AMSCO Chapter 15

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

In 1863, President Lincoln's proclamation set up a process for political reconstruction, creating state governments in the South so that Unionists were in charge rather than secessionists. It include a full presidential pardon for most Confederates who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and the U.S. Constitution, and accepted the emancipation of slaves. It also reestablished state governments as soon as at least 10 percent of the voters in the state took the loyalty oath. In practice, the proclamation meant that each Southern state would need to rewrite its state constitution to eliminate existence of slavery.

due process of law

Part of the 14 Amendment, it denies the government the right, without due process, to deprive people of life, liberty, and property.

Amnesty Act of 1872

This act removed the last of the restrictions on ex-Confederates, except for the top leaders. Allowed southern conservatives to vote for Democrats to retake control of state governments.

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.

redeemers

By 1877, these Southern conservatives had taken control of state governments in the South. Their foundation rested on states rights, reduced taxes, reduced social programs, and white supremacy.

sharecropping

Common form of farming for freed slaves in the South. They received a small plot of land, seed, fertilizer, tools from the landlord who usually took half of the harvest. It evolved into a new form of servitude.

Panic of 1873

Economic panic caused by over speculation by financiers and over building by industry and railroads. In 1874, President Grant sided with the hard-money bankers who wanted gold backing of the money supply. He vetoed a bill calling for the release of additional greenbacks.

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.

Edwin Stanton

He was President Andrew Johnson's secretary of war. President Johnson believed the new Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional and he challenged the law, by dismissing him from his position. This led to Johnson's impeachment.

Rutherford B. Hayes

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Liberal Republicans

In 1872, this party advocated civil service reform, an end of railroad subsidies, withdrawal of troops from the South, reduced tariffs, and free trade.

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.

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.

spoilsmen

In the 1870s, political manipulators such as Senator Roscoe Conkling and James Blaine, used patronage - giving jobs and government favors to their supporters.

Horace Greeley

In the presidential election of 1872, both the Liberal Republicans and the Democrats made this newspaper editor their nominee. He lost the election to Ulysses S. Grant, he died just days before the counting of the electoral vote count.

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.

Congressional Reconstruction

In the spring of 1866, many in Congress were unhappy with President Andrew Johnson's policies and this led to the second round of reconstruction. Its creation was dominated by Congress and featured policies that were harsher on Southern whites and more protective of freed African Americans.

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.

Charles Sumner

The leading Radical Republican in the Senate from Massachusetts.

presidential reconstruction

President Abraham Lincoln believed that the Southern states could not leave the Union and therefore never did leave. He consider them a disloyal minority. After Lincoln's assassination, President Andrew Johnson attempted to carry out Lincoln's plan for reconstruction.

impeachment

President Johnson was the first president impeached, for the charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors on February 24, 1868. One of the articles of impeachment was violating the Tenure of Office Act. He had removed Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, from office. The impeachment failed, falling just one vote short.

Benjamin Wade

Radical Republican who endorsed woman's suffrage, rights for labor unions, and civil rights for northern blacks.

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.

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."

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.

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.

Andrew Johnson

The 17th President of the United States from 1865 to 1869. This Southerner from Tennessee was Lincoln's vice president, and he became president after Lincoln was assassinated. He opposed radical Republicans who passed Reconstruction Acts over his veto. The first U.S. president to be impeached, he survived the Senate removal by only one vote.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

The last major piece of Reconstruction legislation, this law prohibited racial discrimination in all public accommodation and transportation. It also prohibited courts from excluding African Americans from juries. However, the law was poorly enforced.

carpetbaggers

The term for Northern newcomers who came to the South during Reconstruction.

scalawags

The term for White Republican Southerners who cooperated with and served in Reconstruction governments.

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.

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.

Thaddeus Stephens

This Pennsylvania Congressman was a Radical Republican. He hoped to revolutionize Southern society through an extended period of military rule in which blacks would be free to exercise their civil rights, receive education, and receive lands confiscated from planter class.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

This act declared that all African Americans were U.S. citizens and also attempted to provide a shield against the operation of the Southern states' Black Codes.