STUDY GUIDE for Reconstruction

Radical Republicans

After the Civil War, a group that believed the South should be harshly punished and thought that Lincoln was sometimes too compassionate towards the South.

Freedmen's Bureau

Organization run by the army to care for and protect southern Blacks after the Civil War

Northern Missionaries

came to the south to help with education reform from 1800-1900

Historical Black Colleges and Universities

Howard University, Spelman College, Xavier University, Morehouse College

Oliver Otis Howard

Leader of the Freedmen's Bureau

Ten Percent Plan

Lincoln's plan allowed a Southern state to form its own government after ten percent of its voters swore an oath of loyalty to the United States

Wade-Davis Bill

1864 Proposed far more demanding and stringent terms for reconstruction; required 50% of the voters of a state to take the loyalty oath and permitted only non-confederates to vote for a new state constitution; Lincoln refused to sign the bill, pocket vetoing it after Congress adjourned.

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Passed by Congress on 9th April 1866 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition.

13th Amendment

abolished slavery

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

15th Amendment

Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

Andrew Johnson

17th President of the United States, A Southerner form Tennessee, as V.P. when Lincoln was killed, he became president. He opposed radical Republicans who passed Reconstruction Acts over his veto. The first U.S. president to be impeached, he survived the Senate removal by only one vote.

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877.

Five Military Districts

Congress wanted to punish the South, and to prevent the ruling class from continuing in power. They passed the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which divided the South into five military districts and outlined how the new governments would be designed.

Black Churches

became a focus of the black community following emancipation; black churches grew exponentially after emancipation; helped blacks protect their freedom

Benjamin Wade

Radical republican who endorsed woman's suffrage, rights for labor unions, and civil rights for northern blacks

Charles Sumner

A leader of the Radical republicans along with Thaddeus Stevens. He was from Massachusetts and was in the senate. His two main goals were breaking the power of wealthy planters and ensuring that freedmen could vote

Thaddeus Stevens

A Radical Republican who believed in harsh punishments for the South. Leader of the Radical Republicans in Congress.

Sharecropping

A system used on southern farms after the Civil War in which farmers worked land owned by someone else in return for a small portion of the crops.

Ku Klux Klan

A secret society created by white southerners in 1866 that used terror and violence to keep African Americans from obtaining their civil rights.

Tenure of Office Act

Required the president to seek approval from the Senate before removing appointees.

Impeachment

Charges against a president approved by a majority of the House of Representatives

Black Codes

Laws denying most legal rights to newly freed slaves; passed by southern states following the Civil War

Vagrancy Laws

Homeless unemployed black Americans were arrested and fined as vagrants. Usually, the person could not afford the fine, and so was sent to county labor or hired out to a private employer

Convict-Lease System

blacks who went to prison taken out and used for labor in slave-like conditions, enforced southern racial hierarchy

Compromise of 1877

Compromise that enables Hayes to take office in return for the end of Reconstruction

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th president of the united states, was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history

Samuel J. Tilden

Hayes' opponent in the 1876 presidential race, he was the Democratic nominee who had gained fame for putting Boss Tweed behind bars. He collected 184 of the necessary 185 electoral votes.

Credit Mobilier

a joint-stock company organized in 1863 and reorganized in 1867 to build the Union Pacific Railroad. It was involved in a scandal in 1872 in which high government officials were accused of accepting bribes.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites

How did former slaves find their lost family members?

In order to find their lost family members, many slaves would use advertisements. Although, this wasn't used at first since many slaves did not know how to read or write. Instead, they would walk to their lost family members' plantations.