Reconstruction
the process of reuniting the nation by rebuilding the Southern states without slavery
amnesty
official pardon
Ten Percent Plan
once 10% of eligible state voters took a loyalty oath, then the state could form a new government and apply for re-admittance to the United States
Wade-Davis Bill
bill proposed by Radical Republicans banning slavery and requiring loyalty oaths by a majority of a state's population before re-admittance to the United States, Lincoln vetoed the bill
13th Amendment
constitutional amendment outlawing slavery in the United States
Freedman's Bureau
organization created to provide relief to all poor people throughout the South, helped promote education in the South, including establishing African American colleges
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
Lincoln's Reconstruction plan requiring 10% of the eligible voters to take a loyalty oath to the United States, excepted Confederate military and political leaders (amongst other groups) from taking oath, Southern states encouraged to promote education and protect the rights of freedmen
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
Lincoln's speech offering to peacefully reunite the nation and its people following the Civil War
John Wilkes Booth
assassinated President Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
succeeded as President upon Lincoln's death, advocated a softer Reconstruction
Radical Republicans
Republican members of Congress who believed the southern states needed to make great social changes before they could be readmitted to the Union
14th Amendment
Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws
15th Amendment
Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color , or precious condition of servitude
Segregation
Separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences
Reconstruction Act of 1867
ordered the Army to ensure that the South complied with Congressional mandates
Carpetbaggers
A northerner who went to the South immediately after the Civil War; especially one who tried to gain political advantage or other advantages from the disorganized situation in southern states
Scalawags
Southern whites who supported Republican policy through reconstruction
Tenure of Office Act (1867)
Made it illegal for the president to remove any appointee who had been approved by the senate unless the senate also approved the dismissal
Joseph Rainey
the first African-American ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
Hiram Revels
first African American senator
Sharecropping
A system used on southern farms after the Civil War in which farmers worked land owned by someone else in return for a small portion of the crops.
"waving the bloody shirt"
An expression used as a vote getting stratagem by the Republicans during the election of 1876 to offset charges of corruption by blaming the Civil War on the Democrats.
KKK
Stands for Ku Klux Klan and started right after the Civil War in 1866. The Southern establishment took charge by passing discriminatory laws known as the black codes. Gives whites almost unlimited power. They masked themselves and burned black churches, schools, and terrorized black people. They are anti-black and anti-Semitic.
Redeemers
Largely former slave owners who were the bitterest opponents of the Republican program in the South. Staged a major counterrevolution to "redeem" the south by taking back southern state governments. Their foundation rested on the idea of racism and white supremacy. Redeemer governments waged and aggressive assault on African Americans.