimidation to suppress African Americans and Republicans.

Enforcement Acts (1870–1871)

Federal laws that made voter intimidation a federal crime, put federal elections under federal supervision, and outlawed Klan activities.

Military Reconstruction Act

Divided the former Confederacy (except Tennessee) into 5 military districts, each overseen by a Union general; required Confederate states to give suffrage to all adult males and ratify the 14th Amendment before being readmitted to the Union.

Tenure of Office Act

Required Senate approval for the removal of any government official who had been appointed with the Senate's consent; passed to prevent President Johnson from firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

Command of the Army Act

Required all orders from the president to go through the General of the Army; passed to limit President Johnson's control over the military.

Compromise of 1877

An alleged deal in which Republicans agreed to remove federal troops from the South in exchange for Southern support for Rutherford B. Hayes as president.

Sharecropping

A system in which farmers paid rent with crops, often as much as ⅔ of the harvest. These farmers would then need to buy seeds and supplies often at higher prices.

Crop Liens

Merchants seizer crops if sharecroppers didn’t pay back.

Debt Peonage

Sharecroppers are trapped in the cycle of debt, and can't leave the landlord or get out of debt.