Reconstruction Social Studies 7th Grade

black codes

laws passed in southern states to restrict the rights of African Americans

Jim Crow Laws

laws the Redeemers (Democrats who wanted to gain control of state governments and limit the rights of African Amercians) passed to require segregation.

Thirteenth Amendment

outlawed slavery in the United States

sharecroppers

poor people (usually African American) who "borrowed land and tools, etc, from landowners and had to pay them back by giving most of the crop to the landowner.

impeachment

process used by the legislative body (Congress) to bring chardes of wrongdoing against a public official. This happened to President Johnson

Carpetbaggers

put down name for the Notherners who moved to the South during Reconstruction. They were resented by Southerners because it was believed that they only wanted to profit from Reconstruction.

poll tax

redeemers set up this to deny African Americans the right to vote.

To limit the rights of African Americans, Reedeemers cam up with Jim Crow Laws (to force segregation), and poll taxes and literacy tests to deny the right to vote.

In what ways did Redeemers limit the rights of African Americans?

Mark Twain

respected and most famous author from the South. Wrote many stories abou the South at the end of Reconstruction, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Radical Republicans

wanted the Southern states to change much more and wanted the federal government to be much more involved in Reconstruction. They passed the Civil Rights Act, the 14th Amendment, and the "Reconstruction Acts."

Amnesty

an official pardon; part of Lincoln's 10 percent Plan

civil rights act of 1866

provided african americans with the same legal rights as white americans. Vetoed by President Johnson, but Congress passed in an over-ride.

sharecropper

system in which landowners provided the land, tools, and supplies while sharecroppers provided the labor. At harvest time the sharecropper often had to give most of the crop to the landowner leaving what remained to the sharecropper. It usually led to a cycle of debt where the sharecropper was never able to get out of.

Scalawags

"mean fellows" - put down name for Southerners who were Republicans and supported Reconstruction. They had supported the Union during the Civil War.

literacy test

Redeemers required voters to take this in order to deny African Americans the right to vote.

It made slavery illegal throughout the United States. It allowed African Americans the opportunity to look for lost relatives, get married, get an education, etc., and look forward to having Civil Rights.

What did the 13th Amendment achieve, and how did this change the lives of enslaved African Americans?

Hundreds of thousands of African Americans voted for him giving him a narrow victory.

What voters did Grant appeal to in the presidential election of 1868?

Reconstruction

the process of reuniting the nation and rebuilding souther states without slavery. It lasted from 1865-1877.

Freedman's Bureau

1865 - Established by Congress to provide relief to all poor people, black or white, in the South. Distributed food, supervised job contracts, established contracts, etc...

Fourteenth Amendment

1866 - Civil Rights Amendment - All people born or naturalized are citizens and have the right guaranteed and protected. Banned federal officials from taking state or federal office, made state laws subject to review by federal court.

Ku Klux Klan

1866 - secret society of white southerners who opposed civil rights for African Americans, especially suffrage (the right to vote). They used violence and terror to deny African Americans their Civil Rights.

Fifteenth Amendment

1869 - This gave African American men the right to vote.

John Wilkes Booth

Actor, Southerner, who shot Lincoln at Ford's Theatre April 14, 1865.

The Compromise of 1877

Compromise made after the 1876 election for President because Republicans challenged the results. Some Republicans (mainly African Americans) in the South were subject to violence to keep them from voting. The Compromise resulted in Rutherford B. Hayes as President, and federal troops were removed from the South, basically ending Reconstruction.

Redeemers

Democrats in the South who wanted to gain control of state governments and limit the rights of African Americans came up with Jim Crow Laws (to force segregation), and poll taxes and literacy tests to deny the right to vote.

Ulysses S. Grant

Republican elected President in 1868 because of support of hundreds of thousands of African Americans.

Edwin Stanton

Secretary of War who was fired by President Johnson

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case - Homer Plessy, An African American man was arrested for sitting in a white's only train in Louisana. The court ruled (1896) that segregation was legal if the facilities were separate but equal. Facilities where they existed were usually poorer quality than those created for whites.

segregation

the forced separation of whites and African Americans in public places.

They wanted the federal government to have more involvement in Reconstruction.

What did Radical Republicans want the federal government to do?

Change much more than they already had before they could return to the Union.

What did Radical Republicans want the southern states to do before they could return to the Union?

Black codes were passed. They required African Americans to sign work contracts and if they couldn't prove they had a job they could be arrested. Their punishment might be one year of forced labor without pay. They couldn't own a gun, or rent property within the city.

What did every southern state pass that greatly limited the freedom of African Americans?

The court ruled that segregation was allowed if "separate-but-equal" facilities were provided for African Americans. African Americans were forced to use separate public schools, libraries, and parks. Facilities, when they existed, were usually of poorer quality than those created for whites.

What did the Supreme Court rule in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson

It addressed the issue of Civil Rights. 1. It defined all people born or naturalized within the United States, except American Indians, as U.S. citizens. 2. It guaranteed to citizens the equal protection of the laws. 3. It said that states count not"deprive an person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." 4. It banned many former Confederate officials from holding state or federal offices. 5. It made state laws subject to review by federal courts. 6. It gave Congress the power to pass any laws needed to enforce any part of the amendment. It was necessary because the South was restricting the rights of African Americans by establishing Black Codes, and denying African Americans the right to vote.

What issue did the Fourteenth Amendment address? What did it say states could not deprive a person of? What did it make state laws subject to? Why was this necessary?

A poor economy (the Panic of 1877), corruption in the federal government, and violence at the polls directed at the Republican voters were issues that affected the election. The election was very close and Republicans challenged the results leading to the Compromise.

What three issues led up the Compromise of 1877, and how did it affect Reconstruction?

Lincoln wanted to reunite the nation as quickly and painlessely as possible. He wanted to offer southerners amnesty or an offical pardon, for all illegal acts supporting the rebellion. Southerners had to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States and accept a ban on slavery. Once 10 percent of voters in a state made these pledges, they could form a new government. The state could then be readmitted to the Union.

What was Lincoln's plan for southerners to receive amnesty?

business leaders in the South led a movement to "diversify" and develop industry like building textile mills and other factories, because cotton prices were up and down. There was plenty of cotton and plenty of workers. Brown-lung disease was caused by breathing in unhealthy air (full of cotton dust)

What was the New South? Why were textile mills were introduced to the South? What was brown-lung disease?

Mark Twain wrote many stories about the South, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He was considered the most famous writer about the South at the end of Reconstruction.

Who was considered the most famous writer about the South at the end of Reconstruction?

President Johnson was not supporting Reconstruction, he vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the 14th Amendment. He fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, after Congress had passed a law saying that US Senate must give approval before a President fires a member of his cabinet. He was impeached by the House (of Representatives), but not removed from office according to the Senate. They were one vote short of the 2/3 majority needed.

Why did Radical Republicans want to remove President Johnson from office?

Andrew Johnson

became Vice-President who became President when Lincoln was assassinated. First President to be impeached. Didn't support Congress during Reconstruction and fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The House of Representatives voted to impeach, but the Senate was one vote short of removing him from office.

The New South

business leaders in the South led a movement to "diversify" and develop industry like building textile mills and other factories, because cotton prices were up and down. There was plenty of cotton and plenty of workers.