Flashcards on US History Chapter 17
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What was the main goal of Reconstruction?
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To reunite the nation (admit southern states back in to the union) and to rebuild the southern states
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What was the Freedman's Bureau?
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An agency established by Congress in 1865 to help poor people throughout the South
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How did the Wade Davis Bill differ from Lincoln's 10 percent plan?
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Under the Wade-Davis bill, only southerners who swore that they had never supported the Confederacy could vote or hold of office. In general, the bill was much stricter than the Ten Percent Plan. Its provisions would make it harder for southern states to rejoin the Union quickly.
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How did ratification of the 13th Amendment mean?
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a constitutional amendment that outlawed slavery
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How did the Freedmen's Bureau affect education for freed slaves?
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The Freedmen's Bureau helped provide books for students and helped establish a number of universities for African Americans, including Howard and Fisk universities.
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What was Lincoln's main vision for Reconstruction?
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President Abraham Lincoln wanted to reunite the nation as quickly and painlessly as possible. He propsed Ten Percent Plan that offered southerners amnesty, or official pardon, for all illegal acts supporting the rebellion.
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Why did many Republicans disagree with Lincoln's 10 percent plan?
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Thought the Ten Percent Plan did not go far enough, Wanted slavery also banned and and a majority of state had to take a loyalty oath.
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How did the reconstruction affect the social structure of the South?
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It divided people over slavery and African American rights
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What were the Black Codes?
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Laws passed in the southern states during Reconstruction that greatly limited the freedom and rights of African Americans
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Why did Southern Govts. believe they were justified in passing Black Codes?
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They wanted to keep a white government.
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Why did Southern governments pass Black Codes?
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They wanted a white man's government
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Why did the Black Codes require that African Americans sign work contracts?
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In most southern states, any African Americans who could not prove they were employed could be arrested.
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Why did Congress still refuse to admit Southern states in the Union in 1965 when VP Andrew Johnson became president?
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Republicans complained that many new rep-resentatives had been leaders of the Confed-eracy. Congress therefore refused to readmit the southern states into the Union.
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What was president Johnson's plan for wealthy southerners and former Confederate officials?
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He decided that wealthy southerners and former Confederate officials would need a presidential pardon to receive amnesty. Johnson shocked Radical Republicans by eventually pardoning more than 7,000 people by 1866.
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What was working life like at Southern mills in the late 1800s?
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Harsh
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Why did Repubs propose the 14th Amendment before the Southern states were readmitted to the Union?
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They feared that the Civil Rights Act might be overturned.
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The 14th amendment defined who could be considered a US citizen. What group was excluded
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Native Americans
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Why did Pres. johnson decide to reject the Freedmen's Bureau?
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He insisted that Congress could not pass any new laws until the southern states were represented in Congress. Johnson also argued that the Freedmen's Bureau was unconstitutional.
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How did the Reconstruction Act passed by Congress in March 1867 affect the make-up the Southern states?
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These laws divided the South into 5 districts.
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Why did the House of Representatives vote to impeach Pres. Johnson?
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He broke the law by removing secretary of war official without Senate approval.
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Why did Congress pass a law limited Pres. Johnson's powers in 1868?
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They knew that Johnson did not support its Reconstruc-tion policies
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The 15th Amendment gave what right for African American men?
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The right to vote.
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How did Radical Republicans increase their influence in Congress?
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Gained support among moderates when President Johnson ignored criticism of the Black Codes.
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What group criticized the 15th Amendment?
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Women - because it did not give them the right to vote
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How did state legislatures in the South begin to change as a result of Reconstruction?
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Reconstruction governments provided money for many new programs and organizations in the South. Republicans had more influence
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Whom did white Southerners call \"carpetbaggers?\"
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Northern-born Republicans who had moved to the South after the war to hold office because they had rushed there carrying all their possessions in bags made from carpeting.
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Hiram Revels was the first African American to hold what position?
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U. S. Senate seat formerly held by Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.
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What was the reason behind the creation of the KKK in 1866?
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Many white southerners disapproved of African American offceholders. This secret society opposed civil rights, particularly suffrage, for African Americans.
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Why did Congressional Republicans think passing the 15th Amendment would help protect the Reconstruction Plan?
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They worried that the southern states might try to keep black voters from the polls in future elections.
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How did members of the KKK demonstrate their anger toward African Americans?
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They attacked and even murdered African Americans, white Republican voters, and public offcials, usually at night.
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Why was the KKK able to obtain a great deal of power in the South before 1870?
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Democrats claimed that the Reconstruction governments were corrupt, illegal, and unjust. They also disliked having federal soldiers stationed in their states. Many white southerners disapproved of African American officeholders.
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What did the formation of the KKK inspire congress to declare?
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Congress passed laws that made it a federal crime to interfere with elections or to deny citizens equal protection under the law.
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In 1872, what change in southern state governments brought an end to many Reconstruction reforms?
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The General Amnesty Act of 1872 allowed former Confederates, except those who had held high ranks, to serve in public of office.
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What was the direct effort of the Compromise of 1877?
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Democrats agreed to accept Hayes's victory. In return, they wanted all remaining federal troops removed from the South. They also asked for funding for internal improvements in the South.
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How did the Redeemers attempt to limit the rights of African Americans?
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Redeemers set up the poll tax in an effort to deny the vote to African Americans. The poll tax was a special tax people had to pay before they could vote. Some states also targeted African American voters by requiring them to pass a literacy test.
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What were the Jim Crow laws?
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Laws that enforced segregation in southern states in the 1880s.
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What was the verdict in Plessy v. Ferguson?
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The Court ruled that the Louisiana \"separate-but-equal\" law was constitutional. Segregation was allowed.
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Who were The Redeemers?
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Democrats who brought their party back to power in the South were called Redeemers.Redeemers wanted to reduce the size of state government and limit the rights of African Americans. They lowered state budgets and got rid of a variety of social programs. The Redeemers cut property taxes and cut public funding for schools. They also succeeded in limiting African Americans' civil rights.
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How did the sharecropping system limit opportunities for African Americans to own farms and properties?
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Kept them in debt. Land-owners provided the land, tools, and supplies, and sharecroppers provided the labor. At harvest time, the sharecropper usually had to give most of the crop to the land-owner. Whatever remained belonged to the sharecropper. Sharecroppers lived in a cycle of debt. When they needed food, clothing, or supplies, most families had to buy goods on credit because they had little cash.
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What industry offered jobs to many Southern workers as an alternative to farming in the late 1800s
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Textiles
