Terms
copperheads
people who opposed the North's attempts to reunite the nation during the American Civil War. Mostly western. Nothing they did had any influence whatsoever except for blocking some legislation in Indiana and Illinois.
union blockade
The blockade weakened the South’s economy and caused them to go into severe debt.
13th amendment
an informal agreement between southern Democrats and allies of the Republican Rutherford Hayes to settle the result of the 1876 presidential election and marked the end of the Reconstruction era
Emancipation proclamation
The Confederacy would not get any foreign aid, as other countries did not want to be seen as supportive of slavery.
Homestead Act
Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.
carpetbaggers
a person from the northern states who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from, or to help with the Reconstruction. Especially in education for freedmen.
Antietam
The battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of combat in the war (32,000 casualties).
14th amendment
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
gettysburg adress
It redirected the meaning of the war from Unifying the country to preserving what it stands for (freedom)
2nd Industrial Revolution
A wave of late 19th century industrialization that was characterized by an increased use of steel, chemical processes, electric power, and railroads. This period also witnessed the spread of industrialization from Great Britain to western Europe and the United States.
Freedmen's bureau
provided food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans and poor whites.
bull run
The battle of Bull Run caused the nation to realize that the war would take much longer than a few weeks and cost many more lives. The Confederate’s stunning victory showed their strength and tactical superiority.
15th amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
dredd scott decision
The majority held that “a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves,” whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore did not have standing to sue in federal court.
WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union)
founded in 1874. Fought for laws at local and state level against/limiting the sale of alcohol. They were moderate, female reformers of temperance. Francis Willard led the union to organize 10,000 branches
scalawags
a pejorative term for a white Southerner who supported the federal plan of Reconstruction or who joined with black freedmen and the so-called carpetbaggers in support of Republican Party policies
gettysburg
Northerners saw that Lee’s invincibility was broken, he had been unstoppable until Gettysburg.
16th amendment
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
border states forming
crucial to union cause. Felt like the union didn't start the war, but were still divided in their support for the confederacy. Provided the union with food, soldiers, and their railroads.
political machine
a strong party organization that can control political appointments and deliver votes, would give services (i.e. jobs and training) to people like immigrants in exchange to their votes for groups like the Democrats
greenbacks
U.S. dollars, were first created to finance the civil war and were called as such because their backs were printed in green. Union currency.
Appomattox court
This surrender caused a series of confederate surrenders across the South, and the end of the war.
compromise of 1877
an informal agreement between southern Democrats and allies of the Republican Rutherford Hayes to settle the result of the 1876 presidential election and marked the end of the Reconstruction era
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In the long term, the Lincoln-Douglas debates propelled Lincoln's political career into the national spotlight, while simultaneously stifling Douglas' career, and foreshadowing the 1860 Election
Boss Tweed
William Tweed, head of Tammany Hall, NYC's powerful democratic political machine in 1868. Between 1868 and 1869 he led the Tweed Reign, a group of corrupt politicians in defrauding the city. Example: Responsible for the construction of the NY court house; actual construction cost $3million. Project cost tax payers $13million.