Term
| What were the rights the freedom brought to the former slaves? |
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Definition
1. To live where they wanted
2. To stay together with spouses and families
3. To be paid for work |
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Term
| Despite these advances, however, what obstacles did they still face? |
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Definition
1. Few knew much about the world beyond their plantations
2. Most could not read or write
3. They had no land or money
4. Possessed few skills
5. Many were driven off their plantations |
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Term
| What was President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction? |
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Definition
Each southern state could rejoin the Union once it had:
1. Written a new state constitution
2. Elected a new government
3. Repealed its act of succession
4. Cancelled its war debt
5. Ratified the 13th Amendment |
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Term
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Definition
| An attempt by southern leaders to maintain the status quo and deprive blacks of the legal rights they technically now had. |
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Term
| What rights were given to the freedman by the black codes? |
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Definition
1. Right to marry
2. Own property
3. Work for wages
4. Sue in court |
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Term
| What rights were still denied to blacks, however? |
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Definition
1. Could not serve on juries
2. Could not own weapons
3. Could not vote
4. Barred black children from attending the new public schools
5. Barred African Americans from any jobs but farm work and unskilled labor.
6. Any African-American without a job could be arrested and sent to work for a planter |
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Term
| Why did Congress overturn President Johnson's Reconstruction plan? |
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Definition
| Northern Republicans in Congress thought Johnson was too lenient on the former Confederates in allowing them to control state governments and pass black codes. |
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Term
| How did Republicans get control of Reconstruction? |
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Definition
1. Congress passed the Freedmen's Bureau and the Civil Rights Act, overriding the President's veto
2. After the mid-term elections of 1866 gave Republicans control of Congress, they passed their own Reconstruction Act
When Johnson tried to stop their plan, they broke his power by nearly removing him from office by impeachment |
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Term
| What specific ways did the Republicans try to thwart to Johnson's power? |
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Definition
1. Command of the Army Act--Limited president's power over the army
2. Tenure of Office Act -- forbade Johnson from firing certain federal officials without Senate approval |
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Term
| What was the Radical Reconstruction? |
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Definition
To join the union, each southern state had to do the following
1. Adopt a constitution guaranteeing all male citizens, black and white, the right to vote.
2. Elect a new government
3. Ratify the 14th Amendment
4. In addition, no white Southerners who had served as Confederate soldiers or officials could vote on the new state constitutions or in national/state elections |
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Term
| What was a scalawag and who were they? |
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Definition
1. White Southerners who swore they had not supported the Confederacy
2. Small farmers from the hills areas and who never voted
3. Southern businessmen who lived in the towns |
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Term
| What was a carpetbagger and who were they? |
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Definition
1. Northerners who had moved South ater the war
2. Teachers, ministers, or Freedmen's Bureau agents
3. Businessmen
4. Former Union soldiers |
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Term
| Why did most southern whites hate Reconstruction governments? |
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Definition
1. They resented blacks voting and serving in governments.
2. Many resented having their own right to vote denied because they had supported the Confederacy
3. They thought that Reconstruction violated states' rights |
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Term
| What was the Ku Klux Klan? |
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Definition
A military force serving the interests of
1. The Democratic Party
2. The planter class
3. All those who desired the restoration of white supremacy |
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Term
| What were the goals of the Ku Klux Klan? |
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Definition
1. Destroy the Republican Party's infrastructure
2. Undermine the Reconstruction state
3. Reestablish control of the black labor force
4. Restore racial subordination in every aspect of southern life |
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Term
| Describe the events that led to the return of "white man's rule" in the south |
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Definition
1. Departure of federal troops from the South
2. Election of Democratic state government - with the help of the 1872 Amnesty Act
3. The Compromise of 1877 |
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Term
| Why did southern farmers turn to sharecropping, and what were the results? |
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Definition
1. Planters could not afford to pay wages for labor, so they rented plots of land to tenant farmers.
2. Some tenants could not afford to rent land, so they paid a share of their crops as rent
3. Most were unable to earn enough to buy land or repay loans for seeds and tools.
4. Low crop prices left them trapped in debt and by 1900 and about 2/3 were still unable to get out of the tenant system |
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Term
| Why did most of the South remain rural and poor after the Civil War? |
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Definition
1. Lack of money to finance industries
2. Competition from established northern industries
3. Difficulty in changing traditional economy by retaining the work force |
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Term
| How were many blacks prevented from voting? |
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Definition
1. Poll taxes
2. Literacy tests
3. Grandfather clauses |
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Term
| How did African-Americans respond to their treatment after Reconstruction? |
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Definition
1. Some left the South for other parts of the country (North and West)
2. Some tried to educate themselves and improve their skills
3. Many also fought unjust laws. |
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