AMSCO AP US History Chapter 15

Thomas Nast

New York Times political cartoonist who exposed the abuses of the "Boss" Tweed ring. Tweed was eventually arrested and imprisoned in 1871. (p. 310)

Compromise of 1877

This informal deal settled the 1876 presidential election contest between Rutherford Hayes (Republican) and Samuel Tilden (Democrat). It was agreed that Hayes would become president. In return, he would remove all federal troops from the South and support the building of a Southern transcontinental railroad. (p. 303)

Rutherford B. Hayes

He won the presidential election of 1876, which was a highly contested election. He was a Republican governor from Ohio. (p. 302)

Hiram Revels

During the Reconstruction era, this black politician, was elected to the Mississippi senate seat that had been occupied by Jefferson Davis before the Civil War. (p. 298)

Ku Klux Klan

Founded in 1867, by ex-Confederate general, Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. This organization of white supremacists used lynchings, beatings, and threats to control the black population in the South. (p. 302)

Wade-Davis Bill

In 1864, this harsh Congressional Reconstruction bill stated that the president would appoint provisional governments for conquered states until a majority of voters took an oath of loyalty to the Union. It required the abolition of slavery by new state constitutions, only non-Confederates could vote for a new state constitution. President Lincoln refused to sign the bill, pocket vetoing it after Congress adjourned. (p. 292)

Reconstruction Acts

In 1867, Congress passed three acts which placed the South under military occupation. They created five military districts in the former Confederate states, each under control of the Union army. To rejoin the Union, ex-Confederate states were required to ratify the 14th amendment and place guarantees in their state constitution that all adult males of all races would be guaranteed the right to vote. (p. 296)

Tenure of Office Act

In 1867, this act prohibited the president from removing a federal official or military commander, without the approval of the Senate. The purpose of the law was purely political, to protect the Radical Republicans in Johnson's cabinet from dismissal. (p. 297)

Jay Gould

In 1869, this Wall Street financier obtained the help of President Grant's brother in law, to corner the gold market. The Treasury Department broke the scheme, but after he had already made a huge profit. (p. 300)

Freedmen's Bureau

In March 1865, an organization created at end of Civil War, which provided aid to the both black and whites in the South. It provided food, shelter, and medical aid for those made destitute by the Civil War. (p. 292)

Radical Republicans

In the 1860s, this was the smaller portion of the Republican party than the moderates. They were led by Senator Charles Sumner and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. They supported various programs that were most beneficial to the newly freed African Americans in the South. (p. 295)

Samuel J. Tilden

In the presidential election of 1876, this New York reform governor was the Democrat nominee. He had gained fame for putting Boss Tweed behind bars. He collected 184 of the necessary 185 electoral votes, but was defeated by Rutherford B. Hayes, when all of the electoral votes from the contested states of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana went to Hayes. (p. 303)

Credit Mobilier

In this affair, insiders gave stock to influential members of Congress, to avoid investigation of the huge profits they were making from government subsidies for building the transcontinental railroad. (p. 300)

14th Amendment

Ratified in 1868, this Constitutional amendment, declares that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were citizens, and it obligated the states to respect the rights of U.S. citizens and provide them with "equal protection of the laws" and "due process of law". Other parts of the amendment related to Congress' plan for Reconstruction. (p. 295)

15h Amendment

Ratified in 1870, this Constitutional amendment, prohibited any state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." (p. 297)

Black Codes

Southern state legislatures created these codes after the Civil War. They restricted the rights and movements of newly freed African Americans. 1) prohibited blacks from either renting land or borrowing money to buy land, 2) placed freemen into a form of semi bondage by forcing them, as "vagrants" and "apprentices" to sign work contracts, 3) prohibited blacks from testifying against whites in court. (p. 294)

patronage

Term for one of the key inducements used by party machines. A job, promotion, or contract that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence. (p. 300)

carpetbaggers

The term for Northern newcomers who came to the South during Reconstruction. (p. 298)

scalawags

The term for White Republican Southerners who cooperated with and served in Reconstruction governments. (p. 298)

Force Acts (1870, 1871)

These act passed in 1870 and 1871, gave power to federal authorities to stop Ku Klux Klan violence and to protect the civil rights of citizens in the South. (p. 302)

William (Boss) Tweed

This New York City politician, arranged schemes that allowed he and his cronies to steal about $200 million dollars from New York. He was eventually sentenced to prison in 1871. (p. 301)