Unit 5 Review: Radical Reconstruction and Its Impact

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Divided the South into 5 military districts under Union generals; required new state constitutions granting Black men voting rights, equal rights, and ratification of the 14th Amendment.

President Johnson's response to the Reconstruction Act

He vetoed it, but Congress overrode his veto.

1868 election winner and following amendment

Ulysses S. Grant (Republican); the 15th Amendment (1870) prohibited voting discrimination by race, color, or former servitude.

South's response to the 15th Amendment

Violence (KKK), poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses to restrict Black voting.

American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA)

Led by Lucy Stone; supported gradual women's suffrage.

National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA)

Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony; demanded immediate women's suffrage.

Minor v. Happersett (1875)

Supreme Court ruled women were citizens but voting was not a guaranteed right.

Wyoming and Utah in 1869

They became the first U.S. territories to grant women the vote.

Sharecropping

A compromise where landowners provided tools/land, and freedpeople worked and gave a share of crops—led to debt cycles and dependence.

Sharecropping as a new form of slavery

High interest rates, debt peonage, and economic entrapment of freedpeople.

Union League

A political organization that mobilized African American support for the Republican Party and educated freedpeople about politics.

Freedmen's Bureau

Helped with education, legal aid, and rebuilding lives; set up schools for African Americans.

Scalawags and Carpetbaggers

Scalawags: Southern whites who supported Reconstruction. Carpetbaggers: Northerners who moved South to help or profit.

Classical Liberalism's key ideas

Limited government, individual rights, free markets; influenced by Locke and Smith.

Liberal Republicans' opposition in the 1870s

Federal involvement in Southern Reconstruction.

Laissez-Faire Economics

"Let it be" approach—opposed regulation, promoted capitalism and low taxes.

Laissez-Faire during Reconstruction

Justified inaction on KKK violence and voter suppression.

Grantism

Term describing corruption during Grant's presidency.

Examples of scandals under Grant

Credit Mobilier (railroad bribery) & Whiskey Ring (officials stealing liquor tax revenue).

Freedman's Savings & Trust Company in 1874

A bank to help freedpeople; mismanagement led to collapse, wiping out Black savings.

Enforcement Acts (1870-71)

Legislation aimed at enforcing the 14th and 15th Amendments and combating KKK violence.

Enforcement Acts

Also called KKK Acts—allowed prosecution of Klan violence and use of federal force.

Failure of Enforcement Acts

Weak enforcement and withdrawal of troops allowed white supremacist violence to resume.

Election of 1876 and Compromise of 1877

Hayes became president; in return, troops were removed from the South—ended Reconstruction.

Radical Republicans after Reconstruction

They lost power; the Republican Party focused on business/economy.

Legal basis for future Civil Rights movements

13th (end slavery), 14th (citizenship/equality), 15th (Black male voting rights).

Key failures of Reconstruction

Racial inequality, resurgence of white elites, and ongoing violence.

Role of vigilante violence

Tolerated by authorities; lynchings and terror continued into the 1900s.

Burlingame Treaty (1868)

Encouraged Chinese immigration and protected Chinese rights in the U.S.

Treaty of Kanagawa (1854)

Opened Japan to U.S. trade, negotiated by Matthew Perry.

Importance of gold and silver

Affected banking, inflation, and U.S. economic policy.

Bland-Allison Act (1878)

Required U.S. to mint silver coins—pleased farmers who wanted inflation.

Homestead Act (1862)

Gave 160 acres of land to settlers who farmed for 5 years.

Morrill Act

Funded colleges focusing on agriculture, engineering, and military training.

General Mining Act of 1872

Individuals and corporations could claim mineral-rich lands with little regulation.

Impact of General Mining Act

Encouraged western migration, but caused environmental damage.

Cattle Boom

Rapid expansion of cattle ranching due to railroads and meatpacking.

Impact of new meatpacking industry

Industrialized food production; major centers like Chicago emerged.

Dakota Sioux Uprising (1862)

Sparked by starvation and unfulfilled government promises.

Sand Creek (1864)

Colorado militia killed over 100 Cheyenne and Arapaho, mostly women/children.

Dawes Act (1887)

Broke up tribal lands to force Native assimilation; undermined tribal sovereignty.

Sitting Bull

Lakota leader who resisted U.S. policies; died in 1890 during Ghost Dance suppression.

Conflict over the Black Hills

U.S. violated the Fort Laramie Treaty (1868) after gold was found; Sioux refused to sell.

Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

Custer's forces were defeated by Sioux/Cheyenne; led to harsher retaliation.

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

U.S. Army killed 250+ Lakota during a crackdown on the Ghost Dance movement.

Romanticization of the American West

As adventurous and free—ignored the reality of Native displacement and violence.