AMSCO Chap 15: Reconstruction

Freedmen's Bureau

An early welfare agency providing food, shelter, and medical aid for blacks and homeless whites. Under Oliver O. Howard, it established nearly 3,000 schools for freed blacks

Andrew Johnson

Assumed the presidency after Lincoln's death. Turned out to be a white supremacist that clashed with Republicans.

Contract-labor system

Blacks worked under white supervision for deferred wages. Seemed nearly the same as slavery

Horace Greeley

Candidate of Liberal Republicans for civil service reform in the election of 1872. Lost.

Panic of 1873

Caused by overspeculation and overbuilding (industries and railroads). Widespread business failures and depression caused high unemployment. Debtors wanted to print Greenback paper money not supported by gold to inflate money so they could pay off their debts easily. Grant supported hard-money and additional Greenbacks weren't released

Johnson's Impeachment

Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867. Johnson challenged the law by dismissing the Secretary of War. The House impeached him, but the Senate failed to obtain the majority to remove Johnson from office. Moderate Republicans believed it was bad to remove a president for political reasons

Grantism

Corruption during the Grant administration. Many government officials gave jobs and government favors (spoils) to their supporters. Grant was personally uninvolved, but he was criticized for being loyal to the spoilsmen

Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

Declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were citizens. Obligated the states to respect the rights of US citizens and provide them with "equal protection of the laws" and "due process of law" o Required the states to uphold the rights of citizens for the first time o Disqualified former Confederate political leaders from holding office

Election of 1868

Democrat Horatio Seymour vs. Republican General Ulysses S. Grant, a war hero with no political experience. Grant won a close election, aided by black voters

Samuel J. Tilden

Democrat in election of 1876. Won popular votes but lost disputed electoral votes.

Congressional election of 1866

Democrats appealed to racial prejudices; Republicans used anti-southern prejudices. Republicans won an overwhelming majority in both houses. However, the South got more representatives now that slaves were no longer considered three-fifths of a person

Horatio Seymour

Democrats' presidential candidate in election of 1868. Defeated

Oliver O. Howard

Established many schools for freed blacks through the Freedmen's Bureau

Ended Reconstruction

Hayes did this to reconstruction

Compromise of 1877

Hayes would become president given that he would end federal support for Republicans in the South (withdraw federal troops station in the South) and support the building of a southern transcontinental railroad

Lincoln's last public address

In this, Lincoln encouraged the Union to accept Louisiana as a reconstructed state. Wanted lasting reform, but was assassinated three days later

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863)

Lincoln's plan for readmitting the South back into the union. Offered full pardons to southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and accepted the emancipation of slaves. A state government could be reestablished as soon as at least 10% of the voters in that state took the loyalty oath ("10 Percent Plan"). Lincoln's goal was to preserve the Union and readmit the South as quickly as possible.

Johnson's Reconstruction plan

Lincoln's plan plus disfranchisement of all former Confederate leaders and officeholders and Confederates with more than $20,000 in taxable property. Gave Johnson the power to grant individual pardons, which he used for wealthy planters.

"10 Percent Plan"

Lincoln's plan, a state government could be reestablished as soon as at least 10% of the voters in that state took the loyalty oath

Sharecropping

Many blacks signed labor contracts with white landowners. Landlord provided the seed and farm supplies in return for a share of the harvest. Poor blacks and whites gained the opportunity to work their own land, but they became dependent and often indebted. There were few opportunities to advance

Fifteenth Amendment (1869)

Prohibited any state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude"

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Pronounced all African Americans to be U.S. citizens, repudiating the Dred Scott decision. Attempted to weaken southern Black Codes

Election of 1872

Reform-minded Republicans broke from the party, election Horace Greeley to represent the Liberal Republicans for civil service reform, an end of railroad subsidies, withdrawal of troops from the South, reduced tariffs, and free trade. Democrats joined the Liberal Republicans. Regular Republicans nominated Grant, who won a landslide victory

Amnesty Act (1872)

Removed restrictions on ex-Confederates

Election of 1876

Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden won more popular votes but the electoral votes were disputed. An electoral commission gave Hayes the electoral votes, winning the election

Rutherford B. Hayes

Republican in election of 1876. Won the election because an electoral commission gave him the disputed electoral votes, though the other candidate won more popular votes.

Ulysses S. Grant

Republicans' presidential candidate in election of 1868. War hero with no political experience. Won a close election, aided by black voters. Also won a landslide victory in his 2nd term.

Wade-Davis Bill (1864)

Required 50% of the voters in a state to take a loyalty oath. Permitted only non-Confederates to vote for a new state constitution. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill

Black Codes

Restricted the rights and movements of African Americans. Prohibited blacks from renting land or borrowing money to buy land, forced freedmen to sign work contracts, and prohibited blacks from testifying against whites in court. Angered republicans

Redeemers

Southern conservatives supported states' rights, reduced taxes, reduced spending on social programs, and white supremacy

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacists. Burned black-own buildings and murdered freedmen who attempted to vote. Force Acts of 1870 and 1871 gave federal authorities the power to stop the KKK violence and protect civil rights

Johnson vetoed important Republican bills

a bill increasing the services and protection offered by the Freedmen's Bureau and a civil rights bill that nullified Black Codes and guaranteed full citizenship and equal rights to blacks

Force Acts (of 1870 and 1871)

gave federal authorities the power to stop the KKK violence and protect civil rights

Civil Rights Act of 1875

granted equal accommodations in public places. Prohibited courts from excluding African Americans from juries. Poorly enforced

Thaddeus Stevens

led Radical Republicans, along with Charles Sumner

Charles Sumner

led Radical Republicans, along with Thaddeus Stevens

Radical Republicans

led by Senator Charles Sumner and Representative Thaddeus Stevens. Endorsed liberal causes, including civil rights for blacks, women's suffrage, and rights for labor unions

"Carpetbaggers"

northern Republicans who went South after the war, some with good intentions but others went to plunder

Congressional Reconstruction acts (1867)

placed the South under military occupation, in five military districts. Demanded that Confederate states had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and guarantee the right to vote for all adult males

Tenure of Office Act (1867)

prohibited the president from removing a federal official or military commander without Senate approval in a probably unconstitutional attempt to protect Radical Republicans.

"Scalawags"

southern Republicans who were interested in economic development for their state and peace between the sections