Reconstruction Era Vocabulary

This flashcard set covers key vocabulary and concepts related to the Reconstruction era in the United States, including political, social, and economic aspects.

Reconstruction

The effort to restore southern states to the Union and to redefine African Americans’ place in American society.

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolished slavery 'except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.'

Black Codes

Laws enacted in Southern states to regulate Black behavior and impose social and economic control; granted some rights but denied fundamental ones like serving on juries or in state militias.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

The first federal attempt to constitutionally define all American-born residents (except Native peoples) as citizens and prohibited any curtailment of citizens’ “fundamental rights.”

Fourteenth Amendment

Granted citizenship and repealed the Taney Court’s Dred Scott (1857) decision; ensured state laws could not deny due process or discriminate against particular groups.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Dissolved state governments and divided the South into five military districts; states had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, write new constitutions enfranchising African Americans, and abolish repressive “Black Codes” before rejoining the Union.

Fifteenth Amendment

Protected the right of Black Americans to vote.

Scalawags

Derisive term used to describe white Republicans in the South.

Carpetbaggers

Term for northerners who traveled to the South during Reconstruction.

Freedmen's Bureau

An organization whose main purpose was to redistribute lands to formerly enslaved people that had been abandoned and confiscated by the federal government.

Special Field Order No. 15

Issued by General William T. Sherman setting aside land in Georgia and South Carolina as a homestead for the freedpeople but never fully took effect.

Ladies’ Memorial Associations (LMAs)

Grew out of the Soldiers’ Aid Society and became the precursor and custodian of the Lost Cause narrative.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

Vigilante groups that arose after the war to terrorize African Americans and Republicans throughout the South aiming to curtail Black political involvement.

Enforcement Acts

Made it criminal to deprive African Americans of their civil rights and deemed violent Klan behavior as acts of rebellion against the United States.

Compromise of 1877

Democrats conceded the presidency to Hayes on the condition that all remaining troops would be removed from the South and the South would receive special economic favors.

Sharecropping

A system where planters broke up large farms into smaller plots tended by single families in exchange for a portion of the crop.

Morrill Land Grant

Helped create colleges such as the University of California, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin facilitating educational advancements.

New Departure Democrats

Focused on business, economics, political corruption, and trade gained strength by distancing themselves from pro-slavery Democrats and Copperheads.