Making of America Civil War and reconstruction 1861-77 Flashcards
(21 cards)
When was the civil war fought?
1861-65
How many people died in the civil war?
750,000
What were the northern states in the civil war known as?
The union
What were the southern states in the civil war known as?
The confederacy
Name 5 states in the union
Minessota, california, oregon, new york etc
Name 5 states in the confederacy
Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, mississippi, alabama, georgia, south carolina etc
Give three political causes of the civil war
- The 1850 compromise (a law which said that non-salve states had to return enslaved people who had escaped to their holders) handed more power back to slaveholders in the south. In return, California was allowed to become a non-slave state
- The Kansas Nebraska act of 1854 said that states could decide for themselves if they wanted to be slave or non-slave states- this overrode the Missouri compromise
- In 1857, the supreme court said that enslaved people had absolutely no rights and that the US government could not ban slavery in territories. This made the slaveholders more powerful again
- The republican party was set up in 1854 as an anti-slavery party. It wanted to stop the spread of slavery
What was the trigger for war?
The election of Lincoln.
Why was this a trigger for war?
Lincoln was elected in November 1860 with lots of northern support but almost none in the south.
In November 1860, south Carolina voted to secede from the USA
By February 1861, six other states had seceded
Who did the confederacy elect as their president?
Jefferson Davis
What were the effects of Lincoln becoming president?
When Lincoln became president fully on 4 march 1861, he said that confederacy was illegal
On 12 April, Davis ordered his gunboats to open fire on fort Sumter
On 15 April, Lincoln declared war
When was the emancipation proclamation issued?
1 January 1863
Which city saw huge race riots in July 1863?
New York
In what year did black soldiers get equal pay in the army?
1864
What was the sea islands experiment?
Lands in the sea islands were given to formerly enslaved people from the soutg
In what ways did racism improve in the north?
By 1863, black soldiers were allowed to join the army
By 1864, black soldiers fought for the right to receive equal pay in the army
In what ways did racism get worse in the north?
Race riots broke out in many northern cities where white Americans were being forced to join the army. They blamed black Americans for this
In 1861, many black northerners tried to join the union army but they were told that this was not allowed
What steps did Lincoln make to rebuild the USA post civil war
Lincoln persuaded congress to help make the emancipation proclamation the 13th amendment to the constitution in January 1865
He also set up the freedman’s bureau which gave out land confiscated from slaveholders back to former slaved
What did Andrew Jonson do?
- He did little to stop the Ku Klux Klan being set up in 1865
- He allowed all confederate states to re-join the USA even though some of them tried to vote against the 13th amendment
- He allowed the southern states to re-establish their state governments and bring in Black codes (laws which removed rights from black Americans)
What changes were made by radical republicans?
April 1866: Congressed proposed the 14th amendment to the constitution which said that anyone born in the USA should be a US citizen
March 1870: The 15th amendment gave all black Americans the right to vote
November 1870: More than 2000 black Americans were voted into public office
In what ways were the radical changes which favoured black Americans reversed after 1870?
Many black Americans worked on plantations as sharecroppers
In 1872, the freedman’s bureau was shut down
In 1873, the supreme court said that voting rights at state level were the choice of the state
