Chapter 12 Key Terms

John Wilkes Booth

The assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.

Samuel Tilden

Democratic candidate for president in the contested election of 1876.

Andrew Johnson

Vice President who became president after Lincoln's assassination; faced impeachment.

Charles Sumner

Key Radical Republican and advocate for civil rights.

William Belknap

Secretary of War impeached for corruption.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.

Amnesty

A general pardon for political offenders.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South after the Civil War, often perceived negatively.

Pocket Veto

Presidential power to indirectly veto legislation by taking no action.

Graft

The unethical use of political authority for personal gain.

Ku Klux Klan

Secret society formed to resist Reconstruction and maintain white supremacy.

Wade Davis Bill

Proposed legislation for Reconstruction requiring a majority of white male citizens' allegiance.

Freedman’s Bureau

Established to assist formerly enslaved individuals with education, healthcare, and employment.

Black Codes

Laws enacted in the South to restrict the rights of freed African Americans.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

Civil Rights Act

Legislation aimed at ending discrimination and protecting the rights of African Americans.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born in the U.S.

Tenure of Office Act

Law restricting the president's power to remove certain officeholders without Senate approval.

15th Amendment

Prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race.

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States who led the country during the Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general and the 18th President of the U.S., known for his Reconstruction policies.

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th President of the United States, took office after the Compromise of 1877.

Impeach

To charge a government official with misconduct.

Thaddeus Stevens

Radical Republican leader who advocated for harsh Reconstruction measures.

Military Reconstruction Act

Divided the South into military districts to enforce Reconstruction.

Enforcement Acts

Laws passed to protect African Americans' voting rights during Reconstruction.

Horace Greeley

Editor of the New-York Tribune and early advocate for Republican policies.

Panic of 1873

Economic crisis marked by bank failures and widespread unemployment.

Compromise of 1877

Agreement that resolved the 1876 election and effectively ended Reconstruction.

Sharecropper/Sharecropping System

Agricultural system where farmers work land owned by others for a share of the crop.