Flashcards on The U.S. Reconstruction Era
The U.S. Reconstruction Era: A Comprehensive Student Guide
Tap to flip · Swipe to navigate
Reconstruction
14 cards
Card 1
Question: What was President Andrew Johnson's approach to Reconstruction regarding ex-Confederates and reconstructed state governments?
Answer: He presented a weak plan that pardoned ex-Confederates and allowed reconstructed governments to be dominated by pro‑slavery forces, which passed black
Card 2
Question: What were black codes and what was their purpose during Reconstruction?
Answer: Laws passed by southern reconstructed governments to keep freedmen under white control and limit their rights.
Card 3
Question: How did the Radical Republicans in Congress differ from Johnson in their views on Reconstruction?
Answer: They took a much more liberal view toward freedmen (supporting rights and protections) and a harsher stance toward ex‑Confederates.
Card 4
Question: What was the Freedmen's Bureau and what services did it provide?
Answer: A Congress-established agency to help former slaves by offering education, employment, economic relief, legal aid, building hospitals, and supervising
Card 5
Question: Which constitutional amendment abolished slavery, and which body passed it?
Answer: The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery; it was passed by Congress.
Card 6
Question: What was the political outcome of the 1866 Congressional election and how did it affect Reconstruction legislation?
Answer: Radicals won an overwhelming victory, enabling them to pass the Civil Rights Act and push for the Fourteenth Amendment and military occupation of the
Card 7
Question: What rights did the Fourteenth Amendment aim to secure?
Answer: It allowed equality before the law (citizenship and equal protection under the law).
Card 8
Question: How did the Supreme Court's decisions in a series of cases change the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Answer: The Court ruled the Fourteenth Amendment protected only national citizenship rights, not state citizenship, allowing states to impose measures like li
Card 9
Question: What did the Reconstruction Act of 1867 do and how did it relate to President Johnson?
Answer: Passed over Johnson's veto, it took away rights of governments formed under presidential Reconstruction and imposed martial law on the ex‑Confederate
Card 10
Question: What guarantee did the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) provide?
Answer: It guaranteed the right to vote to any citizen regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.