American History: Reconstruction

Vocabulary flashcards covering key plans, amendments, figures, laws, court cases, and political developments during the Reconstruction era in American history.

Ten Percent Plan (1863)

Lincoln's plan for peace stating that a Southern state could be readmitted and establish a new state government when 10% of voters took an oath to the U.S.

Radical Republicans

A congressional faction led by Thaddeus Stevens that wanted to punish the South and opposed compensation for slaves.

Thaddeus Stevens

A Pennsylvania representative and leader of the Radical Republicans.

Wade-Davis Bill (1864)

A Reconstruction bill favored by radicals offering a 'Carthaginian Peace' that required 50% of voters to take an 'iron-clad oath' swearing they never supported the Confederacy.

13th Amendment (1865)

Constitutional amendment that abolishes slavery.

14th Amendment (1868)

Constitutional amendment that grants citizenship for all born in the U.S., includes the equal protection clause and privileges & immunities clause, and served as a condition for readmission.

15th Amendment (1870)

Constitutional amendment stating that the right to vote cannot be denied based on race.

Minor v. Happersett (1875)

Supreme Court case ruling that suffrage is not inherited with U.S. citizenship, meaning states can deny it.

Andrew Johnson

States' rights Democrat picked to balance the ticket who was super racist, not concerned with blacks, clashed with Radical Republicans, and had his vetoes of civil rights legislation overridden by Congress.

Freedman's Bureau (1865)

Agency that eased the transition from slavery while promoting equality by providing food, shelter, land, and jobs, achieving its biggest success in literacy and education.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Legislation that nullified 'Black codes' passed by Southern legislatures denying black rights, which Radical Republicans subsequently turned into the 14th Amendment.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Law that divided the South into 5 military districts commanded by Union generals (with only Tennessee exempt) and required states to draft a new constitution granting all men the right to vote and ratify the 14th Amendment for readmission.

Tenure of Office Act

Law prohibiting the president from removing appointed officials without approval; used as the basis to impeach Andrew Johnson after he tried to fire Radical Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

Edwin Stanton

Radical Secretary of War whom Radical Republicans wanted to protect and Andrew Johnson attempted to remove.

Andrew Johnson's Impeachment

Impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, which missed conviction by 1 vote with a tally of 35-19, resulting in him not being convicted.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who went South during Reconstruction with questionable motives such as greed.

Scalawags

Southerners who supported Radical Republicans.

First Ku Klux Klan

White supremacy organization founded in Tennessee in 1865 that intimidated blacks and white Republicans at the polls in the South.

Enforcement Acts

Legislation signed into law by President Grant that allowed the federal government to intervene, limiting the KKK and protecting freedmen's rights.

Samuel Tilden

Democrat and former New York governor who called for reform in the Election of 1876, performed strongly in the South, and won the popular vote by 250,000 votes.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Ohio Republican, former Union general, and Reconstruction moderate who ran in the Election of 1876 and needed to win all three disputed states (LA, FL, SC) to secure the presidency.

Compromise of 1877

Resolution where Democrats conceded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes, in return for Hayes removing federal troops and appointing Democrats in the South, effectively 'redeeming' Southern states.

Sharecropping

Agricultural arrangement where farms are leased year-to-year (annually) and most profits are given to the landlord.

Black Codes

Southern laws that restricted the rights of free blacks, punished crimes like 'vagrancy' (contract violations), and tried to force blacks into sharecropping.

Redeemers

Southern Democrats who sought to recapture Southern states from carpetbaggers, scalawags, and freedmen.

Slaughter-House Cases

Supreme Court rulings that undercut the 14th Amendment's power by ruling that 'Privileges or Immunities' applied only to rights of U.S. citizenship, not state citizenship, giving states greater power to discriminate.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case ruling that a Louisiana law was based on practicality rather than racism, deciding that 'separate but equal' facilities were not unconstitutional and did not violate the 14th Amendment.

Homer Plessy

Individual who challenged a Louisiana state law after being removed from first class, leading to the Plessy v. Ferguson case.