Key Terms Chapter 20/21

Oliver Howard - Union general and head of the Freedmen's Bureau, aiding freedmen during Reconstruction.

Andrew Johnson - 17th U.S. President; succeeded Lincoln; clashed with Congress over Reconstruction policies. 1st president to be impeached. 

Thaddeus Stevens - Radical Republican leader advocating for strict Reconstruction policies and civil rights for freedmen.

Hiram Revels - First African American U.S. Senator, representing Mississippi during Reconstruction.

Edwin Stanton - Lincoln’s Secretary of War; his dismissal by Johnson led to Johnson's impeachment trial.

Freedmen's Bureau - Federal agency providing aid (education, housing, jobs) to freed slaves and war refugees.

Wade-Davis Bill - Proposed strict Reconstruction plan requiring 50% loyalty oaths; vetoed by Lincoln.

"Seward's Folly" - Purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867; criticized initially but later valued for resources.

Black Codes - Southern laws restricting African Americans' rights, aiming to maintain white dominance post-Civil War.

Sharecropping - Agricultural system where freedmen and poor whites farmed landowners' land for a share of the crops.

Civil Rights Act (1866) - First federal law granting citizenship and equal rights to African Americans.

Pacific Railroad Act - Legislation promoting the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Redeemers - Southern Democrats who sought to end Reconstruction and restore white supremacy.

14th Amendment - Granted citizenship to all born in the U.S., including former slaves, and guaranteed equal protection under the law and due process. .

15th Amendment - Prohibited voting discrimination based on race, color, or previous servitude.

Scalawags - Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.

Force Acts - Laws aiming to curb Ku Klux Klan violence and protect African American rights during Reconstruction.

"Swing Around the Circle" - Johnson's failed speaking tour to rally support against Radical Republicans in Congress.

Military Reconstruction - Division of the South into military districts to enforce laws and aid Reconstruction.

Ex parte Milligan - Supreme Court decision limiting the use of military tribunals in areas where civil courts were operational.

Carpetbaggers - Northern individuals who moved South during Reconstruction to pursue opportunities or aid reform efforts.

Tenure of Office Act - Law restricting the President's power to dismiss certain officeholders without Senate approval; central to Johnson's impeachment.

Robert E. Lee - Confederate general commanding the Army of Northern Virginia.

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson - Skilled Confederate general, earned his nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run.

Ulysses Grant - Union general who led the Union to victory; later the 18th U.S. President.

George McClellan - Union general known for cautious tactics at Antietam ; later ran unsuccessfully for president in 1864.

William Sherman - Union general known for "Sherman’s March," a campaign of total war in the South.

George Meade - Union general who led forces to victory at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Salmon Chase - U.S. Treasury Secretary under Lincoln and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

John Wilkes Booth - Actor and Confederate sympathizer who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

Merrimack/Monitor - Ironclad ships that fought in the Civil War’s first naval battle, marking a new era of naval warfare.

Battle of Bull Run - First major battle of the Civil War, ending in a Confederate victory.

Emancipation Proclamation - Lincoln’s 1863 declaration freeing slaves in Confederate states.

13th Amendment - Abolished slavery in the United States.

Copperheads - Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and advocated for peace with the Confederacy.

Battle of Antietam - Bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War; led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Siege of Vicksburg - Union victory that split the Confederacy and gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union.

Battle of Gettysburg - Turning point of the Civil War; a major Union victory in Pennsylvania.

Gettysburg Address - Lincoln’s speech emphasizing national unity and equality during the Civil War.

Sherman’s March - Union campaign of destruction through Georgia and the Carolinas to weaken the Confederacy.

Reform Bill of 1867 - Confederate states had to rewrite state constitutions to be readmitted.