Reconstruction
Neo-Slavery
After slavery was declared unconstitutional, the practice of depriving southern blacks of their rights, casting them back to subordinate positions.
How did Reconstruction end
Disputed election of 1877 led to a deal between Republicans and Democrats. Hayes would maintain presidency while federal troops would be removed from Southern states
Compromise of 1877
Ended Reconstruction. Republicans promise 1) Remove military from South, 2) Appoint Democrat to cabinet (David Key postmaster general), 3) Federal money for railroad construction and levees on Mississippi river
What were the Reconstruction Amendments?
13th: abolished slavery (except criminal convictions) 14th: naturalized citizenship and equal protection 15th: universal male suffrage
Reconstruction Acts
1867 - Pushed through congress over Johnson's veto, it gave radical Republicans complete military control over the South and divided the South into five military zones, each headed by a general with absolute power over his district.
What was Lincoln's plan for readmitting seceded states?
At least 10% of the population must swear an oath of allegiance to the Union/Constitution and each state must ratify the 13th Amendment (abolish slavery)
Civil Rights Act 1866
Black were citizens, overturned Scott decision
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Confederate cavalry leader who later became a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan
10% Plan (Lincoln)
Confederate states would be readmitted if 10% of the population took a loyalty oath and the state ratified the 13th Amendment
How did Lincoln's assassination and Johnson's impeachment affect Reconstruction
His successor, Andrew Johnson, was a Southern apologist who was against affording rights to blacks. He vetoed most of Congress's Reconstruction efforts and was ultimately impeached in 1868, allowing Radical Republicans to lead Reconstruction going forward
Black Codes
Laws denying most legal rights to newly freed slaves; passed by southern states following the Civil War
Jim Crow Laws
Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites
Tenure of Office Act (1867)
Radical attempt to further diminish Andrew Johnson's authority by providing that the president could not remove any civilian official without Senate approval; Johnson violated the law by removing Edwin Stanton as secretary of war, and the House of Representatives impeached him over his actions.
List and describe at least 3 examples of continued oppression of blacks after the Civil War.
Sharecropping: economic system of tenant farming that still tied poor blacks to the land and white patronage. Ku Klux Klan: white supremacist organization that terrorized blacks in an effort to limit their civil rights Black codes: laws in Southern states that undermined Reconstruction efforts and relegated blacks to 2nd class citizens
Who were Radical Republicans?
Wing of the Republican Party that fought to extend equal civil rights to blacks and to establish political and economic punishments for seceded states