Unit 15: Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson

Anti-aristocrat, white supremacist Jacksonian Democrat who altered Lincoln’s 10% Plan to the 10%+ Plan, such that not only were high-ranking former Confederate officials excluded from pardon, but any Joe Schmo worth over $20,000 was excluded, too.

Also vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau and Civil Rights Act which, up until then, had been halting Black Codes, but saw those vetoes overridden by Congress.

Straw to break the camel’s back was firing Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, and, in doing so, breaking the Tenure of Office Act. Got him impeached by the House, but the Senate saved him. Still, Congress took the Reconstruction wheel at this point.

Booker T. Washington

Advocate for African American vocational education and economic progress; his Atlanta Compromise urged gradual integration.

Charles Sumner

Thaddeus Stevens is the House’s Radical Republican leader, this guy is the Senate’s.

Hamilton Fish

Grant's secretary of state; dealt with foreign policy issues like Alabama Claims.

Hiram Revels vs. Blanche Bruce

Revels was the first to be elected, in 1870. Moderate.

Bruce was the first to serve a full six-year term, from 1875 to 1881. Bruce was also the first African American to preside over the Senate. Former slave.

Horace Greeley

Founder of the New York Tribune; promoted abolition and later ran for president as a Liberal Republican.

Ida B. Wells

Journalist and reformer who exposed lynching as a tool to oppress African Americans.

Jay Gould

Gilded Age tycoon known for railroad speculation and corrupt financial practices.

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th president

Grant was bad, so the Republicans had this guy run against Tilden in the Election of 1876. Opposite of Grant. Total boyscout. Democrats let him have the presidency so long as he would end Reconstruction by taking the remaining officers out of the South. Did just that.

Samuel J. Tilden

Democratic candidate in 1876; won the popular vote but lost due to the Compromise of 1877.

Thaddeus Stevens

as a representative, he pretty much led the radical republicans in congressional reconstruction. wanted southern territories under military supervision and the ratification of the 13th and 14th amendments in the south, as they had not actually been there when those were passed up north.

Thomas Nast

Political cartoonist; famous for attacking the Tweed Ring and supporting Reconstruction reforms.

William Seward

Secretary of State under Lincoln and Johnson; purchased Alaska

William "Boss" Tweed

Political boss of Tammany Hall in New York City; symbol of Gilded Age corruption.

Amnesty Act of 1872

Removed voting and office-holding restrictions on most former Confederates.

Atlanta Compromise

Booker T. Washington's speech encouraging blacks to focus on economic self-improvement rather than civil rights.

Black Codes vs. Jim Crow Laws

right after CW. included vagrancy laws and curfews and resulted, if violated, in imprisonment, fines, or having to work off their crime (slavery loopholes)

other ones emerged after Reconstruction ended (1877) and lasted until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. mainly for segregation.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South during Reconstruction to aid or profit from rebuilding efforts.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

First U.S. law affirming citizenship for all people born in the U.S., targeting African Americans.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations; declared unconstitutional in 1883.

Crop-lien system

Credit system for farmers where they can obtain supplies on credit in exchange for a portion of their future harvest.

Enforcement Acts

grant’s failed attempts at reconstruction

• the KKK act 1870-71 or the “lost cause” due to 1st am. protections and masks

Fifteenth Amendment

Banned voting restrictions based on race, color, or previous servitude.

Fourteenth Amendment

Guaranteed citizenship and equal protection to all born in the U.S., targeting African Americans.

Freedmen's Bureau

Federal agency providing aid (food, housing, schools) to freedmen and poor Southern whites.

Greenbacks

Paper currency not backed by gold or silver; sparked debates over inflation and economic policy.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group; used violence to intimidate African Americans and undermine Reconstruction.

Liberal Republicans

Breakaway Republicans who opposed corruption under Grant and sought reconciliation with the South.

New South

Name for the South post Civil War.

Radical Republicans

Faction of Republicans advocating full rights for African Americans and harsh penalties for the South.

Redeemers

Southern Democrats who reclaimed power post-Reconstruction and reversed gains made by African Americans.

Reconstruction bills

Congressional laws designed to rebuild the South, enforce civil rights, and reorganize Southern government.s

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and cooperated with Republicans.

Sharecropping

landowners allowed tenant farmers to work land, with the tenant paying rent by sharing a portion of their harvest with the landowner.

Tenure of Office Act (1867)

Required Senate approval for presidential removal of federal officials; led to Johnson's impeachment.

Thirteenth Amendment

Formally abolished slavery in the U.S. in 1865.

Wade-Davis Bill

Radical Republican Reconstruction plan requiring 50% loyalty oaths from Southern voter; vetoed by Lincoln.

Compromise of 1877

Informal deal that resolved the 1876 election, removing federal troops from the South and ending Reconstruction.

Congressional Reconstruction

Radical Republican-led Reconstruction focusing on equality and military governance of the South.

Credit Mobilier scandal

Corruption involving Union Pacific Railroad and politicians profiting from inflated contracts.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Result of violating the Tenure of Office Act and opposing Congress's Reconstruction efforts.

Panic of 1873

Financial crisis triggered by railroad over-expansion and speculative investments, leading to an economic depression.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court decision that upheld racial segregation under the doctrine of "separate but equal."

Presidential Reconstruction

Lenient approach by Lincoln and Johnson to reintegrate Southern states quickly into the Union.

10% plan - required 10% of 1860 voters to swear loyalty and abolish slavery for state readmission.