| A | B |
|---|
| Black Codes | laws which southern state legislatures passed immediately after the Civil War which deprived blacks of rights such as the right to vote and own a gun. |
| "bloody shirt, waving the" | expression used to describe the Republican campaign tactic of blaming Democrats for causing the Civil War and supporting a lenient reconstruction plan. |
| carpetbaggers | name for Northerners who went to the South after the Civil War to participate in reconstruction governments and other post-war developments. |
| civil liberties | personal freedoms such as the freedom of speech and religion. |
| civil rights | rights of U.S. citizens such as the right to equal treatment under the law. |
| Civil Rights Act of 1866 | a law designed to guarantee black equality with whites and authorized the use of federal troops for its enforcement. |
| due process of law | legal steps which must be taken to ensure that a defendant receives a fair trial. |
| Fifteenth Amendment (1870) | a constitutional amendment which prohibited federal or state governments from denying citizens the right to vote on account of race, color, or condition of previous servitude. |
| Fourteenth Amendment (1868): | a constitutional amendment which granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and forbad states from denying citizens of equal protection of the laws. |
| freedmen: | former slaves who had been set free during or after the Civil War. |
| Freedmen's Bureau | government organization which helped freed slaves after the Civil War. |
| impeach | to accuse a President or other high government official of crimes which, if found guilty, would lead to his or her removal from office. |
| Jim Crow laws | laws passed by southern state governments which segregated blacks from whites in schools, parks, and other public places. |
| Ku Klux Klan | a secret organization formed in the South after the Civil War which terrorized blacks in order to keep them from voting or otherwise exercising their right to equality. |
| land-grant colleges | agricultural and mechanical colleges set up by states with the aid of land grants from the federal government. |
| "Milligan, Ex parte" | a case in which the Supreme Court declared that military rule and military courts could not be imposed on citizens if civilian government and courts are still operating. |
| Morrill Act (1862) | law granting states which were loyal to the union federal lands which could be used to support founding agricultural and mechanical (engineering) colleges. |
| pardon | to be released or excused from punishment without acquittal. |
| Radical Republicans | members of the Republican Party who wanted to strictly punish the southern states and their rebel leaders for their actions during the Civil War and at the same time protect the rights of freedmen. |
| Reconstruction (1865-1877) | the process of reorganizing and reforming southern state governments after the Civil War and then rejoining them to the Union. |
| Reconstruction Act of 1867 | a law which established military rule in the defeated South and required southern states to grant full rights to blacks before they would be fully readmitted to the Union. |
| scalawag | a white Southerner who supported Radical reconstruction of the South and joined with blacks and carpetbaggers in reconstruction governments. |
| secede | to withdraw from or leave an organization. |
| segregation | separation of one race of people from another in schools, parks, housing, and other facilities. |
| sharecropper | a tenant farmer who pays his landlord a share of his crops as rent. |
| ten percent plan | President Lincoln's plan of allowing Southerners to reestablish state governments as soon as 10 percent of the voters took an oath of allegiance to the U.S. |
| tenant farmers | farmers who rent the land they farm. |
| Tenure of Office Act (1867) | a law which forbad the President from firing officials who had originally been confirmed by the Senate unless the Senate first consented to the dismissal. |
| Thirteenth Amendment (1865) | a constitutional amendment which abolished slavery in the United States. |
| vagrancy | wandering from place to place without money or work. |
