Reconstruction Era

Question 1

Freedman’s Bureau

Answer 1

A federal agency that helped former slaves by supplying food, clothing, fuel, schools and hospitals.

Question 2

anmesty

Answer 2

political forgiveness; official pardon

Question 3

black codes

Answer 3

Laws passed by Southern states that limited the freedom of formerly enslaved people.

Question 4

14th Amendment

Answer 4

constitutional amendment that made all people born in the US (including former slaves) citizens that have the same rights and are to be granted “equal protection” under the law

Question 5

scalawags

Answer 5

white Southerner who supported Radical Reconstruction

Question 6

carpetbagger

Answer 6

Northerner who went to the South after the Civil War to participate in Reconstruction

Question 7

sharecropping

Answer 7

A system under which landowners gave poor farmers seed, tools, and land to cultivate in exchange for a part of their harvest; often unfair

Question 8

Ku Klux Klan

Answer 8

a secret group that used violence to try to restore Democratic control of the South and keep African Americans powerless

Question 9

Who was Andrew Johnson?

Answer 9

The vice president of Lincoln; president during the Reconstruction.

Question 10

What did Johnson believe about Reconstruction?

Answer 10

Reconstruction was the job of the president, not Congress.

Question 11

What did Johnson insist southern states do to rejoin the United States of America?

Answer 11

Johnson insisted that new state governments ratify the 13th Amendment and accept the supreme power of the federal government.

Question 12

Who did Johnson offer amnesty to?

Answer 12

Johnson offered amnesty to most white Southerners (except large plantation owners, top military officers and ex Confederate leaders) at first.

Question 13

What did Johnson not attempt to do?

Answer 13

Johnson did not attempt to meet the needs of formerly enslaved people and believed states should have the right to address these matters on their own (gain land, voting rights, equal protection under the law). As a result, Southern states passed laws known as “black codes.”

Question 14

Why was Johnson impeached?

Answer 14

Johnson was impeached for improper conduct while in office. He fired his secretary of war over disagreements, which went against the Tenure of Office Act.

Question 15

How was Johnson acquitted after impeachment?

Answer 15

Johnson was acquitted by a single vote.

Question 16

What did Johnson not support?

Answer 16

Johnson did not support citizenship for former slaves.

Question 17

What did Congress members refuse to do?

Answer 17

Congress members refused to seat representatives from the South. By doing so, Congress exercised its Constitutional right to decide whether its members are qualified to hold office.

Question 18

What did Congress pass in 1866?

Answer 18

Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which stated that all people born in the United States were citizens and that were entitled to equal rights regardless of race; vetoed by Johnson, but overrode by Congress.

Question 19

What year was the Reconstruction Acts passed?

Answer 19

1867

Question 20

What did the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 do?

Answer 20

It divided the South into 5 military districts.

Question 21

According to the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, what did Southern states must do before rejoining the Union?

Answer 21

Southern states must approve new state constitutions that gave the right to vote to all adult men, including African Americans, and ratify the 14th Amendment.

Question 22

What did Congress pass in 1868?

Answer 22

The Tenure of Office Act was passed in 1868. It prohibited the president from firing government officials without Senate approval.

Question 23

What were examples of social changes during the Reconstruction?

Answer 23

• Freed slaves traveled, married, found jobs… Some were elected to state governments and Congress.
• Carpetbaggers came to the South for profits.
• African Americans were educated, which led to jobs.
• Freedmen were given 40 acres and a mule by the government.
• Sharecropping was unfair to freedmen (contracts).

Question 24

15th Amendment

Answer 24

constitutional amendment that stated that citizens could not be stopped from voting on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude

Question 25

General Amnesty Act of 1872

Answer 25

a law created by Congress that forgives Southern generals, rich plantation owners, and government officials and lets them out of jail

Question 26

What led to the end of Reconstruction?

Answer 26

• Ulysses S Grant is elected as president in 1868 by the Republicans with the help of freedmen with 214 electoral votes
• 15th Amendment gave all men the right to vote
• Grant is reelected due to a bill passed that got rid of the KKK and allowed African Americans to vote without fear of being hurt in 1872

-SCANDAL
Grant put family and friends in government positions who were not qualified-some took bribes

• Republican party split again and the Liberal Republican Party was formed
• Supreme Court ruled states could restrict voting for literacy/tax reasons; help Democrats gain power

-FINAL BLOW
Compromise of 1877 led to Republican president➡️loss of military zones

Question 28

What was Lincoln’s Plan?

Answer 28

To unify the nation with forgiveness…

• Pardon Confederate officers
• Allow southern states back into Congress

Question 29

What caused the Panic of 1873?

Answer 29

Some banks ran out of money, causing panic.

• high unemployment
• stock market collapse
• depression: low economic activity

Question 30

Panic of 1873

Answer 30

Financial panic in which banks closed and stock market crashed.

Question 31

Compromise of 1877

Answer 31

-President Hayes (R)
-Federal troops were removed
-Government provide grants/loans for railroads
-Federal funds for building
-Democrat in cabinet
-Democrats promised to respect African Americans rights.
FINAL BLOW TO RECONSTRUCTION

Question 32

depression

Answer 32

Time of low business activity and high unemployment.

Question 33

Jim Crow Laws

Answer 33

• Separate but equal laws
• Schools, libraries, pools, etc.
• Legal ruling: 60 years

Question 34

Plessy vs. Ferguson

Answer 34

• Supreme Court case
• Train car treatment
• Court said separate was okay, as long as it was equal
• Led to segregation (separation of races)