Reconstruction
Term applied by historians to the years 1865-1877, when the Union was restored after the Civil War; important changes were made to the federal Constitution, and relations between the races were transformed in the South
Moderates
People whose views are midway between two extreme positions; in this case, Republicans who favored some reforms but not all the Radicals' proposals
13th Amendment
Constitutional amendment, ratified in 1865, that abolished slavery in the U.S. and its territories
Andrew Jackson
(1808-1875) Seventeenth president of the U.S., who was elected vice president in 1864, became president after Lincoln's assassination, and was impeached, but not removed from the presidency, owing to conflicts with Congress.
Freedmen's Bureau
Agency established in 1865 to aid former slaves in their transition to freedom, especially by administering relief and sponsoring education.
Sharecropping
a system for renting farmland in which tenant farmers give landlords a share of their crops, rather than cash, a rent
Black Codes
Laws passed by the southern states after the Civil War restricting freed people; in general, the black codes limited the cicil rights of freed people and defied their status as subordinate to whites
Ku Klux Klan
a secret society organized in the South after the Civil War to restore white supremacy by means of violence and intimidation
14th Amendment
Constitutional amendment, ratified in 1868, defining America citizenship and placing restrictions of former confederates
Susan B. Anthony
tireless campaigner for woman suffrage and close associate of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Impeachment
to charge a public official with improper, usually criminal conduct
15th Amendment
constitutional amendment, ratified in 1870, that prohibited states from denying the right to vote because of a person's race or because a person had been a slave
carpetbagger
derogatory term for the northerners who came to the South after the Civil War to take part in Reconstruction
Scalawag
derogatory term for white southerners who aligned themselves with the Republican Party during Reconstruction
Mississippi Plan
Use of threats, violence, and lynching by MS Democrats in 1875 to intimidate Republicans and bring the Democratic Party to power
Compromise of 1877
Name applied by historians to resolution of the disputed presidential election of 1876; it gave the presidency to the Republicans and made concessions to southern Democrats