Dual Credit US History- Unit 6 Reconstruction

Freedmen's Bureau

Federal agency established in 1865 to provide food, shelter, and medical aid for both African Americans and whites made destitute by the Civil War.

Black Codes

Laws passed in Southern states to restrict the rights of newly freed African Americans and ensure a cheap labor force.

Sharecropping

A system where individuals farmed someone else's land in exchange for a share of the crops.

Radical Republicans

Political faction that aimed to provide former slaves with civil and political rights, advocating for more stringent Reconstruction efforts.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Legislation intended to undermine Black Codes and grant full citizenship and equal protection under the law to African Americans.

Military Reconstruction Act

An act that divided the South into five military districts and required Southern states to ratify the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

The House voted to impeach President Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act, but he escaped removal by one vote.

13th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

15th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that granted African American men the right to vote.

Jim Crow Laws

State laws enacted in the South that enforced racial segregation and restricted African Americans' civil rights.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

A landmark Supreme Court case (1896) that upheld the 'separate but equal' doctrine, allowing racial segregation.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that ended Reconstruction by allowing Rutherford B. Hayes to be president in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.

Ku Klux Klan

A terrorist organization that targeted free African Americans and their allies during Reconstruction to suppress their rights.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by President Lincoln in 1863, declaring the freedom of all slaves in Confederate-held territory.

Panic of 1873

An economic depression that began during Grant's second term and led to a decline in support for Reconstruction efforts.

Ironclad Loyalty Oath

A pledge requiring 50% of a state's eligible voters from the 1860 election to support the Union, established by the Wade-Davis Bill.

Scalawags and Carpetbaggers

Terms used to describe Southern Republicans and Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, respectively.

Tenure of Office Act

A law intended to restrict the president's power to remove certain officeholders without the Senate's approval.

Literacy Test

A requirement that voters be able to read and write, used to disenfranchise African American voters after Reconstruction.

Reconstruction

Period after the Civil War focused on rebuilding the South and integrating formerly enslaved people into society.

Radical Reconstruction

A phase of Reconstruction led by Radical Republicans that emphasized civil rights and military protection for African Americans.

Freedmen

Former slaves who were liberated during and after the Civil War.

Reconstruction Acts

Laws passed in 1867 to outline the process of readmitting Southern states into the Union.

Civil Rights Movement

A decades-long struggle for social justice, aimed at ending discrimination against African Americans.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation that prohibited racial discrimination in voting.

Brown v. Board of Education

A landmark Supreme Court case declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Affirmative Action

Policies designed to increase opportunities for historically marginalized groups in employment and education.

Shelby County v. Holder

A Supreme Court case that invalidated key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York during the 1920s, celebrating African American heritage.