Civil War and Reconstruction Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering key figures, events, policies, and terminology of the American Civil War and Reconstruction era.

Secede

To formally withdraw.

Civil War

A conflict fought between Americans in the North and South from 1861 to 1865, beginning with the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.

Jefferson Davis

The president of the Confederacy.

Plantations

Large farms that became important to Southern culture, where most enslaved people in the South worked growing cotton and tobacco.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

An agreement that allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state.

Fort Sumter, South Carolina

The site where the Civil War began following a Confederate attack on April 12, 1861.

Abolish

To officially end something, such as slavery.

States' Rights

A principle argued by pre-Civil War Southerners asserting that state governments had more power than the federal government.

John Wilkes Booth

The assassin of Abraham Lincoln who claimed he acted to avenge the South and support the Confederate cause.

Battle of Gettysburg

A major Union victory and turning point in the Civil War that stopped General Lee's invasion of the North and helped turn the war in favor of the Union.

Gettysburg Address

A speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 asking Americans to honor fallen soldiers, continue the fight for freedom, and preserve democracy.

General William T. Sherman

A Union military commander who led a destructive march through Georgia to weaken the South's ability and willingness to continue fighting.

14th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.

Ten Percent Plan

Lincoln's plan that allowed a Southern state to rejoin the Union when 10% of its voters pledged loyalty to the United States and accepted the end of slavery.

Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction Plan

A plan that offered pardons to many Southerners and permitted Southern states to return to the Union after meeting certain requirements.

Impeachment of President Johnson

A congressional proceeding demonstrating that Congress strongly disagreed with Johnson's Reconstruction policies, though the Senate did not remove him from office.

Dred Scott Decision

A Supreme Court ruling stating that African Americans were not U.S. citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.

13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments

A series of constitutional amendments that guaranteed formerly enslaved people the abolition of slavery, citizenship and equal protection, and voting rights for Black men.

Reconstruction

The era and process of rebuilding the Southern states and restoring the Union while deciding the rights of formerly enslaved people.

Causes of Reconstruction's Decline

Key factors that led to the end of Reconstruction, including Northern weariness, white Southern resistance, and the Panic of 1873.

Freedmen's Bureau

An agency established with the primary purpose of assisting formerly enslaved people with education, food, housing, and employment.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that ended federal military Reconstruction in the South, weakening protections for Black Americans and allowing white Southern Democrats to regain control.

Presidential Election of 1860

The presidential election in which there were a total of 303 electoral votes.