AMSCO Chapter 15 Reconstruction 1863-1877
Carpetbaggers
Northerners who went South after the war for various reasons. Some were investors interested in setting up new businesses, while others were ministers, teacher and humanitarians. Some however went to take economic advantage and simply plunder.
Ten Percent Plan
A state government could be re-established and accepted as legitimate by the US President as soon as at least ______________ of the voters in that state took an oath of loyalty
Johnson Impeachment Trial
A three month _____________ in 1868 in which Johnson's political opponents fell 3 votes short of those necessary for impeachment. A few Moderate Republicans sided with Democratic voters not to ___________ Johnson because they thought that it was a bad precedent to remove a sitting President.
Spoils System
Abused under the Grant Administration. This was a tactic where politicians gave jobs & government favors to their friends
Thomas Nast
New York Times Cartoonist who helped expose the corruption of the Tweed Ring through his political cartoons. This brought about Tweed's Arrest in 1871
The Freedmen's Bureau
A kind of early welfare agency providing food, shelter and medical aid for those made destitute by the war. This program aided mostly freed slaves and homeless whites. The ___________ originally placed free blacks on confiscated farmland in the South. Andrew Johnson overturned this, returning the lands to the former slave owners who originally held it.
William "Boss" Tweed
Boss of the local Democratic Party in New York City who masterminded dozens of schemes for helping himself and his cronies steal bout $200 million from New York's taxpayers
"Waving the Bloody Shirt"
Campaign tactic that inflamed the anger of Northern voters by reminding them of the hardships of war
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Congress passed 3 Acts (Over Johnson's Vetoes). They were known as the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 (Military Districts, 14th Amendment for Re-Admittance, Tenure of Office Act)
Lincoln's Aim
Each Southern state was required to rewrite its' state constitution in order to eliminate the existence of slavery. Lincoln's lenient policy was used to shorten the war and to give added weight to the Emancipation Proclamation. (This was in 1863, the year before Lincoln was re-elected. He feared that if he lost the '64 election that Democrats would overturn the Emancipation Proclamation)
Ku Klux Clan
Founded by an Ex-Confederate General, Nathaniel Bedford Forrest this group terrorized the South. They burned Black owned buildings and murdered Freedmen.
Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction (1863)
Full Presidential pardons to any Southerner who: 1) Took an oath of allegiance to the Union and the U.S. Constitution And 2) Accepted the Emancipation of Slaves
14th Amendment
Guarantees the franchise (right to vote) to all adult males, regardless of race
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Johnson challenged the Tenure of Office Act by dismissing his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton without their approval. They responded by charging him with 11 "High Crimes & Misdemeanors"
Election of 1866
Johnson tried to appeal to the prejudices of Southerners to get elected in __________. He claimed that equal rights for blacks would result in an Africanized Society. Republicans argued that he was a drunkard & traitor, branding the Democratic Party the Party of Rebellion & Treason
Johnson's Reconstruction Policy
Johnson was anti-aristocrat which many Republicans in Congress welcomed. Johnson agreed with disenfranchisement (Loss of right to vote or hold office) for Ex-Confederate leaders but he retained the right to grant individual pardons. Johnson frequently granted pardons on wealthy planters. As a result many Confederate leaders were back in office by the Fall of 1865
Lincoln's Last Speech
Lincoln pushed for Louisiana to be brought back into the Union. They had already drawn up a new constitution without slavery but had denied blacks the right to vote. He also addressed the question of whether or not freedmen should be allowed to vote. "I myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent and on those who serve our cause as soldiers" .
Tenure of Office Act
Passed by Congress, this Act prohibited the President from removing a Federal Official or military commander without their approval
Force Acts
Passed to give Federal Authorities the power to stop KKK violence and to protect the Civil Rights of citizens in the South. There were two, in 1870 & 1871
Election of 1876
Pitted Rutherford B. Hayes (R) vs Samuel Tilden (D) ran in a controversial election where Tilden needed One more electoral vote to win. In s a special electoral commission to determine disputed votes. The commission gave all the votes to Hayes.
15th Amendment
Prohibited any state from denying or abridging a citizen's a citizen's right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was ratified in 1870
Amnesty Act of 1872
Removed the last restrictions on Ex-Confederates except for their top leaders. The chief political consequence of this was that it allowed Southern Conservatives to vote for Democrats to retake control of state governments
Wade-Davis Bill
Republicans in Congress objected to Lincoln's Plan Their Plan was to: Have 50 percent of the voters of each state take the loyalty oath. Only Non-Confederates could vote for a new state constitution. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the Bill.
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Scandal in which two investors, Jay Gould & James Fisk obtained the help of the President's Brother In Law in a scheme to corner the global gold market
Redeemers
Southern Conservatives who took control of one state government after another. They were for state's rights, reduced taxes, reduced spending on social spending and white supremacy
Scalawags
Term used by Southerners for fellow Southern Whites who supported economic development and peace with the North
Education in the South
The Freedmen's Bureau's greatest accomplishment was in ______________. It established nearly 3,000 schools for Blacks including colleges. Before Federal funding was stopped the _________ taught an estimated 200,000 African Americans how to read
Election of 1868
The Republicans put forth Ulysses S. Grant as their candidate against the Democratic candidate. It turns out that free African Americans gave the Republican ticket its' margin of victory. This made Republicans fully aware that they needed to protect the voting rights of Freedmen in order to keep control of the White House in future elections.
Military Districts
The South was divided into 5 ____________________ ________________ in order to maintain law and order. Each area (1 VA) (2 NC & SC ) (3 FL & GA) (4 MS & AK) (5 LA & TX). Each was run by a Union General
5 Military Zones
The South was divided into __________ _________ _______________ after the war. This was done in order to keep law, order & peace in the South after the War.
Howard, Atlanta, Fisk & Morehouse
The first of many historically Black Colleges in America. They were primarily used to train teachers and ministers.
Compromise of 1877
The two parties came to a deal in the Election of 1876. Hayes would become President and in return he would immediately end Federal Support for Republicans in the South, Support the building of a Transcontinental Railroad in the South & pull all Federal Troops out of the South.
Civil Rights Act of 1875
This Law guaranteed equal accommodations in public places (hotels, railroads, theaters) & prohibited courts from excluding African Americans from juries
Andrew Johnson
Took over as President for Lincoln after his assassination by John Wilkes Booth. ____________ came from humble beginnings like Lincoln. He was originally a tailor. He was the only Senator from a Confederate State who remained loyal to the Union. He clashed with the Radical Republicans who though of him as a white supremacist and as someone who saw the war as simply fought to preserve the Union, not to liberate and enfranchise Blacks
Blanch K Bruce & Hiram Revels
Two African Americans who the Republican Party elected to elevate to the status of Senators. They replaced in one example, the seat held by Jefferson Davis.
Sharecropping & Tenant Farming
Under this system of farming, the landlord provided the seed and other needed farming supplies in return for a share (usually half) of the harvest. While this provided work for Freedmen & Poor Whites, they usually remained dependent on the landowners and never moved up the social hierarchy.
