Difference between antebellum and postbellum
antebellum: before war
postbellum: after war
neutrality
not taking sides in a conflict
Segregation and integration
segregation: keeping blacks and whites apart in public places
integration: bringing together people of different races and allowing them equal access to places where they were formerly kept apart
Capital
money or resources available for spending or producing goods or income
Emancipate
set free
secede
to withdraw voluntarily from the Union
Yeoman farmer
a white middle-class farmer who generally owned fewer than 100 acres
sharecropping
a system of tenant farming in which the tenant works someone else's land for a share of the crop
Difference between franchise and disfranchisement
franchise: the right to vote
disfranchisement: taking away the right to vote
tariff
a tax that is put on goods that are imported from other countries
use of military forces to isolate enemy territory, such as a harbor, in order to prevent entry of supplies or people
Speculating
attempting to make money quickly by buying something at a low price and then selling it for a higher price
Dogtrot cabin
a log cabin with two rooms that are connected by a covered and floored passageway
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
Carpetbaggers: a non-southerner who came to the South during Reconstruction to take advantage of its economic and political situation
scalawag: a southerner who worked with the carpetbaggers
Socialist, pacifist, and dictator
socialist is one who believes that government should own major services and means of production
pacifist is someone who does not believe in war
dictator is a ruler with absolute or near-absolute power or authority
border states
slave holding states that bordered the free states and did not secede during the Civil War
Sectionalism
putting the interests of a particular section or region above those of the nation
Freedmen's Bureau
What is it, who didn't like it, and why?
Federal Reconstruction agency which issued food, clothing, fuel and other supplies to black freedmen and some needy whites. Some whites didn't like this because they felt as though the agency focused more on blacks than whites.
Literacy test and poll tax and what they have in common
literacy test a test given to people to prove they can read or write before being allowed to vote
poll tax : a tax on the right to vote (what you had to pay in order to vote)
common: they were both used to prevent blacks and poor whites from voting
black codes and lynch
black codes: laws passed by southern legislatures after the Civil War to limit the political and civil rights of former slaves
lynch: illegal killing, usually by hanging by violent mobs