History Ch. 8 Vocab

Reconstruction

Reconstruction

A program implemented by the Federal government between 1856 and 1877 to repair damage to the South caused by the Civil War and to restore the southern states to the Union

Radical Republicans

Congressmen who advocated full citizenship rights for African Americans along with a harsh Reconstruction policy toward the South

Wade-Davis Bill

A law that required a majority of prewar voters in Confederate states to swear loyalty to the Union before restoration could begin

Freedmen’s Bureau

A federal agency described to aid freed slaves and poor white farmers in the South after the Civil War

Andrew Johnson (1808 - 1875)

Tennessee tailor who rose to become the 17th President of the U.S. In 1846 he became Vice President under President Lincoln. Less then a year later, he became President following Lincoln’s assassination. His disputes with Radical Republicans over Reconstruction led to his impeachment in 1868. After his presidency, he returned to Tennessee. He served as a U.S Senator until his death

Black Codes

Laws that restricted African Americans’ rights and opportunities

Civil Rights Act of 1866

A law that established federal guarantees of civil rights for all citizens

14th Amendment

An 1868 constitutional amendment that defined citizenship and guaranteed citizens equal protections under the law as well as due process of law. Backbone of the civil rights movement

Impeach

To accuse a public official of wrongdoing in office

15th Amendment

An 1870 constitutional amendment that guaranteed voting rights regardless of race or previous condition of servitude

Scalawag

Native term for a southern white who supported the Republican Party after the Civil War; had been locked out of pre-Civil War politics, but were invited in by the new Republican Party. Found allies in northern white or African Amer. men who relocated to the South

Carpetbagger

A negative term for Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War

Segregation

A forced separation, often by race

Integration

The process of bringing together people of different races, religions, and social classes

Sharecropping

A system in which a farmer tends to a portion of a planter’s land in return for a share of the crop

Share-tenancy

Much like sharecropping, except that the farmer chooses what crop to plant and buys the supplies

Ku Klux Klan

An organization that promotes hatred and discrimination against specific ethnic, racial, and religious groups

Enforcement Acts

1870 and 1871 laws, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Acts, that made it a federal offense to interfere with a citizen’s right to vote

Tenant Farming

A system in which a farmer paid rent to a landowner for the use of the land

Redeemer

A term for white southern Democrats who returned to political power after 1870; politicians who aimed to repair the South

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822 - 1893)

19th President of the United States. His election in 1876 was disputed, and his victory was secured by a Congressional commission and the Compromise of 1877. He oversaw the withdrawal of the remaining federal troops from the South, signaling the end of Reconstruction. Tilden received 51% of the popular vote & carried all of the southern states. Republicans claimed votes were miscounted in 3 southern states (where Reps controlled reporting the votes). Recount found enough mistakes to swing the election.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement by which Rutherford B. Hayes won the 1876 presidential election and in exchange agreed to remove all remaining federal troops from the South. Usherd in the Jin Crow Period

Jim Crow Laws

Segregation laws enacted in the South after Reconstruction

Poll Tax

A sum of money to be paid before a person could vote. Most African Americans could not afford the $1 to $2 voting fees

Literacy Test

A reading and writing test formerly used in some southern states to prevent African Americans from voting. Most African Americans could neither read nor write

Grandfather Clause

A law to disqualify African American voters by allowing the vote only to men whose fathers and grandfathers had voted before 1866 or 1867

Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915)

“African Americans needed to “pull themselves up from their own bootstraps”” Born into slavery and grew up in poverty following emancipation. In 1881 he was chosen to head the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institution, where he promoted vocational education for African American students. He encouraged African American citizens to accept segregation and to instead focus on improving themselves through education and economic opportunities.

W.E.B Du Bois (1868 - 1963)

Earned his PH. D. American educator, reformer, and champion of civil rights. He is best known for his book The Souls of Black Phone in which he criticizes the more accommodating approach of Booker T. Washington and advocates for full civil rights for African Americans. He went on to help found the NAACP

Ida B. Wells (1862 - 1931)

Born as a slave, fought for justice; school teacher; Crusade against lynching. African American journalist who worked throughout her life to end the practice of lynching in the South. She contributed to several newspapers including the Memphis Free Speech, the New York Age, and the Chicago Conservator. In 1895, she published a detailed inquiry into lynching, entitled A Red Record

Civil Rights Act of 1875

A law that banned discrimination in public facilities and transportation. Guaranteed African American citizens the right to ride trains & use public facilities, ie: hotels. Deemed unconstitutional on the ground that the constitution did not extend to businesses. U.S can regulate the actions of states, not individuals.