Key Events and Policies of Reconstruction Era

Lincoln's 10% Plan

A lenient policy that allowed Southern states to rejoin the Union when 10% of voters pledged loyalty and accepted emancipation. Aimed at healing, not punishment.

Lincoln's Assassination (April 1865)

Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth just after the war ended. His death made Reconstruction more contentious, as his successor was less skilled and more sympathetic to the South.

Radical Republicans

Congressional faction that pushed for harsh punishment of the South and full rights for freedmen. Clashed with Johnson and led much of Reconstruction policy.

Andrew Johnson - Reconstruction Plan and Impeachment

Johnson's lenient plan returned property to ex-Confederates and allowed Southern governments to form without Black voting rights. He was impeached (but not removed) for violating the Tenure of Office Act, mostly because of his obstruction of Reconstruction.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment (1868)

Guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the law for all born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people.

15th Amendment (1870)

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It did not protect voting based on gender.

Freedmen's Bureau

A federal agency created to aid freed slaves and poor whites. It provided food, housing, education, and legal support. Underfunded and resisted by Southerners.

Sharecropping

A system where freedmen worked land owned by whites in exchange for a share of the crop. It often led to debt and economic dependence, mirroring slavery in many ways.

Black Codes

Southern laws that restricted the freedom of African Americans, limiting their rights to work, move, or testify in court. Aimed to maintain white supremacy.

Jim Crow Laws

Post-Reconstruction laws that enforced racial segregation in public places and services. Legalized in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) under 'separate but equal.'

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A white supremacist group that used terror and violence to suppress Black political activity and restore white rule in the South. The Enforcement Acts tried to combat it.

Compromise of 1877

Resolved the disputed Election of 1876 by giving the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for removing federal troops from the South, officially ending Reconstruction. It allowed Redeemer governments to take over and led to the rollback of Black rights.