Civil War and Reconstruction Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary terms and definitions extracted from lecture slides covering the causes, main events, and Reconstruction era of the American Civil War.

Secession

The formal withdrawal of Southern states from the Union, beginning with South Carolina in December 1860.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

A plan to maintain the balance of power between slave and free states in Congress that banned slavery north of the 36° 30' line, except within Missouri.

Popular Sovereignty

A political principle where the decision to allow slavery in new territories is decided by popular vote.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

A law that challenged the Missouri Compromise by allowing popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in new territories.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

A law requiring that any runaway slave found anywhere in the United States be captured and returned to their owner, regardless of whether they were in a free state.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

A Supreme Court case in which Judge Taney ruled that African Americans had no citizenship and therefore no rights to sue in federal court.

John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

An October 1859 slave revolt led by John Brown that raided the U.S. Armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia to seize weapons; it was publicity broadcast via electrical telegraph.

Emancipate

To set free from legal, social, or political restrictions, specifically referring to freeing enslaved people.

Sectionalism

Loyalty to the interests of one's own region or section of the country, rather than to the country as a whole.

Battle of Antietam

A battle on September 17, 1862, that stopped the Southern advance north; known as the bloodiest single day in the Civil War with approximately 25,000 casualties.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, that publicly freed slaves in rebelling states and officially made the Civil War about slavery.

Anaconda Plan

A Union military plan created by Winfield Scott to starve and crush the South through coastal blockades, limiting large-scale battles, and cutting off supplies.

Battle of Gettysburg

A 3-day battle from July 1–3, 1863, in Pennsylvania that marked the turning point of the war and resulted in 51,000 total casualties.

Gettysburg Address

A speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, to dedicate a cemetery, boost soldier morale, encourage support for the war, and advocate for the abolition of slavery.

General Sherman's "March to Sea"

An 1864 Union campaign using a scorched earth policy to burn Atlanta and destroy all useful resources along the path to Savannah.

Appomattox Courthouse

The location in Virginia where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, ending the Civil War.

Freedmen's Bureau

An organization established in March 1865 to help former slaves adjust to American society by providing jobs, education, medicine, clothes, and literacy instruction.

Black Codes

State laws passed in the South designed to restrict freedmen from voting, serving on juries, holding office, bearing arms, or owning property.

Literacy Tests

Reading tests administered in the South as a requirement for voting, used to disenfranchise African Americans.

Poll Taxes

Taxes required to be paid in order to vote, implemented in the South to strip voting rights from African Americans.

Grandfather Clauses

Exemption clauses allowing individuals to vote without taking literacy tests or paying poll taxes if they or their ancestors were qualified to vote prior to 1867.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system where a landowner provides land and housing to farmers in return for a share of their crop revenue.

Tenant Farming

An economic farming arrangement in which farmers conduct agricultural work on rented land.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in schools, public transportation, restaurants, toilets, and water fountains.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that awarded Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency on the condition that federal troops were removed from former Confederate states, bringing Reconstruction to an end.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

A Supreme Court decision that ruled racial segregation was Constitutional under the doctrine of "separate but equal" facilities.

10% Plan

President Abraham Lincoln's Reconstruction plan permitting a Southern state to re-enter the Union once 10% of its voters swore an oath of loyalty.

Radical (Congressional) Reconstruction

A Reconstruction plan led by Radical Republicans that divided the South into 5 military districts and required states to ratify the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.