Unit 3: Reconstruction and the New South 1865-1877

Presidential Reconstruction

A plan for Reconstruction led by President Andrew Johnson, focusing on rapid reintegration of Southern states.

Freedmen's Bureau (1865)

A federal agency established to aid freed slaves in the South during the Reconstruction era.

Black Codes (1865-1867)

Laws passed in Southern states to restrict the rights of freed African Americans.

Radical (Congressional) Reconstruction (1866-1877)

A period of Reconstruction characterized by significant federal intervention in Southern states to protect the rights of African Americans.

14th Amendment (passed 1866; ratified 1868)

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

Reconstruction Acts (1867-1868)

Laws that outlined the process for Southern states to rejoin the Union, requiring them to create new constitutions guaranteeing African American suffrage.

15th Amendment (passed 1869; ratified 1870)

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, often perceived as exploiting the region's postwar turmoil.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party, often viewed as traitors by other Southerners.

Sharecropping and the Crop-Lien System

Agricultural systems that allowed landowners to rent land to tenants in exchange for a share of the crops, often leading to cycles of debt for African American farmers.

Election of Ulysses S Grant (1868)

The election that brought Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency, marking a significant moment in Reconstruction politics.

Southern Redemption

The period after Reconstruction when Southern Democrats regained control of state governments, often through violence and intimidation.

Ku Klux Klan (1867)

A secret society formed to oppose Reconstruction and maintain white supremacy through intimidation and violence against African Americans.

Enforcement Acts (Ku Klux Klan Acts - 1870-1871)

Laws aimed at protecting African Americans' rights by allowing federal intervention against the Klan's violence.

Panic of 1873

A financial crisis that led to a severe economic depression, impacting the political landscape during Reconstruction.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election, resulting in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and effectively ending Reconstruction.

Supreme Court and the 14th Amendment

The role of the Supreme Court in interpreting the 14th Amendment, often limiting its protections for African Americans.

Voting Restrictions

Laws and practices implemented in the South to disenfranchise African American voters after Reconstruction.

The "Jim Crow" South

A period of racial segregation laws enacted in the South after Reconstruction, enforcing discrimination against African Americans.

Reconstruction

A small but important first step in the effort by former slaves to secure civil rights and economic power.

Civil rights

Legal protections and entitlements that ensure individuals' freedoms and rights.

Economic power

The ability of individuals or groups to control resources and influence economic decisions.

Economic peonage

A system where individuals are bound to work for a landlord to pay off debts, often leading to exploitation.

Legal subordination

The condition of being placed in a lower legal status or authority.

New South

The term used to describe the Southern United States after the Civil War, focusing on economic modernization.

Emancipation

The act of freeing enslaved people, particularly referring to the end of slavery in the United States.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th President of the United States who led the nation during the Civil War and worked to end slavery.

Confederate soldiers

Soldiers who fought for the Confederate States during the American Civil War.

Cult of ritualized mourning

A social phenomenon where communities express grief through mourning practices, particularly after the Civil War.

Lost Cause

A narrative that romanticizes the Confederate cause and its leaders, portraying them as heroic.

Robert E. Lee

A Confederate general known for his leadership during the Civil War, revered in Southern culture.

Stonewall Jackson

A Confederate general known for his tactical prowess and significant role in the Civil War.

Jefferson Davis

The President of the Confederate States during the Civil War.

Monuments to war dead

Structures built to honor and remember soldiers who died in the Civil War.

Southern blacks post-war

The 4 million men and women emerging from bondage who faced severe hardships after the Civil War.

Union forces

The armies that fought for the Northern states during the American Civil War.

Wartime disruptions

The chaos and changes in society and economy caused by the Civil War, which affected slavery.

Former slaves

Individuals who were previously enslaved but gained their freedom after the Civil War.

Searching for relatives

The act of former slaves looking for family members from whom they had been separated during slavery.

Union occupation forces

The military units that occupied Southern territory during and after the Civil War to enforce Union policies.

Competing Notions of Freedom

The differing conceptions of freedom held by African Americans and white Southerners during Reconstruction.

African Americans' Freedom

For African Americans, freedom meant an end to slavery and associated injustices, along with the acquisition of rights and protections to live freely.

White Southerners' Freedom

For most white Southerners, freedom meant the ability to control their own destinies without interference from the North or federal government.

Lincoln's 10 Percent Plan

A plan that allowed a state to re-establish its government when 10 percent of the 1860 voters took an oath of loyalty and accepted the abolition of slavery.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by President Lincoln that abolished slavery in the Confederate states.

Thirteenth Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery throughout the United States as of December 1865.

Desire for Independence

A broader theme among African Americans for autonomy from white control and the ability to define their own lives.

Restoration of Antebellum Society

The attempt by white Southerners to return their society to its pre-war form after the Civil War.

Economic Redistribution

A demand by some African Americans for the redistribution of economic resources, especially land, to achieve freedom.

Legal Equality

A demand by some African Americans for equal legal rights, believing they could succeed if given the same opportunities as whites.

Political Organizations

New institutions formed by African Americans during Reconstruction that became focal points of black life.

Network of Institutions

The churches, schools, and mutual benefit societies created by free blacks before the Civil War that expanded after emancipation.

Local and Regional Autonomy

The goal of white Southerners to preserve their local governance and societal structures post-Civil War.

White Supremacy

The belief held by many white Southerners that their race should dominate and control society, influencing their version of freedom.

Restoration of Rights

The process by which individuals could regain their rights after taking an oath of loyalty under Lincoln's plan.

Temporary Measures for Blacks

Provisions that allowed new state governments to adopt measures regarding blacks that were consistent with their status as a laboring, landless, and homeless class.

Civil and Military Officers Exclusion

High-ranking civil and military officers of the Confederacy were excluded from the full pardon offered in Lincoln's plan.

Foundation for Modern Black Community

The groundwork laid by African Americans during Reconstruction that reflected their experiences from slavery and emancipation.

Struggle for Freedom

The efforts of both blacks and whites during Reconstruction to define what freedom meant for their respective communities.

Aspirations of Reconstruction

The clear hopes and goals of both blacks and whites to shape their futures in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Loyal Southerners

Southerners who could establish a new state government if they amounted to 10 percent of the votes cast in 1860.

Lincoln's Plan

A plan that allowed loyal Southerners to create a new state government, abolish slavery, and potentially extend suffrage to educated blacks and those who served in the Union Army.

Radical Republicans

A faction that was astonished by the mildness of Lincoln's program and denied seats to representatives from reconstructed states.

Reconstructed States

States like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee that reestablished loyal governments under Lincoln's formula in 1864.

Andrew Johnson

Lincoln's successor who was not well suited for Reconstruction and was openly hostile to freed slaves.

Johnson's Plan

A plan for Reconstruction that offered amnesty and pardon to participants in the rebellion who pledged loyalty to the Union.

Provisional Governor

An official appointed by the president for each state to invite qualified voters to elect delegates to a constitutional convention.

Voting Exclusions

Individuals who had not been pardoned were excluded from voting for delegates in Johnson's plan.

13th Amendment

An amendment that states had to ratify in order to win readmission to Congress.

Civilian Governments

Governments that Congressional Republicans challenged Johnson's authority to appoint without Congress' approval.

Amnesty and Pardon

Johnson's offer to participants in the rebellion, restoring property rights except for slaves.

Electoral Votes

Votes from reconstructed states that were refused to be counted in the election of 1864.

Lincoln's Assassination

The event on April 14, 1865, when Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater.

High-ranking Confederate Officials

Individuals who had to apply for individual pardons if they had land worth $20,000 or more.

Restoration

The term Johnson preferred to use for his plan for Reconstruction.

Secession Ordinance

An ordinance that a state had to revoke to gain readmission to Congress.

Civil Equality

Rights that Johnson was unwilling to support for freed slaves.

Political Associates

Family and friends surrounding Lincoln when he died after being shot.

Union Occupation

The condition under which Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee reestablished loyal governments.

John Wilkes Booth

The assassin who shot Lincoln, motivated by a desire to aid the Southern cause.

Partisan Passions

Growing political tensions during Johnson's presidency that complicated his ability to govern.

State War Debts

Obligations a state had to repudiate for readmission to Congress.

Lincoln's Box

The presidential box at Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot.

Freedmen's Bureau

An agency of the army established by Congress in March 1865, directed by General Oliver O. Howard, to distribute food to former slaves, establish schools, and assist in settling blacks on lands of their own.

Black Codes

A series of state laws enacted by southern whites after the Civil War to subordinate the black population and enforce labor agreements, effectively attempting to restore conditions similar to slavery.

Northern Disillusionment

The sentiment among Northerners in the summer and fall of 1865, characterized by scrutiny of the South's inability to adjust to the end of slavery, widespread mistreatment of blacks, and a spirit of disloyalty.

Eligibility restrictions on ex-Confederates

Omissions from Johnson's plan regarding the conditions under which ex-Confederates could receive amnesty.

Civil rights of freedmen

The rights that were not addressed in state constitutional conventions as per Johnson's plan, particularly concerning voting rights.

Troops in the South after the war

Federal military presence maintained to preserve order and protect freedmen following the Civil War.

General Oliver O. Howard

The director of the Freedmen's Bureau, responsible for overseeing its operations.

Freedmen's Aid Societies

Private and church groups from the North that sent missionaries and teachers to the South to help establish schools for freedmen.

Labor contracts

Agreements enforced by the Black Codes that required blacks to enter into labor agreements, often under duress.

Convict lease system

A system expanded after the Civil War that provided employers with a supply of cheap labor by leasing convicts.

Police apparatus in the South

The enforcement mechanism that upheld the Black Codes, often composed of Confederate veterans.

Judicial system during Presidential Reconstruction

The legal framework in which blacks had virtually no voice and were often subjected to punitive measures rather than justice.

Whipping as punishment

A legal consequence for vagrancy or petty theft that could be mandated by courts during the period of Presidential Reconstruction.

Labor discipline

The enforcement of labor agreements and plantation discipline as a means to control the black population post-Civil War.

Indignation against Black Codes

The widespread outrage among Northerners and Radical Republicans in response to the mistreatment of freedmen and the enactment of Black Codes.

Southern whites' response to freedom

The legal and social measures taken by southern whites to maintain control over the black population after the Civil War.

Economic independence of freedmen

The aspiration of the black population for economic self-sufficiency, seen as a corollary of their freedom.