American Reconstruction Era Comprehensive Study Guide
Plans and Policies for Reconstruction
Ten Percent Plan
Required of the citizens who had voted in the presidential election of 1860 to swear an oath of loyalty to the Union before a state government could be reestablished.
Wade-Davis Bill
Required more than of white male citizens in a state to swear loyalty to the Union.
Mandated that participants take an oath affirming that they had never supported the Confederacy voluntarily.
Johnson's Plan
Proposed offering general amnesty to individuals who would swear loyalty to the Union, excluding those whose personal property was valued at over (who were required to apply for a direct presidential pardon).
Refused to pay or recognize Confederate debts, requiring states to formally repudiate them.
Appointed provisional state governors authorized to hold conventions for the purpose of drafting new state constitutions and ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment.
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Required congressional approval for all newly drafted state constitutions.
Required Southern states to formally ratify the Fourteenth Amendment as a condition of readmission.
Granted adult Black males the right to vote.
Required Southern states to conduct open constitutional conventions that included both Black and white delegates.
Chronological Timeline of Reconstruction (1865–1877)
1865: Freedmen's Bureau
Established by the federal government to provide emergency food, clothing, legal support, and employment assistance to formerly enslaved individuals.
1866: Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act
Enactment of the Civil Rights Act to protect the fundamental legal rights of African Americans.
Congressional proposal and passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to guarantee constitutional protection of citizenship.
1867: Reconstruction Act and Tenure of Office Act
Passage of the Reconstruction Act, imposing military oversight and establishing stringent criteria for state readmission.
Passage of the Tenure of Office Act, restricting presidential authority over executive dismissals.
1870: Fifteenth Amendment
Official ratification of the constitutional amendment safeguarding voting rights regardless of race or color.
1872: Amnesty Act
Legislation restoring political and civil rights to the vast majority of former Confederate officials and soldiers.
1876: Disputed Election
Contested presidential election between Democratic nominee Samuel J. Tilden and Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes.
1877: Troops Withdrawn from the South
Removal of the remaining federal military forces from the South, marking the formal conclusion of Reconstruction.
The Reconstruction Amendments (Civil War Amendments)
Thirteenth Amendment
Formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude within the borders of the United States.
Fourteenth Amendment
Granted full citizenship to all individuals born or naturalized in the United States and prohibited states from depriving citizens of due process and equal protection under the law.
Fifteenth Amendment
Prohibited federal and state governments from denying any American citizen the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Prominent Historical Figures of the Reconstruction Era
William Seward
Secretary of State who secretly negotiated a treaty with Russia to purchase Alaska.
Thaddeus Stevens
Prominent representative who led the Radical Republican faction in the United States House of Representatives.
Charles Sumner
Senator who served as the Radical Republican leader in the United States Senate.
Edwin Stanton
Secretary of War originally appointed by Abraham Lincoln; his contested removal by Andrew Johnson served as the primary basis for Johnson's impeachment proceedings.
Samuel J. Tilden
Democratic presidential candidate in the disputed election of 1876 who secured the popular vote but lost the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in the Electoral College.
Rutherford B. Hayes
Republican candidate who secured the presidency following the resolution of the disputed 1876 electoral vote count.
Key Terminology, Political Factions, and Socioeconomic Developments
Radical Republicans
A minority segment within the United States Congress that opposed lenient reintegration policies for Southern leaders and actively advocated for expanded civil and political rights for freed slaves.
Amnesty
An official general pardon granted by the government to a group of individuals.
Black Codes
Restrictive laws passed across Southern states designed to suppress and limit the freedoms, mobility, and legal rights of African Americans.
Freedmen's Bureau
A federal agency created to assist former slaves with immediate provisions of food, clothing, and access to jobs.
Carpetbaggers
A term referring to Northerners who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era to pursue political, financial, or reform-oriented objectives.
Scalawags
A derogatory term used in the South to describe white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and cooperated with Northern Republicans.
Tenure of Office Act
A federal law that barred the president from dismissing executive appointees without obtaining Senate approval; this statute was later deemed unconstitutional.
Impeachment
The formal constitutional process of bringing charges of official misconduct against a high-ranking government official, such as the president.
Redeemers
A conservative Southern political faction that sought to retake political control, oust Reconstruction-era governments, and "save" Southern culture.
Sharecropping
An agricultural economic arrangement in which farmers worked small plots of land owned by planters in exchange for a specified portion of the harvested crop.
New South
A post-war vision promoting the industrialization and economic modernization of the South to rival the industrial power of the North.
Mill Towns
Industrial settlements and residential communities constructed by factory owners directly adjacent to workplaces to house their laborers.
Ku Klux Klan
A secret, violent organization determined to enforce white supremacy and keep African Americans under white social and political control.