Comprehensive Study Guide on the Reconstruction Era and the Compromise of 1877

Key Terminology and Initial Reconstruction Concepts

  • Freedmen's Bureau (The Freedoms Bureau): An agency established to aid formerly enslaved people in the South after the Civil War.
    • Marshal Twitchell: A Northern soldier and carpetbagger who went South with the intention to fight for the North and educate freed slaves.
    • Adele Coleman: The wife of the Northern soldier Marshal Twitchell.
  • Carpetbagger: A derogatory term for a Northerner who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era.
  • Scalawag: A derogatory Southern slang term used to describe a Southerner who supported Reconstruction policies and the Republican party.
  • General William Tecumseh Sherman (william Te Cumshen Sherman):
    • Famous quote: "War is all hell."
    • Sherman's Special Field Order #15 (1865): Promised "40 Acres and a Mule" (noted as "Acres and a Mule") to former slaves.
    • St. Catherine's Island, Georgia: A key site associated with Special Field Order #15.
    • Tunis Campbell: An African American man who lived in New York and subsequently moved to St. Catherine's Island, Georgia. He recounted the violence inflicted by island landowners, referencing a white man who tied him to a tree and gave him 3939 lashes.

Presidential Reconstruction and Radical Republican Opposition

  • President Andrew Johnson (Andrew Jonson / Andrew Thonson):
    • A Democratic President who assumed office following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
    • Taught how to read and write by his wife.
    • Described as a deeply racist president in history who asserted that white men alone should control the South.
  • Radical Republicans:
    • Republican politicians who advocated for complete equality for all men regardless of race, as well as land redistribution in the South.
    • Key Radical Republican Leaders:
    • Thaddeus Stevens: Representative from Pennsylvania (Pensilvania).
    • Benjamin Wade: Senator from Ohio.
    • Charles Sumner (Charles summer): Senator from Massachusetts (massachucets).

Economic, Legal, and Social Systems in the Post-Civil War South

  • Sharecropping: An economic system in which former slaves rented land and tools from a landowner and worked to pay off their rent. Considered a form of "slavery 2.0" due to the cycle of debt and dependency it created.
  • Jim Crow Laws (Jim Cow Lans): Local and state laws enacted throughout Southern states that enforced racial segregation and subjugated African Americans (Alan Americans).
  • Role of the Church: Religious institutions and churches became the primary center of social life for many African Americans living in the South.

Reconstruction Constitutional Amendments and Political Milestones

  • 13th Amendment: Made slavery illegal across the United States, except as punishment for a crime.
  • 14th Amendment: Provided EQUALITY for all citizens under the law and defined citizenship as anyone born in the United States.
  • 15th Amendment (noted in source as 16th Amendments): Established that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race.
  • First Black Senator: The election of the first Black Senator from Mississippi (sistepi).

The Presidential Election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877

  • Urban Northern Political Shifts:
    • Immigrants arriving in New York City were targeted by the Democratic Party for outreach and voter registration following the Civil War.
    • As a result, many major cities in the North grew into Democratic strongholds.
  • Candidates of the 1876 Election:
    • Rutherford B. Hayes: Republican candidate from Ohio.
    • Samuel J. Tilden: Democratic candidate from New York.
  • Disputed Election Results:
    • Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote.
    • Electoral votes in three states were too close to call: South Carolina (SC), Louisiana (LA), and Florida (FL).
    • On March 2, 1877, just two days before the presidential inauguration, there was still no clear winner.
  • The Compromise of 1877:
    • Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the presidency.
    • In exchange, Hayes agreed to withdraw all Federal troops from the Southern states.
  • Historical Conclusion: Although the North won the Civil War, the South ultimately won Reconstruction through the withdrawal of federal enforcement and the establishment of local white supremacy.

Conversational Language Notes

  • Spanish Practice Snippet:
    • "Qué haces en tu tiempo libre? = pasar con amigos, Practicar algo, trabajar en la escuela" (Translated: What do you do in your free time? = spend time with friends, practice something, work at school).