The Civil War and Reconstruction (1844-1877) Glossary
10 essential terms — because precise language is the foundation of clear thinking in The Civil War and Reconstruction (1844-1877).
Showing 10 of 10 terms
Laws passed by southern states in 1865-1866 to restrict the freedoms of formerly enslaved people through vagrancy statutes, labor controls, and legal disabilities, effectively recreating slavery-like conditions.
The informal agreement resolving the disputed 1876 election by awarding the presidency to Republican Hayes in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.
President Lincoln's 1863 executive order declaring enslaved people in Confederate states 'forever free,' transforming the Civil War into a fight for freedom and authorizing Black military enlistment.
A federal agency (1865-1872) created to provide food, schools, labor contracts, and legal assistance to formerly enslaved people and poor whites in the post-war South.
A law requiring northern citizens and officials to assist in the capture and return of escaped enslaved people, imposing penalties for noncompliance and denying accused fugitives a jury trial.
The principle that settlers in a territory should decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, championed by Stephen Douglas and implemented in the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854).
A faction of the Republican Party that advocated for aggressive Reconstruction policies, including Black suffrage, civil rights protections, and harsh conditions for readmitting Confederate states.
The period (1865-1877) during which the federal government attempted to reintegrate former Confederate states, define the rights of freed people, and rebuild southern society.
The act of a state formally withdrawing from the Union. Eleven southern states seceded between December 1860 and June 1861 to form the Confederate States of America.