Reconstruction and Westward expansion

Reconstruction Era This refers to the period after the Civil War when questions arose about the future of freed Blacks, how to reintegrate the Southern states back into the Union, and who would determine Reconstruction policy1.

Winning the Peace After the Civil War, this involved questions of what to do with formerly enslaved people, how to reintegrate the Southern states into the Union, what to do with Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis, and who would establish Reconstruction policy1.

Freedman’s Bureau Established on March 3, 1865, and led by Union General Oliver O. Howard, its purpose was to train unskilled and unlettered freed Blacks2. It helped approximately 200,000 former slaves learn how to read, but faced hostility from whites and was deemed ineffective, leading to its expiration in 18722.

Oliver O. Howard He was a Union General who led the Freedman’s Bureau2.

Lincoln’s 10% Plan Proposed by Abraham Lincoln, it stipulated that Southern states could be reintegrated into the Union when 10% of their voters pledged an oath to the Union and acknowledged the emancipation of slaves3.

Reconciliation vs. Retribution Abraham Lincoln believed in reconciliation rather than retribution towards the South3. However, Radical Republicans favored harshly punishing the South4.

Wade-Davis Bill, 1864 This was an alternative to Lincoln's 10% Plan, requiring that 50% of a state's voters take oaths of allegiance, the establishment of military districts throughout the South, and stronger safeguards for emancipation, such as granting former slaves the right to vote5. Lincoln pocket-vetoed this bill5.

Pocket Veto This is a legislative maneuver in which a president effectively vetoes a bill by taking no action on it when Congress is not in session5.

Andrew Johnson He became president after Lincoln’s assassination and maintained Lincoln's policy by issuing his own Reconstruction proclamation4. His plan called for the disenfranchisement of certain leading Confederates, repudiation of Confederate debt, and required Southern states to repeal their secession ordinances and ratify the 13th Amendment before readmission to the Union6.

Johnson’s Plan This allowed for the disenfranchisement of certain leading Confederates, repudiated Confederate debt, and called upon southern states to repeal their respective secession ordinances and to ratify the 13th Amendment prior to readmission to the Union6.

Black Codes These were laws passed in many Southern states aimed at keeping black freedmen in submission6. They imposed penalties and fines on former slaves who violated labor contracts, kept wages low, forbade them from serving on juries, and sometimes barred them from renting or leasing land7.

Alexander Stephens He was the former Vice President of the Confederacy8. Southern states sending former Confederate officials like Stephens to Congress appalled Republicans8.

Good Ol’ Rebel This refers to former Confederate officials who took positions in Congress9.

Southern Restoration This is the act of restoring the southern states back into the Union9.

Civil Rights Act, 1866 This conferred on blacks the privilege of American citizenship and struck at the Black Codes10.

14th Amendment Republicans sought to instill the same ideas of the Civil Rights Bill in the 14th Amendment11:

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All Blacks were American citizens11

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If a state denied citizenship to Blacks, then its representatives in the Electoral College were lowered11

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Former Confederates could not hold federal or state office11

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The federal debt was guaranteed while the Confederate one was repudiated11 States would not be accepted back into the Union unless they ratified the 14th Amendment12.

Round the Circle Speeches In 1866, Andrew Johnson, seeking to lower the number of Republicans in Congress, began a series of speeches12. As the audience heckled him and his ideas, he hurled back insults, gave “give ‘em hell” speeches, and generally denounced the radicals12. In the process, Johnson gave Republicans more power in Congress than they had before13.

Radical Republicans They believed the South should be harshly punished4. Led in the Senate by Charles Sumner and in the House by Thaddeus Stevens13. They encouraged strong, sweeping action by the federal government to revolutionize the institutions and culture that bolstered white supremacy in the South14.

Thaddeus Stevens He was a Radical Republican leader in the House13.

Benjamin Wade This person is not mentioned in the provided excerpts.

Charles Sumner He was a Radical Republican leader in the Senate13.

Reconstruction Act, 1867 This divided the South into five military zones, temporarily disfranchised tens of thousands of former Confederates, and laid down new guidelines for the readmission of states14. All states had to approve the 14th Amendment and guarantee full suffrage of all male former slaves15.

15th Amendment Passed by Congress in 1869, it ultimately gave Black males the right to vote15.

Union League This became a network of political clubs that educated members in their civic duties and campaigned for Republican candidates16. It later even built Black churches and schools, represented Black grievances, and recruited militias to protect Blacks16. Black women became involved, attending the parades and rallies of Black communities16.

Hiram Revels He was a Black man who held political office and served in Congress, representing Mississippi16.

Blanche K. Bruce He was a Black man who held political office and served in Congress, representing Mississippi16.

Carpetbaggers These were Northerners accused of sleazily seeking power and profit in a now-desolate South17.

Scalawags These were Southerners accused of plundering treasuries and selling out the South17.

Ku Klux Klan Founded in Tennessee in 1866, this was an organization devoted to restoring white rule in the South through tactics such as intimidation of blacks who sought to vote or seek jobs, often resorting to violence17. The KKK sought to undermine much of what Reconstruction and the abolitionists before them had accomplished18.

Nathan Bedford Forrest This person is not mentioned in the provided excerpts.

Enforcement Acts These acts are not specifically described in the provided excerpts.

Johnson’s Impeachment Radicals, angry with President Johnson for a myriad of reasons, decided to force him out of office18.

Edwin Stanton He was the Secretary of War and a Republican sympathizer19.

Tenure of Office Act Passed by Congress in 1867, it provided that the president had to secure the consent of the Senate before removing his appointees once they had been approved by the Senate18.

Ulysses S. Grant This person is not mentioned in the provided excerpts.

Panic of 1873 This event is not specifically described in the provided excerpts.

Greenback Party This party is not specifically described in the provided excerpts.

Grantism This term is not defined in the provided excerpts.

Whiskey Ring This term is not defined in the provided excerpts.

Open Warfare on Blacks in the South This refers to the violent and hostile environment faced by Black individuals in the South9.

Civil Rights Act, 1875 This act is not specifically described in the provided excerpts.

1876 Election This election is not specifically described in the provided excerpts.

Samuel Tilden This person is not mentioned in the provided excerpts.

Rutherford B. Hayes This person is not mentioned in the provided excerpts.

FL, SC and LA These are the abbreviations for Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana, respectively9.

Compromise of 1877 This compromise is not specifically described in the provided excerpts.

Frederick Jackson Turner He was a historian who developed the Frontier Thesis20.

Frontier Thesis This was first outlined in Frederick Jackson Turner's paper The Significance of the Frontier in American History20. Turner wrote that the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explains American development21.

Homestead Act, 1862 The central premise of this act was that any family head or adult male who was a citizen or who had filed a declaration to become one could claim 160 acres of surveyed land in the public domain for a small registration fee and a promise to live there for five years22.

Horace Greeley He was the editor of New York’s Herald-Tribune, who advised workers to "Go West!"23

Morrill Land Grant Act, 1862 This gave states 30,000 acres of public land per senator and representative as a subsidy to finance land-grant colleges offering education to ordinary citizens in practical skills such as agriculture, engineering, and military science24.

Desert Land Act, 1877 This allowed homesteaders to buy 640 acres at $1.25 per acre if they promised to irrigate it25.

Timber Culture Act, 1873 This allotted settlers an additional 160 acres of land in return for planting and cultivating 40 acres of trees26.

Transcontinental Railroad Post war industrial economics emphasized the development of railroads27. Railroads opened the West, connected raw materials to factories and markets, and in doing so created a national market27.

Pacific Railway Act, 1862 This authorized a north-central route, to be built by the Union Pacific Railroad westward from Omaha and the Central Pacific Railroad eastward from Sacramento28.

Union Pacific Railroad This railroad was authorized to build westward from Omaha28.

Central Pacific Railroad This railroad was authorized to build eastward from Sacramento28.

The Big Four Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington, and Leland Stanford were Sacramento businessmen who organized and dominated the Central Pacific29.

Leland Stanford He was one of the "Big Four" Sacramento businessmen who dominated the Central Pacific railroad and was elected governor of California in 186229....

Charles Crocker He was one of the "Big Four" Sacramento businessmen who dominated the Central Pacific railroad29.

Mark Hopkins He was one of the "Big Four" Sacramento businessmen who dominated the Central Pacific railroad29.

Collis P. Huntington He was one of the "Big Four" Sacramento businessmen who dominated the Central Pacific railroad29.

Chinese Immigrant Labor The Central Pacific crews were mainly newly arrived Chinese immigrants from the region around Canton on the Southeast coast30.

Promontory, Utah, 1869 This is where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met on May 10, 1869, completing the first transcontinental railroad31. Leland Stanford drove a gold spike symbolizing completion as the telegraph lines informed the nation31.

Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad This railroad made contact with the Southern Pacific at Needles in southern California and ultimately fed on to San Diego by 188432.

Southern Pacific Railroad This railroad absorbed the Central Pacific and built on by way of Yuma, AZ to El Paso, TX in 1882, where it made connections to St. Louis and New Orleans32.

Northern Pacific Railroad This railroad connected Lake Superior with Portland by 188332.

The Mormons They fled east and settled in Utah, where by 1900 they numbered more than 200,00033.

Anglo-Mexican American Clash The Southwest saw a series of clashes between Anglos and Mexicans over control of the land34.

Plains Indians These included the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho tribes35....

The Cheyenne They practiced small-scale agriculture and horse trading and relocated frequently35.

The Sioux They relied on the buffalo for food and used their hides for clothing and shelter35.

The Arapaho This tribe is mentioned as among those involved in conflicts with white settlers37.

The Nez Perce This tribe finally refused to surrender lands along the Salmon River38.

Colonel J. M. Chivington In 1864, he ordered his militia to attack an Indian camp at Fort Lyon on Sand Creek, Colorado, slaughtering 450 peaceful Indians39.

Sand Creek Massacre In 1864, Colonel J. M. Chivington ordered his militia to attack an Indian camp at Fort Lyon on Sand Creek, Colorado, slaughtering 450 peaceful Indians39.

Gen. George Armstrong Custer He led an expedition into the Black Hills in 1874, accompanied by gold seekers40. In 1876, Custer and a detachment of 200 became surrounded by a body of warriors numbering about 2,500 and annihilated at the Battle of Little Big Horn41.

Chief Sitting Bull He escaped to Canada after the Battle of Little Big Horn, only to return to the Sioux reservation several years later41.

Chief Crazy Horse He was captured and murdered by a military guard41.

Battle of Little Big Horn Custer and a detachment of 200 became surrounded by a body of warriors numbering about 2,500 and annihilated41.

Chief Joseph He tried to avoid war, but when some unruly braves began to fight, he was forced to direct a masterful campaign against overwhelming odds38. After a retreat of 1,500 miles, Chief Joseph and his followers were finally caught thirty miles short of the Canadian border and exiled to Oklahoma42.

Chiricahua Apache This group is referenced in relation to Geronimo43.

Geronimo A chief of the Chiricahua Apaches who fought encroachments in the desert southwest for fifteen years43. He was captured in 188643.

Wovoka Also known as Jack Wilson, he was a Paiute in western Nevada who, in 1888, fell ill and imagined he had visited the spirit world, where he learned of a deliverer coming to rescue the Indians and restore their lands44.

Ghost Dance This was a ceremonial dance that Wovoka said the Indians had to take up at each new moon to hasten the day a deliverer would come to rescue them and restore their lands44.

Battle of Wounded Knee On December 29, 1890, an accidental rifle discharge led nervous soldiers to fire into a group of Indians who had come to surrender, resulting in the deaths of nearly 200 Indians and 25 soldiers44....

Helen Hunt Jackson A novelist and poet who focused attention on the Indian cause in A Century of Dishonor (1881)45....

A Century of Dishonor, 1881 A book by Helen Hunt Jackson that focused attention on the Indian cause45....

Texas Longhorn Cattle These were lean and rangy cattle, noted more for speed and endurance than for choice steaks47.

Cowboys During the twenty years after the Civil War some 40,000 cowboys roamed the Great Plains, rounding up herds for $30 a month and living under harsh conditions47.

Aaron Ashworth He was a free black who owned a ranch in Texas and 2,500 head of cattle48.

Cherokee Bill He was a biracial/mulatto [Indian/Black] born in Texas48. Upon killing his brother-in-law at the age of 14, Cherokee became a gun for hire, killing casually and inspiring fear48.

Nat Love, aka Deadwood Dick He was an outstanding cowboy exhibiting skill in both riding and marksmanship49.

Stagecoach Mary She was an African-American woman living in Montana as a restaurant owner, stagecoach driver, laundress, and was also good with guns50.

Owen Wister He was the author of The Virginian (1902)51.

The Virginian, 1902 This is a book by Owen Wister51.

Farming on the Plains Over 2 million immigrants, many from northern and central Europe, helped to settle the region52.

Sodbusters This term is not defined in the provided excerpts.

TR and National Parks The federal government, under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, created national parks53.

The Rocky Mountain School Landscape painters from the Rocky Mountain School, such as Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, piqued the public's interest in the West with their rugged portrayals of the noble savage and the bold cowboy54.

Frederic Remington He was a landscape painter from the Rocky Mountain School54.

Charles Russell He was a landscape painter from the Rocky Mountain School54.

The Bone Wars Taking place in the late 19th Century, and fought primarily between bone hunters O.C. Marsh and Edward Cope, took paleontology, which had been viewed as a hobby for wealthy gentleman, and turned it into a recognized science54....

O. C. Marsh He was a bone hunter55.

Edward Drinker Cope He was a bone hunter55.