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what is the definition of congressional reconstruction

by Dayana Braun Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Congressional Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War in which the federal government enacted and attempted to enforce equal suffrage on the ex-Confederate states. In Alabama, this period lasted from 1867 to the end of 1874 and was characterized by racial conflict and widespread terrorist activity.Aug 11, 2008

What is Congressional Reconstruction characterized by?

Congressional Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War in which the federal government enacted and attempted to enforce equal suffrage on the ex-Confederate states. In Alabama, this period lasted from 1867 to the end of 1874 and was characterized by racial conflict and widespread terrorist activity.

What was the purpose of the Congressional Reconstruction Plan?

The purpose of Reconstruction was to provide the terms for the readmission of the rebellious Southern states into the Union. The Reconstruction period occurred between 1865 and 1877. The primary condition set by President Abraham Lincoln was for the rebellious states to swear an oath of allegiance to the Union.

What did the Congressional Reconstruction Plan Do?

What did the congressional reconstruction plan do? Radical Reconstruction: A congressional plan for postwar recovery that imposed harsh standards on the Southern states and supported newly freed slaves (freedmen) in their pursuit of political, economic, and social opportunities. Click to see full answer.

What was the Congress plan for reconstruction?

  • It acknowledged state and federal citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the United States.
  • It forbade any state to diminish the “privileges and immunities” of citizenship, which was the section that struck at the Black Codes.
  • It prohibited any state to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without “due process of law.”

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What was congressional Reconstruction quizlet?

Definition: President Andrew Johnson's plan to rebuild the United States by readmitting Southern States once they had rewritten their state constitution, recreated their state governments, repealed secession, paid off war debts and ratified the 13th amendment.

What were the main points of Congressional Reconstruction?

Congress denied representatives from the former Confederate states their Congressional seats, passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and wrote the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, extending citizenship rights to African Americans and guaranteeing them equal protection of the laws.

What was the Reconstruction simple definition?

Reconstruction is the act or process of rebuilding something, or is a recreation of past events, or the period after the Civil War when the southern states were reorganized into the U.S. An example of reconstruction is when the economy of a country is rebuilt or restored after the war.

What is the definition of both presidential and congressional Reconstruction?

Presidential Reconstruction was the approach that promoted more leniency towards the South regarding plans for readmission to the Union. ❑ Congressional Reconstruction blamed the South and wanted retribution for causing the Civil War.

What was the effect of Congressional Reconstruction quizlet?

Congressional Reconstruction included the stipulation that to reenter the Union, former Confederate states had to ratify the 14th and 15th Amendments. Congress also passed the Military Reconstruction Act, which attempted to protect the voting rights and civil rights of African Americans.

When did Congressional Reconstruction start?

March 2, 1867The bill also imposed a series of conditions on the former rebel states in order to regain representation in Congress. The bill became law on March 2, 1867, and congressional Reconstruction began.

What was the main idea of Reconstruction?

The Reconstruction Era lasted from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to 1877. Its main focus was on bringing the southern states back into full political participation in the Union, guaranteeing rights to former slaves and defining new relationships between African Americans and whites.

What is Reconstruction in history quizlet?

What is Reconstruction? Reconstruction is the period of US History during which the United States began to rebuild the South after the Civil War. It lasted from 1865-1877.

What is Reconstruction in American history?

Reconstruction refers to the period immediately after the Civil War from 1865 to 1877 when several United States administrations sought to reconstruct society in the former Confederate states in particular by establishing and protecting the legal rights of the newly freed black population.

What was the primary difference between presidential and congressional Reconstruction plans quizlet?

How did Presidential Reconstruction differ from Congressional Reconstruction? Presidential Reconstruction was more limited in scope, while Congressional Reconstruction sought to transform the South into a racially integrated region where blacks had equal rights.

Why did congressional Reconstruction end in 1877?

Reconstruction ended in 1877 because of an event known as the Great Betrayal, wherein the government pulled federal troops out of state politics in the South, and ended the Reconstruction Era. "Through the Compromise, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Samuel J.

What was the difference between presidential and radical Reconstruction?

Presidential Reconstruction, from 1865 to 1867, required little of the former Confederate states and leaders. Radical Reconstruction attempted to give African Americans full equality.

What were the 3 plans for Reconstruction?

A plan for Reconstruction,the time period after the Civil War that was marked by a sense of rebuilding, was desperately needed. Three different proposals were considered: President Lincoln's, Vice President Andrew Johnson's, and then the Radical Republican Plan.

What were the 3 major issues of Reconstruction?

Reconstruction encompassed three major initiatives: restoration of the Union, transformation of southern society, and enactment of progressive legislation favoring the rights of freed slaves.

What were the 3 points of Johnson's Reconstruction plan?

The Confederate states would be required to uphold the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery; swear loyalty to the Union; and pay off their war debt. Then they could re-write their state constitutions, hold elections, and begin sending representatives to Washington.

What were the 3 points of Lincoln's Reconstruction plan?

The three points of Lincoln's reconstruction plan were to ensure 10 percent of the citizens of former Confederate states swore an oath to the union, to then work to establish new state constitutions, and to provide opportunities for former Confederate soldiers and sympathizers to be granted full pardons for their ...

Who vetoed the Military Reconstruction Act?

The first Military Reconstruction Act reveals the idea of Congressional Reconstruction, although there were two further supplements to the Act. Andrew Johnson vetoed all three Military Reconstruction Acts, but they were passed by a Congressional majority over his veto.

Which states are in the first district?

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That said rebel States shall be divided into military districts and made subject to the military authority of the United States as hereinafter prescribed, and for that purpose Virginia shall constitute the first district; North Carolina and South Carolina the second district; Georgia, Alabama, and Florida the third district; Mississippi and Arkansas the fourth district; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth district.

What is the meaning of section 4?

Section 4 And be it further enacted, That all persons put under military arrest by virtue of this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted, and no sentence of any military commission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting the life or liberty of any person, shall be executed until it is approved by the officer in command of the district, and the laws and regulations for the government of the Army shall not be affected by this act, except in so far as they conflict with its provisions; Provided, That no sentence of death under the provisions of this act shall be carried into effect without the approval of the President.

What was the period of reconstruction?

Reconstruction, 1865–77, in U.S. history, the period of readjustment following the Civil War. At the end of the Civil War Civil War, in U.S. history, conflict (1861–65) between the Northern states (the Union) and the Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy.

When was the Reconstruction Act passed?

On Mar. 2, 1867, Congress enacted the Reconstruction Act, which, supplemented later by three related acts, divided the South (except Tennessee) into five military districts in which the authority of the army commander was supreme.

What did the radical Republican governments in the South do?

The radical Republican governments in the South attempted to deal constructively with the problems left by the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Led by so-called carpetbaggers carpetbaggers,#N#epithet used in the South after the Civil War to describe Northerners who went to the South during Reconstruction. Although regarded as transients because of the carpetbags in which they carried their possessions (hence the name carpetbaggers#N#..... Click the link for more information. (Northerners who settled in the South) and scalawags scalawags#N#, derogatory term used in the South after the Civil War to describe native white Southerners who joined the Republican party and aided in carrying out the congressional Reconstruction program. A Republican who came from the north was called a carpetbagger.#N#..... Click the link for more information. (Southern whites in the Republican party) and freedmen, they began to rebuild the Southern economy and society. Agricultural production was restored, roads rebuilt, a more equitable tax system adopted, and schooling extended to blacks and poor whites. The freedmen's civil and political rights were guaranteed, and blacks were able to participate in the political and economic life of the South as full citizens for the first time.

What did the Joint Committee on Reconstruction report?

28, 1866) that the ex-Confederate states were in a state of civil disorder, and hence, had not held valid elections. It also maintained that Reconstruction was a congressional, not an executive, function.

What was Lincoln's goal in the South?

Even before the war ended, President Lincoln began the task of restoration. Motivated by a desire to build a strong Republican party in the South and to end the bitterness engendered by war, he issued (Dec. 8, 1863) a proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction for those areas of the Confederacy occupied by Union armies. It offered pardon, with certain exceptions, to any Confederate who would swear to support the Constitution and the Union. Once a group in any conquered state equal in number to one tenth of that state's total vote in the presidential election of 1860 took the prescribed oath and organized a government that abolished slavery, he would grant that government executive recognition.

Who was Lincoln's successor?

Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, at first pleased the radicals by publicly attacking the planter aristocracy and insisting that the rebellion must be punished. His amnesty proclamation (May 29, 1865) was more severe than Lincoln's; it disenfranchised all former military and civil officers of the Confederacy and all those who owned property worth $20,000 or more and made their estates liable to confiscation. The obvious intent was to shift political control in the South from the old planter aristocracy to the small farmers and artisans, and it promised to accomplish a revolution in Southern society.

Which amendment did the radicals incorporate?

Doubts as to the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act led the radicals to incorporate (June, 1866) most of its provisions in the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified 1868).

What is congressional reconstruction?

n. 1. The act or result of reconstructing. 2. Reconstruction The period during which the states that had seceded to the Confederacy were controlled by the...

What is reconstruction in science?

reconstruction- an interpretation formed by piecing together bits of evidence

What does "recall" mean in the dictionary?

recollection, reminiscence, recall- the process of remembering (especially the process of recovering information by mental effort); "he has total recall of the episode"

What was the period after the American Civil War when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the?

Reconstruction- the period after the American Civil War when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union; 1865-1877

What was the period of the Confederacy that was controlled by the federal government before being readmitted to the Union?

2. ReconstructionThe period (1865-1877) during which the states that had seceded to the Confederacy were controlled by the federal government before being readmitted to the Union.

What does "reconstruct" mean?

1. the act of reconstructing. 2. ( cap.) a. the process by which the states that had seceded were reorganized as part of the Union after the Civil War. b. the period during which this took place, 1865–77. [1785–95] re`con•struc′tion•al, re`con•struc′tion•ar′y, adj.

When was the Voting Rights Act passed?

The Voting Rights Act of 1965: background and overview

Why did the Republicans call for more protections for African Americans in the former Confederate states?

Black codes and mob violence led Republicans to call for more protections for African Americans in the former Confederate states. Congressional Republicans, in response to the intransigence of former Confederates under Presidential Reconstruction, experimented with loyalty as a replacement for race ...

What act did the Republicans pass in 1866?

With a two-thirds majority gained in the 1866 midterm elections, Republicans ultimately passed a Freedmen’s Bureau Act and the Civil Rights Act over Johnson’s vetoes and moved to take control of the process of Reconstruction. [3]

What were the rights of former slaves?

The restrictions built into the black codes and the violence toward former slaves convinced many Republican congressmen that white southerners refused to recognize abolition and refused to treat black southerners as free laborers. Republican congressmen believed that it was necessary to guarantee former slaves their civil rights to provide them some protection in their dealings with their former masters and mistresses. Congress took steps to safeguard black civil rights in the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The law declared that anyone born in the United States, except Indians, were citizens with federally protected rights, including the right to make and enforce contracts, the right to own or rent property, and the right to access courts as parties and witnesses. The Act was revolutionary in that it, for the first time, defined citizenship in national terms, and it did so regardless of race. Proponents saw the act as an expression of the federal government’s responsibility to protect the “fundamental rights” of American citizens. [2]

Why did Andrew Johnson oppose the Freedmen's Bureau?

He argued that these congressional measures were unconstitutional augmentations of federal power that gave special handouts and protections to blacks at the expense of whites. Johnson opposed the extension of Freedmen’s Bureau on the grounds that Congress had never before provided such assistance to “our people.” Johnson saw favoritism. He complained that the Freedmen’s Bureau favored black southerners over white southerners, even though, in its work as a relief agency the Freedmen’s Bureau assisted southerners regardless of race. He also charged that the Freedmen’s Bureau encouraged African Americans to rely on government assistance rather than work for themselves. Johnson opposed the Civil Rights Bill because, as he contended, “the distinction of race and color is by the bill made to operate in favor of the colored and against the white race.” Hee believed that blacks were incapable of exercising the privileges of citizenship: “Can it be reasonably supposed that ... [former slaves] possess the requisite qualifications to entitle them to all the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States?” With a two-thirds majority gained in the 1866 midterm elections, Republicans ultimately passed a Freedmen’s Bureau Act and the Civil Rights Act over Johnson’s vetoes and moved to take control of the process of Reconstruction. [3]

What was the purpose of the Freedmen's Bureau?

The Freedmen's Bureau (1868) The Freedmen’s Bureau had been an early effort by congressional Republicans to plan for peace.

Why did Johnson oppose the extension of the Freedmen's Bureau?

Johnson opposed the extension of Freedmen’s Bureau on the grounds that Congress had never before provided such assistance to “our people.”.

Why was the Freedmen's Bureau created?

Congress subsequently created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, more commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, in March 1865 to aid in the transition from slavery to freedom and to serve as a relief agency for both black and white southerners.

reconstruction

1. the reassembling or re-forming of something from constituent parts.

reconstruction

An eClinical trial term of art for archival trial records that should support the data as well as the processes used for obtaining and managing the data, such that the trustworthiness of results obtained can be evaluated.

What was the purpose of reconstruction?

history, the period (1865–77) that followed the American Civil War and during which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war.

What was the purpose of the Presidential Reconstruction?

Radical Reconstruction attempted to give African Americans full equality.

What was the impact of the Reconstruction era on African Americans?

However, this provoked a violent backlash from whites who did not want to relinquish supremacy.

What was the impact of the reconstruction era?

The Reconstruction era redefined U.S. citizenship and expanded the franchise, changed the relationship between the federal government and the governments of the states, and highlighted the differences between political and economic democracy.

What changes did reconstruction bring to the American political system?

Reconstruction witnessed far-reaching changes in America’s political life. At the national level, new laws and constitutional amendments permanently altered the federal system and the definition of American citizenship.

How many African Americans served in Congress during reconstruction?

Sixteen African Americans served in Congress during Reconstruction—including Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce in the U.S. Senate—more than 600 in state legislatures, and hundreds more in local offices from sheriff to justice of the peace scattered across the South.

What was Lincoln's plan for the South?

To Lincoln, the plan was an attempt to weaken the Confederacy rather than a blueprint for the postwar South. It was put into operation in parts of the Union-occupied Confederacy, but none of the new governments achieved broad local support.

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Lincoln's Plan

Johnson's Plan

  • Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, at first pleased the radicals by publicly attacking the planter aristocracy and insisting that the rebellion must be punished. His amnesty proclamation (May 29, 1865) was more severe than Lincoln's; it disenfranchised all former military and civil officers of the Confederacy and all those who owned property worth $20,000 or more and made their estat…
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Early Congressional Legislation

  • An outraged Northern public believed that the fruits of victory were being lost by Johnson's lenient policy. When Congress convened (Dec. 4, 1865) it refused to seat the Southern representatives. Johnson responded by publicly attacking Republican leaders and vetoing their Reconstruction measures. His tactics drove the moderates into the radical camp. The Civil Rights Act (Apr. 9, 18…
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The Reconstruction Acts

  • On Mar. 2, 1867, Congress enacted the Reconstruction Act, which, supplemented later by three related acts, divided the South (except Tennessee) into five military districts in which the authority of the army commander was supreme. Johnson continued to oppose congressional policy, and when he insisted on the removal of the radical Secretary of War, ...
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The Radical Republican Governments in The South

  • The radical Republican governments in the South attempted to deal constructively with the problems left by the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Led by so-called carpetbaggers (Northerners who settled in the South) and scalawags (Southern whites in the Republican party) and freedmen, they began to rebuild the Southern economy and society. Agricultural production …
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Reconstruction's End

  • By 1876 only Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana remained under Republican domination. The Republican presidential candidate that year, Rutherford B. Hayes, promised to alleviate conditions in the South, but the feeling there had already led to the formation of the “solid South” in support of his Democratic opponent, Samuel J. Tilden. In those three states the presidential contest wa…
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Bibliography and Historical Interpretation

  • The literature on the Reconstruction is extensive and has shown sharp changes in interpretation. The first major historical writing on the period was done early in the 20th cent. It reflected the rising tide of nationalism that followed the Spanish-American War and incorporated the then current assumptions of black racial inferiority. Reconstruction was portrayed as a tragic era duri…
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1.Congressional Reconstruction legal definition of …

Url:https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Congressional+Reconstruction

31 hours ago The term Reconstruction refers to the efforts made in the United States between 1865 and 1877 to restructure the political, legal, and economic systems in the states that had seceded from the Union. The U.S. Civil War (1861–65) ended Slavery, but it left unanswered how the 11 Southern states would conduct their internal affairs after readmission to the Union.

2.Congressional Reconstruction - National Park Service

Url:https://www.nps.gov/anjo/learn/historyculture/congressional-reconstruction.htm

31 hours ago What is the definition of Congressional Reconstruction? Congressional Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War in which the federal government enacted and attempted to enforce …

3.Congressional Reconstruction | Article about …

Url:https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Congressional+Reconstruction

10 hours ago  · Congressional Reconstruction. The first Military Reconstruction Act reveals the idea of Congressional Reconstruction, although there were two further supplements to the Act. …

4.Congressional Reconstruction - definition of …

Url:https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Congressional+Reconstruction

3 hours ago Define Congressional Reconstruction. Congressional Reconstruction synonyms, Congressional Reconstruction pronunciation, Congressional Reconstruction translation, English dictionary …

5.Congressional Reconstruction · Reconstruction · Textbook

Url:http://historymaking.org/textbook/exhibits/show/reconstruction/congressional

23 hours ago Congressional Republicans, in response to the intransigence of former Confederates under Presidential Reconstruction, experimented with loyalty as a replacement for race (if not …

6.Congressional Reconstruction Flashcards | Quizlet

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27 hours ago What was Congressional Reconstruction? The period after the emancipation of slaves where congress began to make changes to move closer to equality What were the Black Codes?

7.Congressional Reconstruction | definition of …

Url:https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Congressional+Reconstruction

15 hours ago reconstruction. 1. the reassembling or re-forming of something from constituent parts. 2. surgical restoration of function of a body part, such as with a bypass or plastic surgery. aortic …

8.Reconstruction | Definition, Summary, Timeline & Facts

Url:https://www.britannica.com/event/Reconstruction-United-States-history

20 hours ago In the fall 1866 congressional elections, Northern voters overwhelmingly repudiated Johnson’s policies. Congress decided to begin Reconstruction anew. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 …

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