Civil War and Reconstruction

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War in which efforts were made to rebuild and integrate the Southern states back into the Union, with a focus on advancing the interests of African-Americans.

Andrew Johnson

Vice-President who became President after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, known for his racist views and opposition to African-American rights during the Reconstruction era.

Freedmen's Bureau

A federal agency created by Radical Republicans in Congress to support the economic and political well-being of African-Americans in the South after the Civil War.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Legislation passed by Radical Republicans in Congress to advance the rights and freedoms of African-Americans.

14th Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed by Radical Republicans, which granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to African-Americans.

Sharecropping

An economic system in the South where Black tenant farmers were kept economically dependent on their former plantation rulers by farming on leased land.

Black Codes

Laws passed in the South that restricted the rights of African-Americans, including the right to own businesses, testify in court against a White individual, and carry arms.

Ku Klux Klan

A violent group that emerged during Reconstruction and targeted Black Southerners through killings and intimidation, often considered a domestic terrorist group.

Presidential Election of 1876

An election in which Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes were the candidates, resulting in a compromise that ended Reconstruction in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.

Homestead Act of 1862

Legislation that promoted frontier settlement by granting land to individuals who agreed to develop and live on it for a certain period of time.

Reservation

Areas of land set aside by the U.S. government for Native Americans, where they were forcibly relocated during the settlement of the West.

Bison

North American buffalo that were decimated by overhunting and habitat fragmentation during the settlement of the West, nearly leading to their extinction by 1900.