American History Chapter 15 Study Questions Brinkley

What was the Freedman's Bureau? - -It was an agency of the army established in March, 1865 to distribute food to former slaves, establish schools, and help settle former slaves on land. What was Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan? - -It offered a general amnesty to white southerners who would pledge loyalty to the government and accept the elimination of slavery. Lincoln vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill because of the harsh conditions for re-entry to the union. Why didn't people like Andrew Johnson? - -He was intemperate, tactless, and openly hostile to the freed slaves. What was the first Civil Rights Act? - -Passed in April 1866, it declared African Americans to be citizens of the US and gave the federal government power to intervene in state affairs to protect the rights of citizens. What is the importance of the 14th Amendment? - -It offered the first constitutional definition of citizenship. Everyone born in the US and everyone naturalized was automatically a citizen and entitled to all the "privileges and immunities" guaranteed by the Constitution. What did Congressional Reconstruction hope to achieve? - -The re-admittance of the confederate states under the terms of the Republicans in Congress, especially the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments. What was the 15th Amendment? - -It forbade the states or federal government to deny suffrage to any citizen on account of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Why was Johnson impeached? - -He was impeached for deliberately violating the Tenure of Office Act. Who were the "Scalawags?" - -Southern white Republicans Brinkey Brinkey Who were the "Carpet Baggers?" - -Northern Republicans who moved into the South to make their fortune. What was "sharecropping?" - -Blacks or poor whites who became tenants of wealthy landowners and paid rent or a share of the crops. What was the "crop-lien" system? - -It was a system of credit in which merchants gave farmers a loan based on a claim on their crops. It was a cycle of constantly being in debt as the loans were based on future crops. What were some problems in Grant's presidency? - -Scandals involving stock in the Credit Mobilier construction company, a whiskey ring operation out of the White House, and the financial panic of 1873. What launched the Panic of 1873? - -It began with the failure of a leading investment banking firm, Jay Cooke and Company. What was the KKK? - -The Ku Klux Klan was one of the largest and most effective secret societies using violence and intimidation to undermine the Reconstruction. What is "Social Darwinism?" - -A theory that argued that individuals who failed did so because of their own weakness and "unfitness." What was the Compromise of 1877? - -The agreement to withdraw federal troops from the South in order to stop a filibuster and get Hayes elected President. Who was Booker T. Washington? - -A chief spokesman for education for black in the south and the founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. What is "Jim Crow?" - -Jim Crow were laws that restricted the ability of blacks to vote in the southern states and enshrined segregation of education, transportation, and other public places. What is "lynching?" - -A public executionof a black by a vigil