Civil War and Reconstruction – Flashcards

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Popular Sovereignty
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the people have the power to make decisions in their government by voting ex: Kansas-Nebraska Act, California - Free State
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State's Rights
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Differences in opinion on who holds more power (states vs federal government) 10th Amendment, Federalism. Ex: declaring secession, Nullification Crisis, Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Secession
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to withdraw (leave) from a membership in a group or an organization Ex. Southern states seceded from the Union after the election of Lincoln.
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Emancipation Proclamation 1863
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Made by President Lincoln that freed slaves in Confederate states only to not lose support of border states. Military strategy to weaken the South. Expanded Union war goal to include ending slavery.
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Thirteenth Amendment
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an 1865 amendment to the United States Constitution that abolishes and outlaws the institution of slavery throughout the nation: FREE!!
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Fourteenth Amendment
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A constitutional amendment giving full rights of citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States. It also allowed the federal government to restrict the actions of state governments in the south from limiting Freedmen's rights: CITIZENS!!
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Fifteenth Amendment
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The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude: VOTE!!
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Carpetbagger
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negative term for a northern Republican who moved to the South after the Civil War to help "rebuild". Usually only to profit off of Southern misery.
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Scalawag
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negative term for a southern white who supported Radical Reconstruction and the Republican Party after the Civil War.
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Freedmen's Bureau
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Set up by congress to help freed slaves and poor whites in the South after the Civil War by providing food, clothing, medical care, education, job training.
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Sharecropper
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system in which a farmer (freedmen) tended a portion of a planter's land in return for a share of the crop.
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Gettysburg Address
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speech by President Lincoln in which he dedicated a national cemetery at Gettysburg and reaffirmed the ideas for which the Union was fighting "...government of the people, by the people, by the people... shall not perish from the earth - Democracy should last.
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Habeas Corpus
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constitutional guarantee that no one can be held in prison without charges being filed. - Due Process Rights suspended by Lincoln as part of his War Powers.
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Reconstruction
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program implemented by the federal government between 1865 and 1877 to repair damage to the South caused by the Civil War and restore the southern states to the Union.
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Radical Republican
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Congressmen who advocated full citizenship rights for African Americans along with a harsh Reconstruction policy toward the South.
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Andrew Johnson's Impeachment
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Johnson dismissed his secretary of war, filled military positions with southern sympathizers which causes the house of representatives to issue articles of impeachment calling for his removal from presidency because he fired a cabinet member without the senates approval + went against the Tenure of Office Act and Command of the Army Act.
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Black Codes
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laws that restricted African Americans' rights and opportunities in the South to go against Reconstruction.
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Ku Klux Klan
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organization that promotes hatred and discrimination against specific ethnic and religious groups. Set up to keep blacks from voting, having rights in the South during Reconstruction.
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1876 Presidential Election + Compromise of 1877
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Between Democrat Tilden and Republican Hayes, Tilden had more electoral votes, but not what was needed to win, Republicans in congress gave election to Hayes. Compromise was made by ending Reconstruction in the South - Military troops withdrawn, South returned Democrats to power.
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Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address 1865
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speech given by Abraham Lincoln "with malice toward none and charity for all... let us bind up the nations wounds... Given a few weeks before the Union victory. Lincoln believed that the South should receive fair treatment after the war.
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Anaconda Plan
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Union war strategy to starve the south by blockading seaports and controlling the Mississippi River.
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Civil Rights Act 1866
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law that established federal guarantees of civil rights for all citizens - led to the 14th Amendment.
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Blockade
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military tactic in which a navy presents vessels from entering or leaving its enemy's ports.
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Freedman
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person who has been freed from slavery.
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Ulysses S. Grant
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Union general who received the nickname "Lincoln's Butcher" because he had no mercy and got the job done.
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Robert E. Lee
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Graduate of West Point, fought in Mexican War, Commander of the Confederate Army in 1862 during the Civil War. Despite his skill he was forced to surrender to Ulysses S Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865.
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Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
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Was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and the best-known Confederate commander after General Robert E. Lee. His military career includes the Valley Campaign of 1862 and his service as a corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee. Confederate pickets accidentally shot him at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863.
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William T. Sherman
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-He commanded the Union army in Tennessee. In September of 1864 his troops captured Atlanta, Georgia. He then headed to take Savannah. This was his famous "march to the sea." His troops burned barns and houses, and destroyed the countryside. His march showed a shift in the belief that only military targets should be destroyed. Civilian centers could also be targets.
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Jefferson Davis
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A Senator from Mississippi who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865
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Abraham Lincoln
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(1809-1865) Sixteenth president of the United States, he spoke out about not letting slavery spread west the famed Lincoln- Douglas debates. His main goal during the Civil War was to preserve the Union at all cost.
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Andrew Johnson
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17th President of the United States, A Southerner from Tennessee, as V.P. when Lincoln was killed, he became president. 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.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
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(1811-1896) American author and daughter of Lyman Beecher, she was an abolitionist and author of the famous antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
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Battle of Fort Sumter
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Union fort behind enemy lines -first battle of the Civil War. Confederate Victory, fought in South Carolina.
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Battle of Antietam
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Single bloodiest day of fighting in American history; Tactical draw, but strategic defeat for Confederacy; Kept Lee from directly threatening Northern industry and financial institutions; Prompted Britain and France to abandon plans to grant recognition to the Confederacy; Provided Lincoln with the victory he needed to announce the abolition of slavery, or Emancipation Proclamation
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Battle of Vicksburg
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(May 18-July 4, 1863); Union gained control of the Mississippi River, divided the south into 2 parts - Union victory
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Battle of Gettsyburg
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Robert E. Lee attacked Gettysburg, declared an all out charge on the center of the Union troops. The Union defeated the confederacy, but both armies lost devastating amounts of men. Lee lost a third of his army. Union victory - Turning Point Battle
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Total War
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1860s,Gen.Sherman(union) & Hood (Confederate); ordered evacuation of the city, Sherman burned most of the buildings in the city, military or not then went to Savannah .Imp.b/c this was the beginning of Sherman's March To The Sea.As a res., union defeated Confederate forces ,defending the city under John B. Hood.
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Battle of Appomattox
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Official End to the Civil War. Lee surrendered to Grant at this courthouse, after this battle.
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Southern advantages before the Civil War
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more farm acreage, knew the territory, best military leadership.
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Northern advantages before the Civil War
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more population, manufacturing, railroads, banks and wealth.
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Primary Source
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diary, journal, speech, written by the original person.
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Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
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Speech given as Lincoln takes office, ensured the south that he would not abolish slavery where it is already established, but would keep it from spreading to the west. Warns the south that he will act to preserve the Union as southern states start to secede.
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Reasons for secession of the southern states
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Increasing sectionalism, disagreement over states rights issues, breakdown of compromise, election of 1860
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Major result of the Civil War
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power of the federal government was strengthened
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Assassination of Lincoln
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John Wilkes Booth, an actor who was upset at the Confederate loss of the Civil War, shot Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington DC on April 14, 1865
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Jim Crow Laws
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legislation passed in southern states after Reconstruction ended to keep blacks and whites segregated [separated].
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Requirements for readmission of the Confederate States to the Union
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had to write new State Constitutions, had to set up new State Governments, had to ratify [pass] the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.
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1861
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Year that the Confederate States were formed.
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