VOCABULARY

TERM DEFINITION IMAGE

RECONSTRUCTION the historic period in which the

United States grappled with the
question of how to integrate
millions of newly freed African
Americans into social, political,
and labor systems

LINCOLN'S PLAN (10% PLAN) a southern state could be

readmitted into the Union once 10
percent of its voters (from the
voter rolls for the election of 1860)
swore an oath of allegiance to the
Union.

RADICAL REPUBLICAN a Republican favoring drastic and

usually repressive measures
against the southern states in the
period following the Civil War.

SECESSION the action of withdrawing formally

from membership of a federation
or body, especially a political state.
IMPEACHED (especially in the US) charge (the
holder of a public office) with
misconduct.

RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF Landmark Legislation: The

1867 Reconstruction Act of 1867. The
Reconstruction Act of 1867
outlined the terms for readmission
to representation of rebel states.
The bill divided the former
Confederate states, except for
Tennessee, into five military
districts.

CARPETBAGGER The term carpetbagger was born in

the United States in the 19th
century, as a pejorative political
denomination, and was originally
applied after the Civil War to
northerners who moved to the
southern states, between the years
1865 and 1877.

SCALAWAG The term scalawag was coined in

the United States in the 19th
century, as a pejorative way to
name southern whites who joined
the Republican Party, after the
Civil War, and who were therefore
able to participate in state
governments imposed. for the
winning side.
KU KLUX KLAN A group of Former Confederate
Soldiers who terrorize African
Americans across the South

FREEDMANS BUREAU Helped former slaves with jobs,

schooling, and housing

SHARECROPPING Sharecropping is a type of farming

in which families rent small plots
of land from a landowner in return
for a portion of their crop, to be
given to the landowner at the end
of each year.

BLACK CODES The Black Codes were bodies of

laws established at the level of the
state governments of the United
States, as internal legislation,
aimed at placing limits on the
citizen rights of the black ethnic
population.

13TH AMENDMENT The Thirteenth Amendment to the

United States Constitution
officially abolished and continues
to prohibit slavery in the United
States of America and, with
limited exceptions, prohibited
involuntary servitude.
14TH AMENDMENT The Fourteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution is one
of the post-Civil War amendments,
and includes, among others, the
Due Process Clause and the Equal
Protection Clause. It was proposed
on June 13, 1866, and ratified on
July 9, 1868.

15TH AMENDMENT The Fifteenth Amendment to the

United States Constitution states
that governments in the United
States may not prevent a citizen
from voting because of race, color,
or previous condition of servitude.
It was ratified on February 3, 1870.

COMPROMISE OF 1877 The Compromise of 1877 was

called an informal pact reached in
the United States in 1877 after the
disputed presidential elections of
the previous year between the
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes
and the Democrat Samuel J.
Tilden.

JIM CROW ERA Jim Crow laws were state and local
laws in the United States, enacted
by white state legislatures, which
were dominated by Democrats
after the Reconstruction period
between 1876 and 1965.