Reconstruction Vocabulary

Reconstruction 1865-1876 Rebuilding period of the South after the Civil War.

Carpetbaggers A derogatory term used to describe Northerners who came South during the Reconstruction period as soldiers, missionaries, and dishonest businessmen. Members of the Freedman Bureau.

Scalawags White Southerners who worked with and cooperated with the reform movement headed by the Republican Party.

Impeach A legal term that means to accuse formally. The House of Representatives has the sole power to do this to a political official. The Senate must convict. (Two US Presidents have been impeached but never convicted by the Senate. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton)

Ku Klux Klan White organization formed in Tennessee in 1865. Terrorized African Americans during Reconstruction.

Guilded Age A time when Americans were more interested in gaining wealth than moral issues. After the Civil War. Named by Mark Twain.

Black Code A set of codes developed to limit African American involvement in the political process. Ex: voting

Redshirts Democrats that formed rifle clubs to support Wade Hampton. They wore red shirts and rode horses through towns to gain support for him when he ran for Governor. Many redshirts had clashes with Black militia.

13th Amendment 1865- Amendment that abolished slavery.

14th Amendment 1868- Equal rights as citizens to former slaves.

15th Amendment The right of citizens to vote. Regardless of race, and or previous servitude.

Freedman’s Bureau A post Civil War agency of the government set up to aid freed slaves with jobs, education, food, clothing and housing.

Lost Cause The term used by former Confederates to refer to their defeat in the Civil War.

Tenant Farming Farmers in the South that worked on a farm that they did not own. They worked for wages. Sometimes in script. (money that was only good in the local store)

Sharecropping Part of the tenant system. Landowners would contract with farm workers to work in return for a house, food, farm tools, seed and fertilizer.

Crop Lien A loan farmers obtained in order to plant.

Military Districts Southern states were divided into districts with a Military Commander in charge of the laws etc. SC was District 2 with NC.

Redeemers Those in the south that wanted the old south to return. Everything just short of slavery.

Freedmen Former Slaves

Entrepreneur Someone who started a business.

Philanthropist Someone who gives to charity, large sums of money.

Radical Republicans A group of congressional leaders of the Republican Party who wanted to take control of Reconstruction from the President and create a new society of equality in the south.

Hamburg Massacre On July 8, 1876, the small town of Hamburg, South Carolina erupted in violence as the community's African American militia clashed with whites from the surrounding rural area.

Lynching The excecution of a person or a number of persons outside the law. Mob rule.

Martial Law When the Military takes over in place of local authority. Like the Military Districts in the south during Reconstruction.