Unit #5 Flashcards
(197 cards)
Impact of Freedom
Freed Blacks were often re-enslaved after the union troops left and some planters said emancipation wasn’t legal until local courts declared it. Some slaves stuck with their masters while other pillaged their lands. Eventually thousands took the road and found new work or look for lost loved ones. The black church was created and were looking for education.
Freedman’s Bureau
Created in order to train the unskilled and unlettered free blacks. It taught about 200,000 Blacks how to read. It expired after much criticism.
“40 acres and a mule”
Slogan that referred to how the federal government settled 10,000 freedman and families on abandoned plantation land with a single mule.
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction, he believed the south never legally withdrawn from the Union. The southern states would be reintegrated into the Union if and when they had only 10% of its voters pledge and take an oath and acknowledge the emancipation of slaves. It was called the Ten Percent Plan.
Wade Davis Bill
It required 50% of the states; voters to take oaths of allegiance and demanded stronger safeguards for emancipation than the 10% plan. Lincoln pocket vetoed the bill.
Johnson’s Plan
He was expected to be radical, but he took Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan and issued his own proclamation. It stated that leading confederates should be disfranchised, the confederate debt was repudiated, and states had to ratify the 13th amendment.
13th Amendment
Abolished slavery.
“Black Codes”
New southern regimes sanctioned by Johnson. They were aimed at keeping the Black population in submission. Blacks who jumped their labor contracts or walked out of their jobs caused the wages to be low. It forbade Blacks from serving on the jury. It made many abolitionists wonder if the price of the Civil War was worth it.
Sharecropping
A system of work for freedman in the cotton industry.
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Conferred on blacks the privilege of American citizenship and struck at the Black Codes. This was vetoed by Johnson, although they were Republican passed bills.
1866 Congressional Elections
Republicans gained seats in congress even though Johnson tried ‘Round the Circle’ speeches.
Johnson’s “Swing Around the Circle”
In 1866 Johnson wanted to lower the amount of Republicans in congress because they wouldn’t allow reconstruction to carry on without the 14th amendment. He gave speeches but people hated him and he hurled back insults. Republicans ended up getting more seats.
Joint Committee on Reconstruction
Six senators and nine representatives drafted the 14th Amendment and Reconstruction Acts. Purpose of the committee was to set the pace of Reconstruction.
Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens
The leader of the radicals in the Senate was Sumner and in the House the radical leader was Stevens.
14th Amendment
Blacks were American citizens, if a state denied citizenship to blacks then its representatives in the Electoral College were lowered, former Confederates would not hold office, and the federal debt was guaranteed while the confederate one was repudiated.
Moderate Republicans
Shared views like Lincoln, about reconstruction.
15th Amedment
1869: It gave blacks the right to vote.
ex parte Milligan
1866: The Supreme Court ruled that military tribunals could not try civilians even during wartime, if there were civil courts available,
Women’s Suffrage Movement
Women were disappointed since the amendments did not give women suffrage. While women helped Blacks gain their rights and the new amendments inserted the word males into the constitution for the first time ever.
Union League
Blacks’ main political vehicle; it was a network of political clubs that educated members in their civic duties and campaigned for Republican candidates. They built Black churches, schools and recruited militias to protect blacks.
Klu Klux Klan
Extremely racist whites who hated Blacks. This organization scared Blacks into not voing and not seeking jobs. They also often resorted to terror and violence.
Enforcement Acts
(KKK Acts) This gave the government power to supercede state courts and prosecute violation o the law and use military power to protect civil rights and habeas corpus when things are really bad.
Tenure of Office Act
1867; provided that the president had to secure the consent of the senate before removing his appointees, the reason for this act was to keep a republican spy in office
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Johnson dismissed Edwin M. Stanton without approval of the senate which broke the Tenure of Office Act and Johnson argue the act was unconstitutional. 7 Republican officers voted not guilty and Johnson was acquitted. While some believed it was a bad decision, many feared establishing a precedent of removing the president was bad.