APUSH Chapter 15

John Wilkes Booth

American actor, assassinated Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865 → Confederate sympathizer, saw Lincoln as a tyrant and wanted to thwart Reconstruction efforts

Wade-Davis Bill

1864 proposal by Congress, required 50% of states’ voters to swear a loyalty oath, banned Confederates from being in new governments, & required the abolition of slavery

Andrew Johnson

17th US President, was a key figure during Reconstruction. He had lenient Reconstruction policies, which were designed to quickly readmit Confederate states, opposed measures to protect freedpeople, was impeached

Black Codes

Laws passed in the South to restrict the freedom of African Americans → Limited the ability to vote, own property, & testify in court

Freedmen’s Bureau

US Federal Agency in 1865 that wanted to help African Americans & white refugees after the Civil War → Wanted to provide medical care, education, oversee labor contracts, establish schools etc.

Trumbull’s Bill (Civil Rights Act of 1866)

First US Law to define citizenship, mainly for African Americans, after the Civil War.

Fourteenth Amendment

Amendment that granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the USA — overturned the Dred Scott decision — and established the equal protection + due process clause

Radical Republicans

Faction of the Republican party that pushed for civil rights of newly freed African Americans → opposed Johnson’s lenient policies, wanted to punish the South, & led policies like the Civil Rights Act & 14 + 15 Amendments

The Reconstruction Act of 1867

Divided the former Confederate states into 5 military districts under martial law. Each state had to draft new constitutions that guaranteed voting rights for African American men, & ratify the 14th amendment for readmission

The Tenure of Office Act

Law passed that required the President to seek senate approval to remove cabinet members & other officials → major source of conflict between Johnson & Radical Republicans, limited executive power

Edwin M. Stanton

Served as Lincoln’s Secretary of War, oversaw the military during Reconstruction and had conflict w/ Andrew Johnson → Johnson’s impeachment after attempting to fire Stanton

Fifteenth Amendment

Amendment that prohibited the denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude → Aimed to enfranchise African American men

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction → derogatory term, suggested that they were opportunists who sought personal gain

Southern Homestead Act of 1866

Act that opened 46 million acres of public land in Southern states, priority given to African Americans to help them become landowning farmers. Was unsuccessful because of poor land quality & violent resistance from white landowners

Sharecropping

Agricultural system where a landowner allows a tenant to use land in exchange for a share of the crop produced → System trapped tenants ina cycle of debt & poverty

Peonage

System of forced labor where a worker is tied to an employer through debt, continuation of the exploitation of labor after slavery was abolished

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Confederate general during the Civil War, was one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan — a violent white supremacy group

US v. Cruikshank

Supreme Court Case that weakened federal enforcement of civil rights after the Colfax Massacre, did not grant federal government the power to prosecute people for violating civil rights

The Prostrate State

Book written by James Shepherd Pike that claims there was widespread corruption during Reconstruction, was deeply racist & hateful towards African American politicians

The Whiskey Ring

Corruption scandal during Grant Administration. The Ring involved a network of distillers, government officials, & treasury officials who defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars in liquor taxes

Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company

Private bank established by Congress to serve freed African Americans during the Reconstruction era, but collapsed in 1874 due to mismanagement and poor investments, and the Panic of 1873

Home Rule

Post-Reconstruction South where Southern Democrats used the slogan to have support for overthrowing “illegitimate” Reconstruction governments