APUSH I Final Exam Chapter15

Reconstruction

• The struggle to define the meaning of freedom and the process of dealing with the completely destroyed South after the war

• A period marked by extreme starvation, homelessness, and a total lack of property for both white and Black Southerners

• A political battle over whether the Confederate government had any legal right to exist

• The complex process of determining how and when Southern states should be readmitted to the Union

• A time of intense social and economic transition as the region moved from a slave-based society to a free labor system

Freedmen

• Former enslaved people who defined freedom as an end to slavery and all injustice associated with it; but it would be long until they found true freedom

• Wanted independence from white control and the right to live as free men and women

• Many initially had no property or possessions and roamed the countryside while searching for economic resources and land redistribution

most numerous of the Republicans in the South; tried to build things like the "colored convention"

13th Amendment

• The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery everywhere in the United States

• One of the mandatory requirements for Southern states to meet before being readmitted to the Union under presidential plans

• Formally ended the legal institution of slavery but did not address political or social equality

Freedmen’s Bureau

• An agency of the army directed by General Oliver O. Howard established by Congress

• Distributed food to millions of former enslaved people and helped poor white people as well

• Established schools staffed by missionaries and teachers sent by Northern societies

• Only a temporary solution because it was too small to deal with all Southern problems and was only authorized to operate for one year

• However, Congress extended its life and widened its powers as a response to "Black Codes"

• Wanted to integrate a fundamental reform of landownership in the South but failed

Redistributed a lot of land to freedmen in some areas and drew most of this land from abandoned plantations

Radical Republicans

• Led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, they wanted to punish the civil and military leaders of the Confederacy

• Argued for the disenfranchisement of many white Southerners and the confiscation of property from wealthy whites who helped the South

• Pushed for the protection of legal rights for freedmen, with some demanding suffrage (the right to vote) for them

• Proposed the Wade-Davis Bill as a stricter alternative to Lincoln's Reconstruction plan

• The ones in Congress passed Reconstruction Bills and overrode Johnson's vetoes on them

• Also passed the Tenure of Office Act and the Command of the Army Act

• -Impeached Johnson as he was interfering with the Radicals' plans

• -Wanted to integrate a fundamental reform of landownership in the South but failed

• After support for Reconstruction was fading, many former Radicals began calling themselves Liberals and cooperating with Democrats

Abraham Lincoln

• President who believed the Confederate government had no right to exist but wanted a lenient Reconstruction to reunite the country

• Proposed the 10% Plan and suggested limited suffrage for Black Southerners

• Disposed the Wade-Davis Bill with a pocket veto; looked towards a new way of Reconstruction after this but nobody knew what he may have produced

• Assassinated at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth, which caused hysteria and conspiracy theories throughout the North

Lincoln’s 10% Plan

• Offered a general pardon to white Southerners (except high officials) who pledged loyalty and accepted the end of slavery

• Allowed a state to set up a government once 10% of the 1860 voters took the oath

• Lincoln wanted to introduce suffrage to Africans who were educated, owned property, and served in Union army

Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee reestablished governments under this plan, though Radicals refused to seat them in Congress

Wade-Davis Bill

• The Radicals’ response to Lincoln's plan which allowed the president to appoint a provisional governor for each state

• Required a majority of white males in the state to pledge allegiance to the Union before the governor could hold a constitutional convention

• Delegates to the convention would be elected by those who swore by the Ironclad Oath (so both delegates and people who voted for delegates had to swear by this oath)

• New state constitutions had to abolish slavery and disenfranchise Confederate civil and military leaders

• Required state governments to repudiate war debts accumulated during the rebellion

• Lincoln disposed of this bill with a pocket veto which enraged the Radical Republicans

Veto/Pocket veto

• A veto is a president's rejection of a bill; a pocket veto is when a president kills a bill by not signing it until Congress adjourns

• Lincoln used a pocket veto on the Wade-Davis Bill; Johnson used regular vetoes on the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Freedmen's Bureau bill to extend their powers/life

• Congress used the override veto process to pass laws over Johnson’s objections

Radicals in Congress also overrode all of Johnson's vetoes on the Reconstruction Bills

Andrew Johnson

• Was almost killed by Booth's associates on the night of Lincoln's assassination

• Lincoln's successor who was a Democrat until joining the Union Party ticket in 1864 (heart stayed Democratic)

• Known for being intemperate and tactless with a personality filled with resentments and insecurities

• Openly hostile toward Black Southerners and opposed to federal laws that would enfranchise them

• vetoed Radicals' Reconstruction Bills but those were overridden; his vetoes towards the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Freedmen's Bureau bill to extend their powers/life were ALSO overridden

• Implemented a plan called “Restoration” which offered pardons to those taking an allegiance oath

• He was eventually impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act by firing Edwin Stanton; eventually acquitted

• Remained in office only because the Senate trial ended one vote short of the 2/3 majority needed to remove him

• his administrations were successful in foreign affairs

“Restoration”

• This was Andrew Johnson’s specific plan for bringing the South back into the Union starting in 1865 (Johnson's plan for Reconstruction)

• It was considered very lenient because it allowed most white Southerners to regain their rights quickly through a simple oath

• BUT, high-ranking Confederate officials/any white Southerner with expensive land (more than $20,000) would have to apply for individual pardons

• Resembled Wade-Davis Bill; the president would appoint a provisional governor in each state

• This governor asked qualified voters to choose representatives for a constitutional convention; A majority of voters was needed, but the total number wasn't set

• in order to win readmission to Congress:

  • states were required to revoke their ordinances of secession and abolish slavery through the 13th Amendment

  • Demanded that Southern states repudiate all war debts accumulated during the rebellion

• To rejoin the Union, the final step for a state was to set up its own government and send representatives to Congress

• Led to the election of former Confederate leaders like Alexander H. Stephens to high office which outraged the North

“Congressional”/ “Radical Reconstruction”

• The phase where Congress took control away from President Johnson to impose much harsher terms on the South

• Driven by the Joint Committee on Reconstruction which investigated Southern conditions and framed new policies

• Involved the passage of the Reconstruction Bills which rejected the existing Lincoln-Johnson governments

• Aimed to fundamentally transform Southern society and protect the modest social, economic, and political gains of Africans

“Black Codes”

• Laws passed by Southern legislatures to give white people control over Africans

• Allowed officials to arrest unemployed Africans, fine them for homelessness, and hire them to private employers

• Forbade Black Southerners from owning/leasing farms or taking jobs other than plantation work or domestic service

• Congress responded to these codes by passing an act extending the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau and widening its powers so it could nullify unfair rules in these codes

• Congress also responded to the codes by introducing the Civil Rights Act of 1866

Civil Rights Act of 1866

• Declared Black Americans to be citizens of the U.S. and gave the federal government power to intervene in state affairs to protect them

• Passed to combat the Black Codes and ensure legal equality

Johnson vetoed it, but Congress passed it anyway using an override

14th Amendment

• Proposed by the Joint Committee on Reconstruction

• Provided the first constitutional definition of citizenship: anyone born or naturalized in the U.S. is a citizen and was entitled to all privileges and immunities guaranteed by the Constitution

• Imposed penalties (no representation in Congress/electoral college) on states that denied suffrage to any adult males

• Prohibited former officials who helped the Confederacy from holding office unless 2/3 of Congress voted to pardon them

Reconstruction Bills

• Vetoed by Johnson and established a coherent plan for Reconstruction

• Three acts passed in 1867 that combined seceded states (except Tennessee) into five military districts (rejected Lincoln-Johnson governments of other Confederate states)

• Each district was put under a military commander who had to register qualified voters

• Qualified voters included all adult Black males and white males who had not participated in the rebellion

• Required states to hold conventions to write constitutions that included Black suffrage

• Once the constitution was approved by Congress and the 14th Amendment was ratified, a state could be restored to the Union

• These bills were passed specifically because the Lincoln-Johnson governments were rejected by Congress

Military districts

• Five zones created in the South under the Reconstruction Bills, each governed by a military commander

• Commanders were responsible for registering qualified voters, including all adult Black males and non-rebellious white males

This system stayed in place until a state's new constitution was approved by Congress and the 14th Amendment was ratified

15th Amendment

• Forbade states and the federal government from denying suffrage based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

• The final major constitutional change of the Radical Reconstruction era

• Led many Northern reformers to mistakenly believe the work of protecting Black rights was finished after this amendment was passed

• Later on, Southern states found ways to evade 15th Amendment when trying to disenfranchise black males

Tenure of Office Act

• passed by Congressional Radicals to stop Johnson from interfering with their plans

• Forbade the president from removing civil officials without Senate consent

• Specifically meant to protect Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War who was working with the Radicals

• Johnson's decision to dismiss Stanton in spite of this law led to his impeachment

• Johnson vetoed this act but it was overridden by Congress

Edwin M. Stanton

• The Secretary of War who stayed in the cabinet to help the Radical Republicans

• His job was protected by the Tenure of Office Act

• His firing was the "high crime" that led the House of Representatives to impeach Andrew Johnson

“Scalawags”

• A name for Southern white Republicans, many of whom were wealthy former Whigs or poor farmers

• Believed the Republican Party would better serve their economic interests than the Democrats

Hated by other white Southerners who saw them as traitors to their region

“Carpetbaggers”

• Northern white Republicans who moved to the South, often portrayed as poor adventurers with all their belongings in a carpetbag

• Most were actually well-educated middle-class people or Union veterans who saw the South as a "new frontier"

Played a major role in the new Southern governments and Republican politics

Sharecropping

• A system where Black families worked their own plots of land and paid a fixed rent or share of the crop to the landlord

• Gave freedmen some physical independence and landlords no responsibility for the workers' physical well-being

• Often led to a cycle of poverty because sharecroppers had little left to sell after paying their rent

Crop-lien system

• A credit system centered on local country stores that emerged after the war

• Farmers bought food, clothing, and seed on credit because they had no cash

• Farmers had to give the merchant a lien (claim) on their future crops as collateral for the loan

• Store owners often charged high interest rates since they had no competition

• Resulted in bad harvests trapping farmers in a cycle of permanent debt

Caused many to lose their land and made Southern agriculture one-dimensional and dependent on cash crops

Liberal Republicans/Liberals

• A faction that opposed “Grantism” and corruption, nominating Horace Greeley in 1872

• Believed that after the 15th Amendment, the work of Reconstruction was finished and Africans should care for themselves

• Cooperated with Democrats to try and defeat Grant (many were former Democrats)

Credit Mobilier construction company

• helped build the Union Pacific Railroad

• the bosses of Credit Mobilier used their positions at Union Pacific to steal millions from the railroad and federal government by giving fake construction contracts to themselves

• To avoid investigation, they gave stock to members of Congress, including Grant’s Vice President (Schuyler Colfax)

• An 1872 investigation exposed this as one of the era's biggest scandals

“Whiskey Ring”

• A group of distillers and government officials who filed false reports to avoid whiskey taxes

• Cheated the government out of millions

• Added to the public’s sense that the Republican Party was irredeemably corrupt

“Seward’s Folly”

• The purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million

• Criticized by Americans who thought it was a useless frozen wasteland

• One of the major successes of the Johnson and Grant administrations in foreign affairs

Treaty of Washington

• The agreement that resolved the "Alabama Claims"

• Britain apologized for letting the ships escape and agreed to international arbitration

• A major diplomatic victory that improved relations with England

“Redeemers”

• The term white Democrats used for taking back control of Southern governments (when Grant left office)

• The "Redeemers" were a conservative oligarchy of planters and industrialists

• They diminished state services and cut spending on things like education that Reconstruction had built

Ku Klux Klan

• The largest and most effective secret society used to terrorize Black Southerners

• Led by Nathan Bedford Forrest, they used rituals, costumes, and secret languages to create fear

• Worked to restore white supremacy and the power of the planter class

Enforcement Acts of 1870 & 1871

• Also known as the Ku Klux Klan Acts, they prohibited states from discriminating against voters based on race

• Gave the federal government power to prosecute individual crimes and supersede state courts

Authorized the president to use the military to protect civil rights and suspend habeas corpus when violations of the rights seemed shocking

Rutherford B. Hayes

• The Republican nominee who was a moderate and former Union officer

• Became president after a Special Electoral Commission gave him the disputed votes

• As part of a deal, he withdrew the last federal troops from the South

Compromise of 1877

• An agreement reached at the Wormley Hotel in D.C. to settle the disputed election

• Resulted from the disputed Election of 1876 between Hayes and Tilden

• Southern Democrats agreed to let Rutherford B. Hayes become president if he withdrew last federal troops from the South

• The deal included a pledge to appoint at least one Southerner to the Hayes cabinet

• Included promises of federal aid for internal improvements and the Texas and Pacific Railroad

• Effectively allowed the “Redeemers” to take over the remaining Republican governments in the South

• Led to the overthrow of the last Republican governments in the South and the loss of many civil rights for Africans

• Signaled the end of the federal government’s commitment to protecting Black civil rights

Booker T. Washington

• Founder of the Tuskegee Institute and chief spokesman for Black education

• Argued that Africans should focus on agriculture and trades (industrial education)

• Suggested that the goal should be economic self-improvement rather than immediate political rights

• Suggested that they show they are prepared for privileges before winning full rights

• Challenged white people who wanted to block Black economic or educational progress

Atlanta Compromise

• Philosophy said by Booker T. Washington that Africans should focus on economic preparation before political equality

• Suggested that they must show they are prepared for citizenship through education and wealth

Challenged white people who wanted to block Black economic progress

Plessy v. Ferguson

• Supreme Court case involving separate seating on railroads in Louisiana

• Ruled that “separate but equal” did not violate Black rights

Provided the legal basis for segregated schools for decades

Poll tax

• A fee required to vote, used to evade the 15th Amendment

• Since few Africans had money, it effectively disenfranchised them

• Applied more leniently toward white voters than Black voters

“Literacy” test

• Required voters to read and interpret the Constitution

• Designed to be biased and used by white officials to exclude Black voters

One of the primary tools for stripping Africans of the franchise

Grandfather laws

• Allowed men to vote without a poll tax or test if their ancestors voted before Reconstruction

• Specifically designed to let poor whites vote while excluding Africans

Passed after the Black vote had already drastically decreased

Williams v. Mississippi

• Supreme Court case that validated the literacy test

• Though the Court voided grandfather laws, this showed they supported disenfranchisement

Let states continue using biased voting requirements

Jim Crow laws

• A system of laws that institutionalized segregation in almost all areas of the South

• Stripped Africans of the social and political gains they had made

• Allowed white Southerners to control social relations in the new Southern cities

Lynchings

• The most extreme form of violence and terror used by white mobs to control Black Southerners

• Reached horrifying levels and were often well-planned rituals performed in public

• Often involved mobs seizing Black prisoners from jails to hang them

• Many "celebrated" lynchings were attended by large audiences in cities and towns

• Lynchings by small mobs were more frequent and dangerous because they were less predictable

• Used to punish those accused of crimes or those who violated their expected station in society

Ida B. Wells launched an international movement to secure a federal anti-lynching law to stop this violence