Apush unit 5 terms b

Homestead Act (1862)

  • Gave 160 acres of land to settlers who would improve it by building and farming for five years.

  • Importance: Promoted westward expansion and helped populate the Great Plains, but also led to conflict with Native Americans over land.

Greenbacks

  • Paper currency issued by the Union during the Civil War, not backed by gold or silver.

  • Importance: Used to finance the war effort, leading to inflation and debates over monetary policy post-war.

Copperheads

  • Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and advocated for peace with the South.

  • Importance: Represented anti-war sentiment in the North and were a source of political division during the war.

Ex Parte Milligan (1866)

  • Supreme Court case ruling that military tribunals could not try civilians when civilian courts were open.

  • Importance: Limited government powers during wartime, reaffirming civil liberties even in times of national crisis.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

  • Executive order by Abraham Lincoln freeing slaves in Confederate states.

  • Importance: Shifted the focus of the Civil War to include abolition as a war goal and

  • weakened the South’s economy and labor force.

Jefferson Davis

  • President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

  • Importance: Led the Confederacy in its fight for independence but struggled with military and political leadership.

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

  • Union general who led the North to victory in the Civil War and later became the 18th president.

  • Importance: His military strategies, particularly in the Western Theater, helped secure Union victory and he played a key role in Reconstruction.

Robert E. Lee

  • General of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

  • Importance: Led Confederate forces through major battles, earning respect for his leadership, but was ultimately defeated, leading to the Confederacy's collapse.

King Cotton Diplomacy

  • The South’s strategy to use cotton exports as leverage to gain support from European nations.

  • Importance: Failed to secure European intervention, and it contributed to the South’s economic struggles during the war.

Gettysburg Address (1863)

  • A brief speech by Abraham Lincoln dedicating the Gettysburg battlefield as a national cemetery.

  • Importance: Reinforced the ideals of liberty, equality, and

  • national unity, becoming a foundational statement of American democratic principles.

13th Amendment (1865)

  • Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

  • Importance: Marked the end of legalized slavery, fundamentally changing the social and economic structure of the South.

14th Amendment (1868)

  • Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.

  • Importance: Expanded civil rights and laid the foundation for future civil rights movements by challenging state-sanctioned discrimination.

15th Amendment (1870)

  • Gave African American men the right to vote.

  • Importance: Marked a key step in the post-Civil War expansion of civil rights, although its promise was undermined by discriminatory practices in the South.

President Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

  • 17th president, who succeeded Lincoln after his assassination and oversaw early Reconstruction.

  • Importance: His lenient Reconstruction policies angered Congress, leading to his impeachment and a power struggle over Reconstruction.

Scalawags

  • Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.

  • Importance: Viewed as traitors by former Confederates, they played a key role in Southern Republican governments during Reconstruction.

Carpetbaggers

  • Northern transplants to the South during Reconstruction, often perceived as opportunists.

  • Importance: Seen as exploiting the South's post-war difficulties, they played a significant role in Reconstruction governments.

Credit Mobilier (1872)

  • A scandal involving a construction company that defrauded the Union Pacific Railroad and implicated several government officials.

  • Importance: Highlighted corruption in the post-Civil War government and damaged public trust in politics.

Compromise of 1877

  • Agreement that ended Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South in exchange for Rutherford B. Hayes becoming president.

  • Importance: Marked the end of Reconstruction, allowing Southern Democrats to regain control of Southern governments and leading to the disenfranchisement of African Americans.

Sharecropping

  • A system where farmers (often former slaves) rented land and paid with a share of their crop.

  • Importance: Perpetuated a cycle of poverty and debt for

  • African Americans and poor whites in the South, effectively replacing slavery with economic dependency.

Jim Crow

  • Laws and customs that enforced racial segregation in the South after Reconstruction.

  • Importance: Institutionalized racial discrimination, disenfranchising African Americans and perpetuating systemic inequality for nearly a century.

Black Codes

  • Laws passed in the South after the Civil War to restrict the freedoms of African Americans.

  • Importance: Designed to maintain a labor force similar to slavery, these codes prompted the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments to protect African Americans' rights.