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Unit Five Glossary: The Civil War and Reconstruction
Causes:
Sectionalism – Division between the North and South over the issue of slavery.
Kansas-Nebraska Act – proposed by Stephen Douglas, this law repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed the new
territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide the issue of slavery in their territories by vote (popular sovereignty). It enraged
many northerners but southerners were happy because the Missouri Compromise had outlawed slavery in this area.
John Brown – abolitionist who believed God had sent him to punish supporters of slavery. He carried his campaign against
slavery from Kansas to the east where attempted to lead a small group of men in a raid on a federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry,
Virginia.
Harper’s Ferry, Virginia – John Brown led a group who attempted to raid this federal arsenal but they did not succeed. His
son was killed in the uprising and he was captured and hanged. He was seen as a martyr to many northerners, but in the south
the northern response to his death was seen as outrageous.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates – famous debates during the 1858 Illinois senate race between Stephen Douglas and Abraham
Lincoln.
Dred Scott vs. Sanford – an 1857 Supreme Court case in which a slave, Dred Scott, sued for his freedom and lost; Court said
Congress could not limit slavery in the territories (cancelled the Missouri Compromise) and said black Americans were not
citizens and could not sue.
Bleeding Kansas – nickname given to Kansas Territory after fighting broke out between pro-slavery and anti-slavery (led by
John Brown) forces in Lawrence, Kansas. By late 1856, 200 people had been killed.
John C. Calhoun - Vice President under Andrew Jackson who resigned when his home state (South Carolina) threatened to
secede from the Union over the high tariff’s on imported goods. He also served as a U.S. Representative and Senator. He
strongly supported the Fugitive Slave Act.
Henry Clay – American politician in the 1800s who was especially involved in the Missouri Compromise and the
Compromise of 1850.
Daniel Webster – U.S. statesman and speaker who played an important role in the Compromise of 1850
Strengths and Weaknesses of North and South
Union (North)
Strengths:
 71% of the nation’s population
 72% of the nation’s railroad mileage
 56% of exported goods
 92% of manufacturing
 Produced more food than the South
 Had more ships and retained almost all members of
the regular navy
 Had a better banking system to help raise money
 Had a strong leader in Abraham Lincoln
Weaknesses:
 Had to invade the South
Confederacy (South)
Strengths:
 White Southerners felt they were fighting for a cause
and strongly supported war
 Fighting defense on their home turf
 At first they had superior military leadership
Weaknesses:
 Small population of free men
 Few factories to manufacture weapons and supplies
 Produced less than half as much food as the North
 Had less than half the miles of railroad track
 Due to state’s rights ideology, individual states were
not willing to give the Confederate government
enough power to effectively fight the war
Northern and Southern goals and strategies
North’s Goal: Bring South back into the Union
South’s Goal: Achieve independence
South’s Strategy: Defend homeland, hold as much territory
North’s Strategy: The Anaconda Plan:
as possible and try to make the North tired of fighting. Hoped
 Blockade Southern ports
Britain and France would pressure North to end the war to
 Gain control of Mississippi to cut supply lines and
restore their cotton supply.
divide the Confederacy
 Capture the capital at Richmond, Virginia
Key Events:
Civil War, 1861- 1865 – The war between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South). Slavery was ended in the United
States when the Union won.
Union – North during the Civil War.
Border States – slave states that did NOT secede, but stayed with the Union.
Confederate States of America – government formed by the states that had seceded from the Union during the Civil War.
Fort Sumter – federal fort in South Carolina; the site of the first shot in the Civil War.
Antietam – Confederacy invaded into Maryland (border state) hoping to win a big victory and get help from France or Britain.
Was indecisive, but Lee was forced to retreat back into the South. Lincoln used the victory to announce the Emancipation
Proclamation.
Emancipation Proclamation – Document in which Lincoln announced that all enslaved people in the Confederate states were
free. Also allowed African American men to join the Union army.
Battle of Vicksburg – Battle fought in Vicksburg, MS. The Union, led by Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederate forces.
Grant’s win gave control of the Mississippi R. to the North and won him a promotion from President Lincoln to lead the Union
Army.
Battle of Gettysburg – battle in southern Pennsylvania between Union forces and Confederates, led by Robert E. Lee. Lee
hoped that a Confederate victory in the North would help the South receive aide from Europe, but after a bloody battle in
which many soldiers on both sides died, Lee lost and was forced to retreat back into Virginia.
Appomattox Court House – site of Lee’s ultimate surrender to Grant, ending the Civil War.
Gettysburg Address – speech made by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 after the Battle of Gettysburg.
Lincoln’s First and Second Inaugural Addresses – speeches Lincoln gave when sworn into office. Emphasized union and
putting the country back together after the war.
Battle Hymn of the Republic – Based on “John Brown’s Body,” this song by poet Julia Ward Howe became an anthem for
the North, emphasizing the idea that God was on the side of the North’s fight to end slavery.
Key People:
Abraham Lincoln – 16th president of the United States. Considered by some to be the greatest president of the United States,
he was assassinated in Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865, five days after the end of the Civil War.
Jefferson Davis – President of the Confederate States of America.
Ulysses S. Grant – Union general during the Civil War who forced the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Confederate forces
at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865, ending the Civil War.
Robert E. Lee – Confederate general in the Civil War, he surrendered to Ulyssess S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.
Stonewall Jackson – Confederate general whose men stood “like a stone wall” at Bull Run
Phillip Bazar -- an immigrant from Chile, participated in an assault on the Confederate Fort Fisher in 1865. He and five other
sailors entered the fort and carried communications despite being under heavy fire at the most intense period of the battle. All
six were awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery.
William Carney – member of the all-African American 54th Massachusetts Regiment who fought at Ft. Wagner. He seized the
colors and returned back to his lines despite bullet wounds to his head, chest, right arm, and leg. He became the first of 23
black troops to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, although it took 37 years to receive it.
John Wilkes Booth – actor who shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater
Clara Barton – pushed for women to be accepted as nurses during the Civil War; later established the American Red Cross.
Reconstruction
13th Amendment – banned slavery throughout the nation.
14th Amendment – gave citizenship to all people born in the United States (except Native Americans).
15th Amendment – forbade any state from denying African-American males the right to vote.
Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan – Lincoln’s plan for reconstructing the South after the Civil War. It’s basic points were: 1) when
10% of the voters took an oath of loyalty to the Union, the state could form a new government and adopt a constitution banning
slavery. 2) amnesty would be offered to all white Southerners, except Confederate leaders, who were willing to swear loyalty
to the Union. 3) Lincoln supported granting the right to vote to African Americans who were educated or who had served in
the Union Army, but said he would not force the Southern states to give African Americans the same rights as white
Americans. Lincoln’s plan died with him.
Wade-Davis Bill – This reconstruction plan, of the Radical Republicans, was much harsher than Lincoln’s, and he refused to
sign it into law.
Freedman’s Bureau – an agency created to help the newly freed African American make a smooth transition from slave life.
It distributed food and clothing, provided medical services, established schools, and helped secure fair wages and housing.
Johnson’s Restoration Plan – Andrew Johnson’s plan for restoring the South after the Civil War
Black Codes – a series of laws passed in 1865-66 by new Southern legislatures to control the freed men and women and enable
plantation owners to exploit them. Many saw the black codes as slavery in disguise.
Civil Rights Act of 1866 – granted full citizenship to African Americans and gave the federal government the right to
intervene in state affairs to protect their rights. It overturned the Black Codes and contradicted the Dred Scott decision.
Congress passed the 14th Amendment and declared the Southern states must ratify it to be allowed readmission.
Reconstruction Act of 1867 – passed by Congress, this law (also known as Radical Reconstruction) called for the creation of
new state governments in all states that had not ratified the 14th Amendment (all but Tennessee) and divided the 10 states into 5
military districts under the authority of a military commander until the states formed a new government. Johnson’s strong
opposition led to a conflict between him and Congress which eventually led the House of Representatives to vote for his
impeachment. The Senate fell one vote shy of convicting the President.
President Ulysses S. Grant – the former Union hero won the election in a landslide becoming our 18 th president.
Hiram Rhodes Revels – first African American elected to Congress
Sharecropping – most common form of farmwork for the freed men and women. They rented land, seed, tools and a little
shack from a landowner. In return they gave a portion of their profits to the landowner. After paying off the landowners, they
had very little left for their own family. For many, the living conditions weren’t much better than slavery, but they were free.
Ku Klux Klan – a secret society formed after the war to terrorize southern blacks. Violence against African Americans
typically increased before elections to intimidate them to keep them from voting.
Literacy Tests – a reading test prospective voters had to pass in order to vote. Because most African Americans had little or
no education, it kept them from voting. Poor whites also had little education, but states passed Grandfather Clauses which
allowed men whose grandfathers had voted before 1867 to vote. African Americans had not gotten the right to vote at that
time so they were excluded.
Poll Tax – a fee that people had to pay to vote.
Jim Crow Laws – laws passed by Southern states that separated blacks and whites in almost every public place. These laws
were upheld in 1896 by a Supreme Court ruling called Plessy v. Ferguson that ruled segregation was legal as long as the
facilities for African Americans were equal to those of whites. “Separate but equal” lasted into the 1960s.
Other Key Laws Passed During Reconstruction:
Homestead Act – Gave 160 acres to settlers to encourage them to move westward
Morrill Act – Gave land to states to encourage settlement; sales of land went toward establishing colleges to teach agriculture
and mechanics (ex: Texas A&M)
Dawes Act – Tried to force Native Americans to assimilate to white culture by taking communally held tribal land and
dividing it into individual farms.
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BIG “8” Presidents
1st
George
Washington
1789-1797
*Whiskey Rebellion
*Neutrality
Proclamation
2nd
John
Adams
1797-1801
*XYZ Affair
*Alien and Sedition
Acts
5th
James
Monroe
1817-1825
*Era of Good Feelings
*Monroe Doctrine
6th
John Quincy
Adams
1825-1829
*Corrupt Bargain
*Erie Canal
3rd
Thomas
Jefferson
1801-1809
*Louisiana Purchase
*Embargo Act
4th
7th
Andrew
Jackson
1825-1837
*Bank Crisis
*Nullification Crisis
*Indian Removal Act
16th
James
Madison
1809-1817
*War of 1812
Abraham
Lincoln
1861-1865
*Civil War
*Gettysburg
*Assassination